Welcome to DNS Check! This page provides a brief introduction, then points you towards the documentation that's most relevant to your goals.
DNS Check is a tool that compares the DNS records that you indicate should exist to what is returned by name servers. If the DNS records match, then the check passes. Otherwise, the check fails, and DNS Check notifies you and provides information on why the failure took place.
Use Cases
DNS Check has three typical uses:
- Monitor DNS Records and Name Servers - DNS Check notifies you if a record starts passing or failing.
- Share DNS Records - Share a list of DNS records that you'd like to be created or updated. DNS Check enables both you, and the person whom you're sharing the records with to easily see, and get notified when the updates get posted.
- Troubleshoot DNS Records and Name Servers - If something's broken, and you suspect DNS is at fault, tell DNS Check what DNS records should be returned by which name servers. DNS Check quickly identifies if there's a DNS related issue, and if so, where it is.
If any of the above describes what you're trying to accomplish, then viewing that subject's document is the recommended next step. Otherwise, continue to the next section.
DNS Record Groups
DNS Check groups related DNS records into DNS record groups. DNS record groups can have a 1:1 correlation with zone files, but this is not a requirement. For example, if you prefer to place all DNS records that relate to a specific service into a single DNS record group, then you're welcome to do so. You're also welcome to place all of the DNS records that you're checking into a single DNS record group if you'd like.
To start working with DNS record groups, click the DNS Checks link in the top navigation bar.
Here's an example DNS record group, which has both passing and failing DNS records. DNS records that pass their checks appear in green, and those that fail appear in red.
See the DNS Record Groups document for a more in-depth discussion of this topic.
Notifications
If you want to be notified each time a DNS record starts passing or failing, then you have many notification options available to you, including receiving an email, being paged, and receiving a chat notification. See our Notification Settings documentation for more details.
Account Types
DNS Check accounts get created as "Basic" accounts, which are free, but have a couple of limitations in place:
- Basic accounts are limited to checking 10 DNS records at a time
- Basic accounts always query DNS Check's name servers. There is no option to query custom name servers.
You can lift both these restrictions at any time by upgrading to a Professional account. A more detailed comparison of the two plans is on the Features page.
A Professional account can be downgraded to a Basic account at any time from your Profile page.
More Information
We hope that the above introduction provided you with the information you need to get started with DNS Check. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us. You may also find our FAQ and Documentation pages useful.