How do I make custom DNS records?

Written By: Brad Markle
Experience Level: Intermediate
Articles labeled as Intermediate are those that require tasks to be completed that often require you have an understanding / skill of a more advanced topic beforehand. Intermediate articles may also be tasks that require more than just 2 - 3 minutes of your time, such as setting up an online store. Our Technical Support Department may be able to directly assist, however it is on a case by case basis.
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Beginning in late March of 2010, our shared servers are being upgraded to the latest version of cPanel, which now allows users to add their own A, CNAME, and MX records. If you do not see the features below in your cPanel, please email support@inmotionhosting.com for further assistance.

Please note:
In order to follow any of the steps in this tutorial, you must have a hosting account. If you have a domain name only account (IE you have only purchased a domain name but no hosting), you will not have access to cPanel in order to make any DNS changes.

What is DNS?

DNS is the component of the Internet which converts human-readable domain names (example.com) into computer-readable IP addresses (208.77.188.166). It does this according to DNS zone files that reside on your server and tie domain names to IP addresses.

Please note:
The average user does not need to edit their DNS settings. The common reason you will need to, is if you're using a third party service that requests for you to route a certain part of your domain name to them. For example, we have many users that subscribe to Google Apps. If you want to use Google's mail servers for your email instead of InMotion Hosting's, you will need to point your MX records to Google's mail servers. Google will provide you with these records. They also have a service you can use to point calendar.yourdomain.com to the Google Calendar application. This requires that you add "calendar" as a CNAME, and Google will provide you with the necessary settings.

Please allow up to 24 hours for changes to your DNS to take effect.

How to add A and CNAME records

Shared Servers

To add A and CNAME records, you will need to access the, "Simple DNS Zone Editor" within your cPanel. This feature is located within the, "Domains" section.

VPS and Dedicated Servers

If you are on a Virtual Private Server or Dedicated server, you also will have access to the Advanced DNS Editor. Not only will the Advanced DNS Editor allow you to add DNS records, but it will allow you to edit current records as well.

Instructions on adding A records and CNAME records in both cPanel and WHM can be found here:

How to add MX records

To add a MX record, you will need to access the, "MX Entry" feature within your cPanel. This feature is located within the, "Mail" section. Please view our MX records article for more information.

SPF and DomainKeys

SPF and DomainKeys are types of DNS records, and are tools used by many mail servers in an effort to combat spam. To find out more information on these types of records, please see the following page:
https://support.inmotionhosting.com/cgi-bin/kb.cgi?do=read&id=107
 
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