DNS templates

A zone template is a named group of record templates. It can help you apply a known DNS setup—such as the records for a mail provider—to one or more zones. Templates do not create zones, and they do not check whether a third-party service has accepted the resulting DNS settings.

Find and review templates

Open Templates to browse the templates available to you. Select one to review its description, records, variables, sharing settings, and history. The list can include global templates, templates owned by your organisation, and templates shared by another organisation where you are a member.

  • Global templates are available to all users and can only be edited by platform administrators.
  • Shared templates remain owned by one organisation. Members of that organisation can use them in other organisations they belong to.
  • A template that is not shared stays available to its owning organisation and to users who can otherwise access it.

Create a template

You need template-edit permission in the organisation that will own the template.

  1. Open Templates and choose Add Template.
  2. Select the owning organisation, enter a name and description, and choose whether to share it with your other organisations, if that option is available.
  3. Set Auto PTR only if applying the template should change the zone’s automatic reverse-DNS policy. Leave it unchanged for templates that only add records.
  4. Save the template. Open it and choose Record Templates to add the DNS records it should contain.
  5. For each record, choose the type and enter its name and content. You can use placeholders such as {{mail-host}} in names or content. Define the required parameters on the parent template and describe what each value should contain.
  6. Review the template and its record history. Keep secrets out of templates; anyone who can apply a shared template may see its values.

Only platform administrators can create a global template. Most customers should create an organisation-owned template instead.

Apply a template to one zone

  1. Open Zones, then open the target zone’s record list.
  2. Choose Apply Template, select a template, and enter any requested variable values.
  3. Review the records that will be added and any Auto PTR policy change.
  4. Apply the template. If your role cannot approve its own DNS changes, the application submits the change for review; it does not reach live DNS until an authorised user approves it.

Check the resulting records after they are applied. The template may be valid but still need values specific to your provider or service.

Apply a template to several zones

Select zones in Zones and choose the bulk Apply Template action if it is available to your role. Bulk apply can substitute the built-in {{domain-name}} value, but it cannot ask for other custom variables. If a template needs values such as a mail host or verification token, apply it to each zone separately. Review the bulk confirmation: a template with an Auto PTR setting changes that policy on every selected zone.

Edit, share, or delete a template

Open the template and choose Edit to update its description, parameters, records, or sharing settings. Review History to see recorded template changes. Deleting a template removes it from future use; it does not remove DNS records already created from it.

Template access is separate from permission to edit records. Applying a template still follows the organisation’s record permissions and approval rules. See team management for role access and PTR records for the Auto PTR choices.