DNS monitors
Created on 8 August, 2024 • Guides • 2 minutes read
Monitoring DNS records is very similar to monitoring services. The difference is that instead of checking if the service is working properly, it will check if there have been any changes to your domain's DNS configuration. This is important because the slightest error or unauthorized edit can result in the unavailability of your website or an interruption in email delivery.
Adding monitoring
Go to the "DNS monitors" section and click the "Create DNS monitor" button. The name field is a short description of your domain that will be displayed in many places. Let it be a friendly and easy-to-recognize name for you. In this example, I named the monitoring "Test domain". The next field is the name of the domain you want to monitor. Remember that you can monitor both the main domain, e.g. example.pl as well as subpage.example.pl. Also, do not enter the prefixes http:// and https://. I also recommend that you do not add a domain with the www prefix, e.g. www.example.pl. This will significantly limit the monitored DNS records. Then you will see the available notification channels.
ATTENTION! If you do not select any - you will not receive information about changes in the DNS configuration!
The last important thing is how often the application should monitor your DNS configuration. Depending on your plan, there are different time intervals available - from five minutes (300 seconds) all the way to one day (86400 seconds). These three simple settings will allow you to create a working DNS monitoring - click "Create" to save, after which you will be taken to a summary page. The summary page will be blank until the first check - this usually takes a few minutes seconds.
Edit
Now return to the DNS monitoring edit page. You can do this at any time by clicking the context menu and selecting "Edit". This option is available both on the summary page and on the list of your monitored DNS records for each domain.
Once you enter edit mode, you will notice that the form looks almost exactly like when adding. There is a new checkbox that allows you to disable service checking. This option is useful when you consciously update DNS records and want to temporarily disable their monitoring. If you have a package that allows access to the API, you can automate this operation.
Advanced settings
Both when adding and editing monitoring, you see the "Advanced settings" button on the form. It allows for more precise configuration. After clicking, you will see additional options:
- DNS record types - you can select the record types you are interested in. For example, for the main domain, it is recommended to select all available types, but for a subdomain, NS or SOA types do not make sense in most cases (unless the subdomain is hosted on a different DNS server). You can read more about DNS record types here.
- Project - thanks to this option, you can connect DNS monitoring to the selected project.
Now you know all the possibilities and configuration options available for DNS monitoring in the VirtualEyes application. Whether you run a simple website or an advanced web application, the variety of configurations will allow you to monitor the most important DNS entries. In case of doubt, you can always contact me using the "Contact" tab.