2.7DNS
What it checks#
DNS turns names such as acme.io into addresses. A DNS monitor looks up one record for a domain. If you give expected values, it checks that the answer matches. It can also check your mail records and spam blocklists. Chapter 6 covers these in full.
When it is up, degraded or down#
- Up: the lookup returned records. If you set expected values, at least one record equals one expected value.
- Degraded: the lookup was slower than your slow limit, if you set one.
- Down: no records (
dns A acme.io: no records returned), or no match (dns A acme.io: expected one of [...], got [...]).
Configuration#
DNS monitors have no timeout field.
| Dashboard field | Default | Limits and notes |
|---|---|---|
| name | Empty | Required. Up to 200 characters, on one line. |
| check interval | 60 seconds | At least 1 second. Your plan's minimum interval still applies: below it the form shows Your plan checks at most every N seconds. |
| locations | None (runs from us-west) | Choose from the regions shown. The check runs from each one you pick. |
| on failure — notify | None (all team channels) | Pick channels to limit who is alerted. Shown only when your team has channels. |
| domain | Empty | Required. Domain only, such as acme.io. A scheme, port or path gives Domain only — no scheme, port or path. |
| record type | A | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SPF, DMARC, DKIM or BLACKLIST. |
| expected values | One empty row | Optional. Passes if any returned record matches any expected value. |
Assertions supported#
The dashboard has no assertions section for DNS. Through the API you can add a response_time_ms assertion.
Example#
{"name": "acme.io A record", "domain": "acme.io", "recordType": "A",
"expectedValues": ["76.76.21.21"], "intervalSeconds": 300}Good to know#
- With no expected values, the monitor only checks that the record resolves.
ListDnsRecordTypesreturns the record types you can use.