Managing DNS records

How can I change my DNS records?

DNS records are a set of information used to "connect" your domain name to a "technical" server hosting a specific service. Ensuring that your DNS records are correct is essential for proper functioning of Internet services.

These records are listed in the zone file.

IMPORTANT: Syntax

According to BIND syntax, the "naked" domain (example.com) is represented by the @ symbol. 

Subdomains such as www.exemple.com are simply represented by www

A second-level subdomain, such as my.extranet.example.com, is represented by my.extranet.

Example of a CNAME record that points to an address and which must end with a dot:

www 3600 CNAME example.com.

Example of an A record pointing to an IP address: 

@ 3600 IN A 92.92.92.92

In this example, the main domain ("naked") represented by "@" is forwarded to the IP address 92.92.92.92.

Name servers (DNS servers) and DNS records

If your domain name uses our LiveDNS name servers, you can edit the records in the Domain / DNS Records menu.

If your domain name uses name servers (DNS) that are external to Gandi (e.g. Wix, CloudFlare, etc.), the records can only be edited from your web host's interface.

If you registered your domain via our old v4 interface and are using our old DNS a, b and c name servers, go to the Domain / Nameservers menu and switch to LiveDNS.

Editing your DNS records

• Click on the "pencil" icon        to the right of a record to modify it.
• Click on the "trash" icon to the right of a record to delete it.
• Click on the "Add" button to create/add a new record.

Important: You should only have one record per subdomain.

Advanced View

• In text mode (via Advanced view), you can edit the entire zone file yourself.  

Click "Save" to save your changes/additions.

• Time it takes to DNS records to be updated

The average time is 20 minutes, but propagation times may vary from region to region.

• Backing up your DNS records 

We recommend that you make a backup copy before making any "manual" changes to your records. In the event of a problem, this will allow you to revert to the previous version.  Go to the "DNS Records" menu and click on "Save a backup".

To restore a snapshot, click on "Restore" in the "Backup" section. 

For a single domain, the easiest way is to switch to "Advanced view", select all the records in the zone file and copy/paste them into an editing program (Textedit, Word, notepad, gedit, etc).

Export DNS records

From the DOMAIN menu in Advanced View, click on the "gear" icon (⚙) at the top right of the list. Click on "Export DNS records to CSV".

Extracting the data and generating the file may take a little time (depending on the number of domains involved), so please be patient.

Types of DNS records

To learn more about the different types of records, what they do and how to use them at Gandi, please refer to the following pages:

Type A - Used to point your domain to a server with a Static IP.

Type CAA - Used to provide information to the Certification Authority during the creation of an SSL certificate.

CNAME Type - Used to point a subdomain to another web address.

Type MX - Used to define a Mail server.

TXT Type - Used to attach information to your domain / subdomain. Very flexible, it is used for many purposes, such as validating domain ownership or adding an SPF record.

Type SPF - Now replaced by a TXT.