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Make Web Hosting Accessible (DNS)

Domain also registered with Servercow?

Then this guide might be of interest to you: Edit DNS Settings

To correctly link your domain with our web hosting servers, you need to adjust the DNS records at your domain registrar or DNS provider. This ensures that your domain is accessible via both IPv4 and IPv6.

Required DNS Records

Please add the following DNS records or adjust existing ones accordingly:

A Record (IPv4)

  • Type: A
  • Name: @ (represents the main domain, e.g., example.com)
  • Value: You can find the IPv4 address for each domain configured in Plesk under: "Hosting" -> "IP Addresses"
  • TTL: Recommended 3600 seconds (1 hour)

AAAA Record (IPv6)

  • Type: AAAA
  • Name: @
  • Value: You can find the IPv6 address for each domain configured in Plesk under: "Hosting" -> "IP Addresses"
  • TTL: Recommended 3600 seconds

Optional: www Subdomain

If you want your domain to also be accessible via www.example.com, add the following entries:

  • Type: A
  • Name: www
  • Value: You can find the IPv4 address for each domain configured in Plesk under: "Hosting" -> "IP Addresses"

  • TTL: 3600

  • Type: AAAA

  • Name: www
  • Value: You can find the IPv6 address for each domain configured in Plesk under: "Hosting" -> "IP Addresses"
  • TTL: 3600

DNS Records for Email Sending

If your web application needs to send emails (e.g., contact forms, notifications, newsletters), the following additional DNS records are required. The emails are sent via the web server, which uses Servercow's outgoing mail servers.

Why are these Email DNS Records Important?

These DNS records are crucial for successful email delivery:

  • SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Authorizes Servercow's outgoing mail servers as legitimate senders for your domain and prevents other servers from abusing your domain for spam
  • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Cryptographically signs your emails and proves they actually originate from your domain and haven't been tampered with
  • DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication): Instructs receiving servers how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks

Without these records, your emails will frequently be marked as spam or completely rejected, as modern email providers require these authentication mechanisms.

DKIM Record

  • Type: CNAME
  • Name: mx-out._domainkey
  • Value: mx-out._domainkey.servercow.de
  • TTL: 3600

SPF Record

  • Type: TXT
  • Name: @
  • Value: v=spf1 mx include:mx-out.servercow.de -all
  • TTL: 3600
Existing SPF Record Present?

If an SPF record already exists for your domain, you must not replace it but extend it instead. Add include:mx-out.servercow.de before the -all mechanism in your existing SPF record. Example: v=spf1 mx include:otherservice.com include:mx-out.servercow.de -all

DMARC Record

  • Type: TXT
  • Name: _dmarc
  • Value: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; pct=100; adkim=s; aspf=s
  • TTL: 3600

Notes

  • @ represents the main domain (e.g., example.com).
  • TTL (Time to Live) specifies how long the entry is cached in the DNS. A value of 3600 seconds is a good starting point.
  • Changes to DNS records can take up to 24 hours to propagate worldwide (DNS propagation).
  • Ensure there are no conflicting entries to avoid issues.

Verifying DNS Records

After configuration, you can verify the DNS records using the following tools:

dig A example.com
dig AAAA example.com
dig TXT example.com
dig CNAME mx-out._domainkey.example.com

Support

If you need assistance with DNS configuration or have questions, feel free to contact our support team with the details of your domain and DNS provider.