To access the DNS settings menu, click on the "Account Manager" icon at the main control panel menu and click on the "DNS Management" link.
From there you will see all written DNS records of your website.
Above is an example of the DNS settings for myawesomesite.co.zw . The next sections provide information on changing A, CNAME, NS, MX, and PTR records. In the meantime, it is important to understand how the direct admin control panel handles hostnames.
Important: There are two ways to enter a hostname:
1. The full hostname followed by a period: full.hostname.com.
2. The subdomain alone: full
For example, the first record in the table above can read:
admin A 95.216.88.152
or
admin.myawesomesite.co.zw . A 95.216.88.152
Both records do the exact same thing. The sections below may discuss only one method but either is acceptable.
Hint: If you are unsure how to enter a record, look at the existing records in the table for guidance.
Records Explained: A, CNAME, NS, MX, and PTR.
A Records
Address (A) records direct a hostname to a numerical IP address. For example, if you want mycomputer.yourdomain.com to point to your home computer (which is, for example, 192.168.0.3), you would enter a record that looks like: 
Note: If you have IPv6 ip adress use AAAA record instead.
Important: Depending on which version of Direct Admin you are using , You "might" need to put a period after the hostname. Do not put periods after IP addresses.
CNAME Records
CNAME allows a machine to be known by one or more hostnames. There must always be an A record first, and this is known as the canonical or official name. For example:
yourdomain.com. A 192.168.0.1
Using CNAME, you can point other hostnames to the canonical (A record) address. For example:
ftp.yourdoman.com. CNAME yourdomain.com.
mail.yourdomain.com. CNAME yourdomain.com.
ssh.yourdomin.com. CNAME yourdomain.com.
CNAME records make it possible to access your domain through ftp.yourdomain.com, mail.yourdomain.com, etc. Without a proper CNAME record, you will not be able to connect to your server using such addresses.
Entering a CNAME record
If we wanted home.myawesomesite.co.zw to point to myawesomesite.co.zw, we could enter the record like:
NAMESERVER (NS) Records
NS records specify the authoritative nameservers for the domain.
Important: Changing NS records may cause your site to stop working. There is generally no need to change NS records.
Entering an NS record
Enter two new nameservers records so they would exist like in table above. Be sure that the nameserver hostname is followed by a period, as in this example:
Be sure to put a period after the nameserver hostname in a NS record (ns1.site-helper.com. and not ns1.site-helper.com ).
MX RECORDS
Some E-mail service providers require MX changes be made in order for their software to work. This change allows mail destined for your domain to be directed to their server. Please note that changing MX records may prevent your current POP3 accounts, forwarders, autoresponders, and mailing lists from functioning.
To add MX record type in the hostname, followed by a period, given to you by the e-mail provider. Then select the priority level (usually 10) from the dropdown box on the right. The priority level will also be given to you by the e-mail provider. Click "Add."
Note: Be sure to put a period at the end of the hostname.
To restore the original MX settings, enter yourdomain.com. and priority 0 after deleting the other MX record.
If you are using our local email there is no need to change this as they will be defined automatically.
TXT RECORDS
Text records (TXT) are originally used for new types of information storing. This information could be any text. The record would look like:
Note: TXT is often used to set up Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record, which are used to validate legitimate email sources from a domain.
Example:
SRV RECORDS
SRV records provide a standard way of allowing services to use different values, and for a program to determine what those connection values are.
Example:
_sip._tcp.example.com. 86400 IN SRV 0 5 5060 sipserver.example.com.
The red portion goes onto the left side of the SRV record in DA, and the blue portion goes onto the right side (DA sets the TTL automatically for you)
The Red portion of the contains the service, protocol, and name, in that order, separated by the period '.' character.
In the above example, the values match up as follows:
-
service: _sip
-
protocol: _tcp
-
name: example.com.
-
priority: 0
-
weight: 5
-
port: 5060
-
target: sipserver.example.com.
Note that the "name" value will always match the name of the zone. As such, these 2 left-side values are equivalent, and either could be used:
- _sip._tcp.example.com.
- _sip._tcp
where any left-side value that does not end with a period '.' will have the zone name appended to the end.
The "target" value can be any domain value, but should resolve using an A or CNAME record. The same rule about the value ending in a period applies, and would be mandatory if the target is on a different domain name.