DNS monitors

DNS monitors run a lookup against a hostname and report whether the record resolves. They catch propagation delays, expired zones, and misconfigured records before your users hit them.

Create a DNS monitor

1. Open Uptime and click Create monitor.
2. Pick DNS as the monitor type.
3. Fill in:
   • Host — the hostname to resolve (for example example.com).
   • DNS server — the resolver to query (for example 1.1.1.1, or your internal resolver).
   • Record type — the record to query: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, or NS. These six are the supported types.
4. Set the check interval and click Create monitor.

What "up" means

The monitor is up when the lookup resolves and returns at least one record of the requested type. A lookup that times out, fails, or returns no matching record puts the monitor in the down state.

The check confirms the record resolves; it does not compare the returned values against an expected answer. A record that resolves to the wrong address still counts as up, so pair the DNS monitor with an HTTP monitor on the same host: the DNS check confirms the name resolves, and the HTTP check fails on content or certificate if the record points somewhere wrong.

Resolution time is recorded on every check and charted on the monitor's detail page, so a resolver that slows down shows a trend before it fails. Because checks run from your own instance, internal resolvers and split-horizon zones can be monitored the same way as public DNS.