Setup Reverse DNS and PTR records

Configuration of a reverse DNS record on the public IP of an instance

In this tutorial, you will learn how to configure the reverse DNS record of your public IP address.

What you need

• A Scaleway Account
• A cloud instance with a public IP address

What is reverse DNS

Reverse DNS, or rDNS, is exactly the opposite of classic forward DNS as we know it. Forward DNS maps a hostname to an IP address. Reverse DNS means we are mapping the IP address to a hostname. This can be very useful, especially if you want to send emails from your server.

If you are using the default reverse DNS (*.pub.cloud.scaleway.com), you may experience problems with deliverability of your emails and during the subscription of certain tools like JMRP (Junk Mail Reporting Program) and SNDS (Smart Network Data Services) - services provided by Microsoft to whitelist your IP’s on their email servers.

Setting up a Personal Reverse DNS Record

Important: To complete this tutorial, you have to configure a matching A-record pointing to your IP address. If you have created the A record recently, it may take up to 24 hours before the operation can be completed.

Login to the Scaleway console click on Instances in the menu on the left, then on the Reserved IPs tab above the instances list.

Click on … next to the IP address to configure, then on Edit reverse in the scroll-down menu to configure the reverse DNS:

Fill-in the reverse DNS to associate with the IP (generally it is corresponding to your hostname), and save it by clicking the checkbox.

Note: Once the reverse DNS has been updated, it may take up to 24 hours before the propagation occurred.