Britixo CRMBritixo CRMEnterprise Help Centre
Ctrl K
Shared server guidance · Question & answer

How do I check A, AAAA, MX, TXT and reverse DNS records from a server?

Use a targeted DNS query for the record type relevant to the service. Web traffic normally depends on address records, email also depends on mail-routing and policy records, and reverse DNS maps an IP back to a name. A DNS lookup reads published data; it does not change the zone or prove application ownership.

BeginnerLinux servers with ISC BIND dig installed

Britixo Help Centre · Updated

Go to the answer

Before you start

  • The actual domain or IP you are checking.
  • The authoritative nameserver name if comparing a recent DNS change.

Instructions

1. Query the relevant record types

Replace example.com and app.example.com with your domain. TXT records can contain several unrelated policies; identify the specific record name rather than treating every TXT answer as email configuration.

Remote Linux shell
dig app.example.com A +short
dig app.example.com AAAA +short
dig example.com MX +short
dig example.com TXT +short

Asks separately for address, mail exchange and text records. A CNAME may appear as part of the answer.

2. Check reverse DNS

Use the server’s actual assigned public IP. Reverse DNS is often controlled by the IP provider rather than the ordinary domain DNS editor.

Remote Linux shell
dig -x 203.0.113.10 +short

Performs a PTR lookup for the example IPv4 address.

3. Compare authoritative and cached answers

Find the zone’s nameservers, then query the real authoritative server directly. The full answer includes TTL and status, which are useful when a cached answer has not expired.

Remote Linux shell
dig example.com NS +short
dig @ns1.example.com app.example.com A +noall +answer

Replace ns1.example.com with an authoritative server returned for the actual zone.

Check the result

  • The record name, type, value and authoritative source match the intended service configuration.

Troubleshooting

A new record is not visible everywhere
Compare the authoritative answer with the configured resolver and wait for applicable cache lifetimes. Also check delegated nameservers; editing an unused DNS zone has no public effect.

Official references

Use the documentation for your installed version when a flag, service name or platform feature differs.