DNS
Overview
Section titled “Overview”The DNS monitor queries a DNS record and checks it resolves to the value you expect. It catches problems a plain uptime check misses entirely — your server can be perfectly healthy while a DNS misconfiguration, an expired record, or a registrar issue quietly routes traffic nowhere.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Host | The domain or hostname to query | — |
| Record type | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, CAA, or SRV | A |
| DNS server | IP of the resolver to query, optionally ip:port (the agent’s system resolver if unset). Must be a public IP, not a hostname. | — |
| Expected value | The value the record should resolve to | — |
| Interval | Check frequency | shortest your plan allows |
Use cases
Section titled “Use cases”- Verify a migration — Confirm an
AorCNAMErecord actually points at the new infrastructure after a DNS change. - Catch registrar/DNS provider outages — A
NScheck against your authoritative servers flags the issue at the source, not just its downstream symptom. - Watch
MXrecords — Make sure mail routing hasn’t silently drifted after a provider change. - Track
TXT/CAArecords — Useful for SPF/DKIM or certificate-authority-authorization records that are easy to break without noticing.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”The monitor resolves the given record type for the host (against the configured DNS server, or a default public resolver) and compares the result to the expected value. The check fails if resolution errors out, times out, or the result doesn’t match what you specified.
Metrics collected
Section titled “Metrics collected”Every check records the resolution status (matched / mismatched / failed), the resolved value, and the query latency, so you can also track DNS response time over time.