Setting up PTR (reverse DNS) records

What is a PTR record?

A PTR Record (sometimes called Reverse DNS Records) is a type of DNS record, that resolves an IP Address back to a domain name or hostname.

If you’re familiar with A records, you can think of a PTR record like a reverse A record.

What services can I set them up on?

PTR records can only be set up on VPS services, we are unable to set up a PTR record on any other type of service, as we can only have one per IP address and most of our shared hosting servers only have 1 or 2 IP addresses each.

Setting up a PTR record

1. Log in to VIPControl.
2. Click on My Services.
3. Click on VPS.
4. Click on Manage next to the VPS service.
5. Click Reverse DNS under Manage.
6. Under Reverse DNS click Edit next to the IP Address you want to set up a PTR record for.
7. Input the domain name or hostname you want the IP Address to resolve to, in the Hostname field.
8. Click Update.

Checking that the PTR record is working

The easiest way to check this would be to simply use this online DNS checker, to see if the PTR record resolves.

You can also use Command Prompt on a Windows computer to run the following command, which will show you the PTR record for an IP Address:

nslookup 123.456.789.000

Or, using the Mac OSX or Linux terminal, you can use this command:

dig -x 123.456.789.000