Manage records in the Lantern DNS editor

Lantern DNS is the DNS editor in the LightServe control panel. It controls where your domain's names point, whether that is a website, an email server, or a verification service. This guide walks through adding, editing and checking records. Button labels may change over time, but the ideas stay the same.

Before you begin

• A LightServe account with access to the control panel.
• A domain whose DNS is managed in Lantern DNS, such as example.com.
• The dig tool on your VPS for checking your work. Install it with sudo apt install -y dnsutils.

Step 1: Open the zone for your domain

Sign in to the LightServe control panel, open Lantern DNS, and select your domain. The list of records shows each record's name, type, value and TTL. The TTL is how long resolvers may cache the answer, in seconds.

Step 2: Understand the fields

• Name: the part of the name before your domain. Use www for www.example.com. Use @ for the bare domain, example.com.
• Type: the kind of record. A points to an IPv4 address, AAAA to an IPv6 address, CNAME to another name, MX to a mail server, and TXT holds text.
• Value: the target, such as 203.0.113.10.
• TTL: the cache time in seconds. 300 is five minutes and 3600 is one hour.

Step 3: Add an A record

To point the bare domain at your server, create a record with name @, type A, value 203.0.113.10, and TTL 3600. Save it, then check the result from your VPS:

dig +short example.com A

203.0.113.10

Step 4: Add a CNAME for www

A CNAME makes one name an alias for another name. Create a record with name www, type CNAME, and value example.com. The target must be a hostname, not an IP address.

dig +short www.example.com CNAME

example.com.

A CNAME cannot share a name with other records. If you already have an A record for www, delete it first.

Step 5: Add a TXT record

Services often ask you to prove ownership by adding a TXT record with a code they provide. Paste the value exactly as given. Add extra quotation marks only if the editor asks for them.

dig +short example.com TXT

"verification=abc123example"

Step 6: Edit or delete a record

To change a record, open it, edit the value or TTL, and save. To delete one, check the record carefully first, because deleting it removes the answer immediately.

Step 7: Verify from the server

After saving, query the name again. Remember that caches may take up to the old TTL to refresh. Use the authoritative query method described in Troubleshoot DNS with dig when you need the newest answer.

Troubleshooting

• The record saved but dig shows the old value. Your resolver is still using a cached answer. Wait for the TTL to pass, or query the authoritative nameserver directly.
• You cannot add a CNAME. Another record already uses that name. Delete the conflicting record, then add the CNAME.
• The name looks doubled, such as www.example.com.example.com. The editor may add your domain automatically. Enter only the short name, such as www, and read the preview before saving.
• Changes do not appear at all. Confirm you are editing the zone for the domain you are testing, and that the domain's nameservers point to LightServe. If you are unsure, contact LightServe support via chat or email.

Next steps

Lower the TTL before any planned change by following Lower your TTL before a migration. To point subdomains at one server, see Set up wildcard subdomains.