How to Update DNS Records in DNS Made Easy

DNS Made Easy is a managed DNS platform built for performance and reliability. It operates a global Anycast network optimized for fast DNS resolution, making it a popular choice for organizations that need low-latency DNS with high uptime. This guide walks you through adding and editing SPF, DMARC, MTA-STS, and DKIM DNS records for your domain in DNS Made Easy. Each section includes the exact steps, correct field values, and platform-specific details to get your email authentication records configured correctly.

DNS Made Easy is a DNS hosting service, not a domain registrar. Your domain is registered with a separate registrar, and your nameservers must point to DNS Made Easy's infrastructure for records to resolve. If you have not already configured nameserver delegation, do that first.

Accessing Your DNS Zone

1. Sign in to your DNS Made Easy account at dnsmadeeasy.com.
2. Navigate to DNS > Managed DNS from the main navigation.
3. Select your domain from the domain list. This opens the domain dashboard.
4. Click DNS Records or navigate to the records management section within the domain dashboard.
5. You are now viewing the DNS records for your domain, organized by record type.

DNS Made Easy displays records in a professional table interface with filtering and search capabilities. To add a new record, click the + button or Add Record. To edit an existing record, click on the record row to open the editing panel.

Note: DNS Made Easy requires that your domain's nameservers at your registrar point to DNS Made Easy's nameservers (typically ns0.dnsmadeeasy.com through ns4.dnsmadeeasy.com). Records created here will not resolve if nameserver delegation is not configured.

TXT Records

SPF Record

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) tells receiving mail servers which IP addresses and services are authorized to send email for your domain. Your SPF record is published as a TXT record at the root of your domain.

1. In the DNS records interface, click Add Record or the + button.
2. Select TXT from the record type options.
3. In the Name field, leave it blank or enter the domain root identifier as required by the interface. DNS Made Easy typically uses a blank field for the zone apex.
4. In the Value or TXT Data field, enter your SPF record: v=spf1 include:_spf.mxio.io ~all
5. Set the TTL to 3600 (1 hour). DNS Made Easy supports custom TTL values down to 300 seconds.
6. Click Save or Submit.

If you already have an SPF record, do not create a second one. Multiple SPF records cause a PermError and break email authentication entirely. Edit the existing TXT record that begins with v=spf1 and add include:_spf.mxio.io before the ~all or -all mechanism.

DNS Made Easy supports long TXT records and handles the 255-character string splitting required by the DNS protocol automatically. You do not need to manually split long SPF records into multiple strings.

DMARC Record

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) tells receiving servers how to handle email that fails SPF and DKIM checks. It also enables aggregate reporting so you can see who is sending email as your domain.

1. Click Add Record.
2. Select TXT from the record type options.
3. In the Name field, enter _dmarc. DNS Made Easy will append your domain, resulting in _dmarc.yourdomain.com.
4. In the Value field, enter your DMARC policy: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com
5. Set the TTL to 3600.
6. Click Save.

Replace dmarc@yourdomain.com with the address where you want to receive DMARC aggregate reports. Start with p=none to collect data before enforcing. See the DMARC Deployment Guide for the full progression from none to quarantine to reject.

Note: mxio will support DMARC policy management in a future release.

CNAME Records

MTA-STS

MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security) tells sending servers that your domain supports TLS encryption for inbound email and that they should refuse to deliver over an unencrypted connection. The MTA-STS policy is published via HTTPS, and a CNAME record points to the policy host.

1. Click Add Record.
2. Select CNAME from the record type options.
3. In the Name field, enter _mta-sts. DNS Made Easy will append your domain automatically.
4. In the Value field, enter the CNAME target provided by your MTA-STS hosting service. The web interface accepts the value with or without a trailing dot — DNS Made Easy treats values as fully qualified domain names automatically. If managing records via the DNS Made Easy REST API, include the trailing dot (e.g., mta-sts.your-hosting-provider.com.) to be explicit.
5. Set the TTL to 3600.
6. Click Save.

You also need a TXT record at _smtp._tls to publish the MTA-STS policy version identifier. Follow the same TXT record process described above, using _smtp._tls as the Name and the policy string as the Value.

Note: mxio will support MTA-STS hosting in a future release.

NS Delegation

DKIM Key Hosting

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses cryptographic signatures to verify that an email was sent by an authorized server and that the message body was not altered in transit. DKIM keys are published as DNS records under the _domainkey subdomain.

For centralized DKIM key management, you can delegate the _domainkey subdomain to a dedicated DNS host via NS records.

1. Click Add Record.
2. Select NS from the record type options.
3. In the Name field, enter _domainkey. DNS Made Easy will append your domain, resulting in _domainkey.yourdomain.com.
4. In the Value field, enter the first nameserver provided by your DKIM hosting service.
5. Set the TTL to 3600.
6. Click Save.
7. Repeat for each additional nameserver (typically 2-4 NS records are required for redundancy).

DNS Made Easy fully supports NS delegation for subdomains, which is expected from a dedicated managed DNS platform.

Note: mxio will support DKIM key hosting via NS delegation in a future release.

Verifying Your Changes

After adding or editing DNS records in DNS Made Easy, verify that your changes are live and correct.

1. Use the mxio SPF Checker to validate your SPF record. Enter your domain and confirm that the record resolves correctly, the lookup count is within the 10-lookup limit, and all your sending services are included.
2. Use the mxio DMARC Checker to verify your DMARC record is published and syntactically correct.
3. Use the mxio Domain Health tool for a full overview of your domain's email authentication status, including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX configuration.
4. If you created NS delegation records for DKIM, use the Delegation Health tool to verify that the NS records are resolving correctly and the delegated zone is responding.

DNS Made Easy's global Anycast network provides exceptionally fast DNS propagation. Changes are typically visible within seconds to a few minutes worldwide. This is one of the fastest propagation times of any DNS provider. If your changes are not appearing immediately, clear your local DNS resolver cache and check again.

Troubleshooting

Nameserver delegation not configured

If records in DNS Made Easy are not resolving, verify that your domain's nameservers at your registrar point to DNS Made Easy's nameservers. Log in to your registrar and check the nameserver configuration. DNS Made Easy provides the required nameserver hostnames in your account dashboard.

Duplicate SPF records

Your domain must have exactly one SPF TXT record at the root. If you see two TXT records starting with v=spf1, delete one and merge the include mechanisms into a single record. Use the SPF Checker to confirm you have only one record after merging.

Name field format

DNS Made Easy typically uses a blank name field for the zone apex (root domain). For subdomains, enter only the subdomain portion — the domain is appended automatically. For example, to create a record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com, enter _dmarc in the Name field.

Template conflicts

DNS Made Easy supports DNS templates that can be applied to multiple domains. If your domain uses a template, individual record changes may be overridden when the template is reapplied. Check whether your domain is template-managed under the domain settings and coordinate record changes accordingly.

API and automation conflicts

DNS Made Easy provides a full REST API for DNS management. If your zone is managed via API, Terraform, or other automation, manual changes in the web interface may be overwritten on the next sync. Ensure any manual changes are reflected in your automation configuration to prevent them from being reverted.