DNS Settings

DNS settings in Poweradmin can be configured through the config/settings.php file under the dns section or through individual variables in the legacy configuration format.

Configuration Options

Legacy variable	Modern equivalent	Default value	Description	Added in version
$dns_hostmaster	dns.hostmaster	no default	The default email address to use for the SOA record (e.g., 'hostmaster.example.net').
$dns_ns1	dns.ns1	no default	The default primary nameserver.
$dns_ns2	dns.ns2	no default	The default secondary nameserver.
$dns_ns3	dns.ns3	no default	The third nameserver.
$dns_ns4	dns.ns4	no default	The fourth nameserver.
$dns_ttl	dns.ttl	86400	The default TTL for records (in seconds).
$dns_soa	(see below)	28800 7200 604800 86400	SOA settings for refresh, retry, expire and minimum	2.2.3
-	dns.soa_refresh	28800	SOA refresh time	2.2.3
-	dns.soa_retry	7200	SOA retry time	2.2.3
-	dns.soa_expire	604800	SOA expire time	2.2.3
-	dns.soa_minimum	86400	SOA minimum TTL	2.2.3
$dns_strict_tld_check	dns.strict_tld_check	false	If enabled (true), allow official TLDs only.
$dns_top_level_tld_check	dns.top_level_tld_check	false	Don't allow creation of top-level TLDs when true.	2.1.7
$dns_third_level_check	dns.third_level_check	false	Don't allow creation of third-level domains when true.	2.1.7
$dns_txt_auto_quote	dns.txt_auto_quote	false	Automatically quote TXT records when true.	3.9.2
$iface_zone_type_default	dns.zone_type_default	MASTER	Default zone type when creating new zones.	2.1.9
-	dns.prevent_duplicate_ptr	true	Prevent creation of multiple PTR records for same IP in batch operations.	4.0.0
-	dns.domain_record_types	null	Custom record types for domain zones (null uses defaults).	4.0.0
-	dns.reverse_record_types	null	Custom record types for reverse zones (null uses defaults).	4.0.0
-	dns.custom_tlds	[]	Custom TLDs to allow in CNAME targets (e.g., ['dn42', 'home']).	3.x

SOA Record Settings

In the modern configuration format, the SOA settings are configured as individual parameters:

• refresh: The time interval before the zone should be refreshed. Default: 28800 (8 hours)
• retry: The time interval that should elapse before a failed refresh should be retried. Default: 7200 (2 hours)
• expire: The upper limit on the time interval that can elapse before the zone is no longer authoritative. Default: 604800 (1 week)
• minimum: The negative result TTL. Default: 86400 (24 hours)

In the legacy format, these are combined in the $dns_soa variable as a space-separated string.

Record Type Configuration

You can customize which record types are available in the zone editing interface:

• domain_record_types: Array of record types for domain zones. Set to null to use defaults.
• reverse_record_types: Array of record types for reverse zones. Set to null to use defaults.

Example custom configuration:

'dns' => [
    'domain_record_types' => ['A', 'AAAA', 'CNAME', 'MX', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'SRV', 'CAA'],
    'reverse_record_types' => ['PTR', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'CNAME'],
],

Custom TLD Whitelist

By default, CNAME targets are validated to ensure they have a valid top-level domain (alphabetic characters only). This can cause issues in experimental networks like DN42 that use custom TLDs containing numbers (e.g., .dn42).

The custom_tlds option allows you to whitelist custom TLDs that bypass the standard validation:

'dns' => [
    'custom_tlds' => ['dn42', 'home', 'internal', 'lan'],
],

With this configuration, CNAME targets like ns1.example.dn42 will pass validation. The matching is case-insensitive.

Note: Standard alphabetic TLDs (like .com, .org, .net) always work regardless of this setting.

Modern Configuration Example

return [
    'dns' => [
        'hostmaster' => 'hostmaster.example.com',
        'ns1' => 'ns1.example.com',
        'ns2' => 'ns2.example.com',
        'ns3' => 'ns3.example.com',
        'ns4' => 'ns4.example.com',
        'ttl' => 86400,
        // SOA settings
        'soa_refresh' => 28800,
        'soa_retry' => 7200,
        'soa_expire' => 604800,
        'soa_minimum' => 86400,
        'zone_type_default' => 'MASTER',
        'strict_tld_check' => false,
        'top_level_tld_check' => false,
        'third_level_check' => false,
        'txt_auto_quote' => false,
        'prevent_duplicate_ptr' => true,
        'domain_record_types' => null, // Uses default types
        'reverse_record_types' => null, // Uses default types
        'custom_tlds' => [], // Custom TLDs for CNAME validation
    ],
];

Legacy Configuration Example

<?php
// DNS settings
$dns_hostmaster = 'hostmaster.example.com';
$dns_ns1 = 'ns1.example.com';
$dns_ns2 = 'ns2.example.com';
$dns_ns3 = 'ns3.example.com';
$dns_ns4 = 'ns4.example.com';
$dns_ttl = 86400;
$dns_soa = '28800 7200 604800 86400';
$dns_strict_tld_check = false;
$dns_top_level_tld_check = false;
$dns_third_level_check = false;
$dns_txt_auto_quote = false;
$iface_zone_type_default = 'MASTER';