Hi there,
first post and just signed up to Linode today .. wow what have I been missing? I'm loving Linode and there's so much more depth and control compared to other VPS services I have used!

So, my question - I am currently in the process of transferring everything from another company's VPS to Linode and one of the things I need to configure is the reverse DNS. I'm guessing that because my main domain doesn't currently point to my Linode IP, I am unable to set the reverse DNS (I get the message "Reverse DNS must have a matching forward entry that points to one of your IPs.")

I just wanted to check.. Currently I am using Namecheap's DNS service and I'm happy with it and don't fancy transferring all of the domains I have configured to be honest! But is that going to be OK? Do I need to use Linode's? I'm sure I don't and this is probably a silly/obvious question, but I would like to make sure everything is correctly configured for when I flip the metaphorical switch.

Thanks!

The domain doesn't have to be pointed at Linode's DNS servers; indeed, it doesn't make a difference at all. Simply add an A record pointing at the IP in question and you'll be able to set up a PTR.

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Hi,
That's quite true. In fact, before I switched my own domains over to Linode, I used my registrar's name servers. The only reason I switched name servers is because Linode supports IPV6 AAA records, my current registrar doesn't. If you want to set reverse DNS for your Linode's IPV6 address, you'll want to make sure your registrar supports AAA records.

Blake

Huh?

I thought PTR's had to be delegated by the IP's owner.

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Either provide enough details for people to help, or sit back and listen to the crickets chirp.
Security thru obscurity is a myth - and really really annoying.

Linode PTR records (for the OP, that's what makes reverse DNS happen) are served by Linode in 100% of cases. But the user can manage their forward DNS records (A, AAAA, etc) with Linode or their registrar or via their own DNS servers or whatever. As long as their authoritative servers for the domain serve an A or AAAA record pointing the hostname to the Linode's IP, they can configure reverse DNS in the Linode Manager for that IP/hostname combo.

- Les

You set the A record to your IP address using whatever DNS provider you like (or even run it yourself; that's what I do). Then from the control panel you can set the rDNS to this value; the control panel verifies the A record exists so you can't just pick "a.host.example.com"; you must have set the A record first, thus verifying the value you're trying to set is valid.

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Rgds
Stephen
(Linux user since kernel version 0.11)

Ah! thanks for the info.

//rainbow with the "more you know" swoosh here//

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Either provide enough details for people to help, or sit back and listen to the crickets chirp.
Security thru obscurity is a myth - and really really annoying.

ok thank you everyone, as I expected then, but good to have the reassurance. Still learning more every day!