After getting settled in here at Linode, I found something that seems to be a simple improvement:

When editing A records in the DNS manager, could we have the IP field auto-populate with IPs assigned to our Linodes? I know it's not too hard to copy and paste from the previous screen, but I never remember that until I'm already halfway through editing a record, and then I have to go back, copy the address, and try again.

Obviously, not the biggest issue out there, but it seems like it would be simple to grab the IPs associated with Linodes in my account and allow me to select them or, if desired, enter an IP address of my own.

Anyone else think this is a good idea? Or am I all alone on my little island of crazy?

Thanks,
Nick

My browser (Firefox 8.0) offers to auto-complete each field as soon as I enter the first letter or number. It's not as convenient as having it auto-populated to begin with; but it's nowhere near as inconvenient as having to go back and copy/paste it, either.

Any attempt to have those fields auto-populated would have to take into account customers who have multiple Linodes and/or multiple IP addresses per Linode. Auto-populating with the wrong IP address would be even worse than doing nothing.

hybinet: True, auto-complete does work (although I clear cache / auto-fill after each browser session, so that doesn't help me in particular).

But would it be that hard to just add a drop-down that looks like this?

12.34.567.89 -> Name of Associated Linode
...
...
...

This isn't meant to suggest an IP who doesn't know which one to use, it's just meant to jog the memory of those who can't remember IPs off the top of their heads. Especially with the name of the Linode attached to the IP in the list, it would be a no-brainer for simple configs, and more advanced configs would most likely be done by someone who knows DNS and I doubt it would be an issue.

But, unless more people comment, I'm assuming this is a non-issue for most people here (everyone must have a better memory than me - or they're less paranoid and let auto-complete values stick around). Just wanted to see if others would find this as useful as I'm imagining it.

~Nick

I don't have many IP's but I admit it would be convenient to have a drop down list for IPv4 or even maybe a popup list of your assigned IPs. That doesn't help for IPv6 though, you'd have a large list.

Phew, I'm not alone! I have to say, I hadn't even thought of IPv6 though, I was only thinking of IPv4!

In the case of IPv6, it could list off nodes' main IPs, which probably covers most users. Even for pool users, it could list off IPs that have reverse DNS set. Which would also accomplish the goal of encouraging people to set reverse DNS.

_________________
Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)

RDNS lists would significantly reduce the number of my IPv6 addresses. Actually, it's even smaller now, I had to disable IPv6 on one domain because PayPal rejects IPv6 IP addresses as invalid and my transactions were getting denied when visitors with IPv6 tried to complete a transaction.