DNS Record Type Customization

Overview

Poweradmin 4.0.0 allows you to customize which DNS record types are available when creating or editing records in both domain (forward) zones and reverse zones. This feature helps simplify the user interface by showing only the record types relevant to your specific DNS needs.

Configuration Options

The record type customization is configured in the dns section of your settings.php file with two key settings:

'dns' => [
    // Other DNS settings...

    // Record Type Settings
    'domain_record_types' => null,  // For forward zones (A, AAAA, MX, etc.)
    'reverse_record_types' => null, // For reverse zones (PTR, etc.)
]

Default Behavior

By default, both settings are set to null, which means Poweradmin will display all supported record types for the respective zone type.

Customizing Domain (Forward) Zone Record Types

To customize which record types are available when editing forward zones:

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

This example shows a typical configuration with common record types. You can add or remove types based on your requirements.

Customizing Reverse Zone Record Types

Similarly, you can customize which record types are available when editing reverse zones:

'reverse_record_types' => ['PTR', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'CNAME'],

Zone Templates

When editing zone templates, Poweradmin will automatically show the combined list of both domain_record_types and reverse_record_types to ensure all potential record types for template use are available.

Pinning Popular Record Types to the Top (4.4.0)

By default, record types appear alphabetically in selectors. If you regularly create the same handful of record types, you can pin them to the top of every record type dropdown using top_record_types:

'dns' => [
    // Other DNS settings...
    'top_record_types' => ['A', 'AAAA', 'CNAME', 'TXT', 'MX'],
]

Pinned types appear first in the order you list them; all remaining types follow alphabetically. Leave the setting as null (the default) for the original alphabetical-only behavior.

Notes:

• Pinning composes with domain_record_types and reverse_record_types. If a pinned type isn't part of the visible set for a given zone (for example, A in a reverse zone), it is silently skipped.
• Unknown record types in the list are silently ignored, so typos won't break the selector.
• The setting applies to every record type selector in the UI (Add Record, Edit Record, Bulk Add, etc.).

Supported Record Types

Poweradmin supports the following DNS record types that can be included in your customized lists:

Record Type	Description	Typically Used In
A	Maps a domain name to an IPv4 address	Domain zones
AAAA	Maps a domain name to an IPv6 address	Domain zones
CNAME	Creates an alias for another domain name	Both
MX	Specifies mail servers for the domain	Domain zones
NS	Specifies name servers for the domain	Both
PTR	Maps an IP address to a domain name (reverse lookup)	Reverse zones
SOA	Start of Authority, contains administrative information	Both
SRV	Specifies location of services (like SIP, XMPP)	Domain zones
TXT	Contains text information (often used for verification)	Both
CAA	Specifies which Certificate Authorities can issue certificates	Domain zones
DNSKEY	Public key for DNSSEC	Both
DS	Delegation Signer, contains hash of DNSKEY record	Both
NAPTR	Name Authority Pointer for ENUM and other transformations	Domain zones
SSHFP	SSH Public Key Fingerprint	Domain zones
TLSA	TLS Authentication association	Domain zones

Use Cases

1. Simplifying the Interface: Hide rarely used record types to make the interface cleaner
2. Preventing Errors: Limit available record types to prevent misconfiguration
3. Specialized Deployments: Tailor the interface for specific DNS use cases

Example Configurations

Basic Web Server Configuration

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

DNSSEC-Focused Configuration

'domain_record_types' => ['A', 'AAAA', 'CNAME', 'MX', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'DNSKEY', 'DS'],
'reverse_record_types' => ['PTR', 'NS', 'SOA'],

Full-Featured Configuration

'domain_record_types' => [
    'A', 'AAAA', 'CNAME', 'MX', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'SRV', 'CAA', 
    'DNSKEY', 'DS', 'NAPTR', 'SSHFP', 'TLSA'
],
'reverse_record_types' => ['PTR', 'NS', 'SOA', 'TXT', 'CNAME'],