The dns utility is used to manage DNS zones on domains and domain aliases through CLI. By using this utility, you can perform the following tasks:

  • adding resource records to or deleting them from a domain’s or domain alias’ DNS zone
  • enabling or disabling a local DNS service on a domain or domain alias
  • setting Plesk name server as the master or slave server for a DNS zone
  • assigning external master DNS servers for a DNS zone
  • enabling or disabling the www-prefixed alias (in the www.<domain name> form) support for canonical domain names
  • updating the Start-of-Authority (SOA) record for a DNS zone

Usage 

dns <command> [<domain_name>|<domain_alias>] [
<option_1> [<param>]
[<option_2> [<param>]]
... [<option_N> [<param>]]
]

Example

The following command removes all pre-existing resource records from the DNS zone on the domain example.com and adds the following two records to the DNS zone:

  • new MX resource record mail3.example.com specifying domain name mail.example.com as the mail exchanger and setting the mail exchanger’s priority to 15

  • new NS resource record ns2.example.com setting domain ns.example.com as the name server

    plesk bin dns --set example.com -list "MX,mail3,mail.example.com,15;NS,ns2,ns.example.com"

Commands

Command Parameter Description Example
--add or -a <domain_name>|<domain_alias>

Adds a resource record to a domain’s DNS zone.

If a record already exists, the command returns code 2.

To add an MX resource record mail3.example.com to the DNS zone on the domain example.com and specify mail exchanger mail.example.com for the record:

plesk bin dns --add example.com -mx mail3 -mailexchanger mail.example.com

or

plesk bin dns -a example.com -mx mail3 -mailexchanger mail.example.com

--set or -s <domain_name>|<domain_alias>

Adds specified resource records to and removes all pre-existing resource records from a domain’s DNS zone.

Requires the -list option.

To add the following two resource records to the DNS zone of domain example.com, while removing all pre-existing resource records from the DNS zone:

  • new MX resource record mail3.example.com specifying domain name mail.example.com as the mail exchanger for the record, and setting the mail exchanger’s priority to 15:

  • new NS resource record ns2.example.com setting domain ns.example.com as the name server:

    plesk bin dns --set example.com -list "MX,mail3,example.com,15;NS,ns2,ns.example.com"

or

plesk bin dns -s example.com -list "MX,mail3,example.com,15;NS,ns2,ns.example.com"

--del or -d <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Deletes a resource record from a domain’s DNS zone.

To delete an existing MX resource record mail3.example.com (for which mail exchanger mail.example.com is specified) from the DNS zone for the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --del example.com -mx mail3 -mailexchanger mail.example.com

or

plesk bin dns -d example.com -mx mail3 -mailexchanger mail.example.com

--del-all or -da <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Deletes all resource records from a domain’s DNS zone.

To delete all existing resource records from the DNS zone for the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --del-all example.com

or

plesk bin dns -da example.com

--reset or -res <domain_name>|<domain_alias>

Restores the default resource records for a domain’s zone based on the Plesk server DNS zone template.

Requires the -ip option.

To restore the default resource records for a domain’s zone based on the Plesk server DNS zone template:

plesk bin dns --reset example.com -ip 192.0.2.9

or

plesk bin dns -res example.com -ip 192.0.2.9

--on <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Enables DNS service on a domain or domain alias.

To enable DNS service on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --on example.com

--off <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Disables DNS service on a domain or domain alias.

To disable DNS service on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --off example.com

--set-master <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Sets the Plesk name server as the master server for domain’s or domain alias’ DNS zone.

To set the Plesk name server as the master server for DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --set-master example.com

--set-slave <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Sets the Plesk name server as the slave server for domain’s or domain alias’ DNS zone.

To set the Plesk name server as the slave server for DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --set-slave example.com

--update-soa <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Updates the SOA record settings for domain’s or domain alias’ DNS zone.

To set the TTL value for the SOA record of the DNS zone on the domain example.com to 5 hours:

plesk bin dns --update-soa example.com -soa-ttl 5H

--info <domain_name>|<domain_alias> Displays the list of resource records for a domain’s or domain alias’ DNS zone.

To view the list of resource records in the DNS zone for the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --info example.com

--help or -h   Displays help on the use of the utility.

To view help on the use of the dns utility:

plesk bin dns --help

or

plesk bin dns -h

Options

Option Parameter Description Example
-a ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the A type resource record for a subdomain in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -ip option.

To add an A resource record sample.example.com specifying IP address 192.0.2.78 for the subdomain to the DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -a sample -ip 192.0.2.78

To add an AAAA resource record sample.example.com specifying IP address 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334 for the subdomain to the DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -aaaa sample -ip 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334

-aaaa ''| <subdomain_name>  

Specifies the AAAA type resource record for a subdomain in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -ip option.
-ip <IP_address>  

Specifies an address for creating a resource record (IPv4 for A type records and IPv6 for AAAA type records) in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.
-ns ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the NS type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -nameserver option.

To add an NS resource record ns2.example.com specifying domain name example.net as the name server to the DNS zone on domain name example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -ns ns2 -nameserver example.net

-nameserver <domain_name>   Specifies the name of a nameserver for creating an NS type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.
-mx ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the MX type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -mailexchanger option.

To add an MX resource record mail3.example.com specifying domain name mail.example.com as the mail exchanger for the record, and setting the mail exchanger’s priority to the DNS zone on the domain example.com to 15:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -mx mail3 -mailexchanger mail.example.com -priority 15

-mailexchanger <domain_name>   Specifies the name of a mail exchanger for creating an MX type DNS record in a domain’s DNS zone.
-priority [0-50]   Specifies the mail exchanger priority (0 - the highest, 50 - the lowest) for creating an MX type DNS record in a domain’s DNS zone.
-cname ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the CNAME type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -canonical option.

To add a CNAME type resource record sample.example.com for a canonical name example.org to the DNS zone on domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --add example.com -cname sample -canonical example.org

-canonical <domain_name> Specifies a canonical name for creating a CNAME type DNS record in a domain’s DNS zone.  
-ptr ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the PTR type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the -subnet option.

To add a PTR type DNS record 192.0.2.1/16 for the subdomain sample to the DNS zone for the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -ptr sample -subnet 192.0.2.1/16

-subnet <IP_address> | <subnet_mask> Specifies an IP address and a subnet mask for creating a PTR type DNS record in a domain’s DNS zone.  
-srv ''| <subdomain_name>

Specifies the SRV type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.

Requires the use of options -srv-service, -srv-target-host, -srv-port.

To add an SRV record to make domain example.com handle SIP protocol connections, that will point to a server named sipserver.sample.com listening on TCP port 5060. The priority given here is 0, and the weight is 5:

plesk bin dns --add example.com -srv '' -srv-service sip -srv-target-host sipserver.sample.com. -srv-protocol TCP -srv-port 5060 -srv-priority 0 -srv-weight 5

-srv-priority [0-50]   Specifies priority of the SRV record (0 - the highest, 50 - the lowest).
-srv-weight [0-50]   Specifies relative weight of the SRV record among records with the same priority (0 - the lowest, 50 - the highest).
-srv-port [0-65535]   Specifies the port on which the service is to be found (for SRV record).
-srv-target-host <host>   Specifies canonical hostname of the machine providing the service (for SRV record).
-srv-protocol TCP|UDP   Specifies the service protocol for SRV record.
-srv-service <service>   Specifies symbolic name of the service for SRV record.
-txt ''|<text>

Specifies the TXT type resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands.

Requires the -domain option if the record is created for a subdomain of a domain.

To specify the TXT type DNS record “This record is used to implement the Senders Policy Framework and DKIM specifications” for the subdomain name sample in the DNS zone for the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -txt "This record is used to implement the Senders Policy Framework and DKIM specifications" -domain sample

-domain <subdomain_name>  

Specifies a subdomain name for creating a TXT or DS resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands only.
-ds ''|"<key-tag> <algorithm> <digest-type> <digest>"

Specifies the DS resource record in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add and --del commands.

Requires the -domain option if the record is created for a subdomain or additional domain on a subscription.

The information about the DS records that you need to add to the parent zone is available in Plesk UI in DNSSEC settings of a domain.

To specify the DNS record of the DS type for the subdomain sample in the DNS zone of the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --add example.com -domain sample -ds "62181 10 2 6CBB33AB0260421C08968A4384AE38778FC88E740B660336A5CF7900 8F3AF9AD"

-www true|false

Enables/Disables support of the www-prefixed alias for a canonical domain name in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --reset command only.

Creates/Deletes a CNAME type resource record in the www.<domain_name> form.

To enable support of the www-prefixed alias www.example.com (pointing to domain example.com) in the DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -res example.com -www true -ip 192.0.2.94

-primary <IP_address>

Adds an IP address of a primary DNS server for a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --add --del and --reset commands only.

To add the IP address 192.0.2.78 of the primary DNS server for DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns -a example.com -primary 192.0.2.78

-soa-ttl <number>[S|M|H|D|W]

Sets the TTL value for the SOA record of a domain’ or domain alias’ DNS zone.

Used with the --update-soa command only.

To set the TTL value to 5 hours, the Refresh value to 4 hours, the Retry value to 10 seconds, the Expire value to 2 weeks, and the Minimum value to 2 days for the SOA record in the DNS zone on the domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --update-soa example.com -soa-ttl 5H -soa-refresh 4H -soa-retry 10S -soa-expire 2W -soa-minimum 2D

-soa-refresh <number>[S|M|H|D|W]  

Sets the Refresh value for the SOA record of a domain’ or domain alias’ DNS zone.

Used with the --update-soa command only.
-soa-retry <number>[S|M|H|D|W]  

Sets the Retry value for the SOA record of a domain’ or domain alias’ DNS zone.

Used with the --update-soa command only.
-soa-expire <number>[S|M|H|D|W]  

Sets the Expire value for the SOA record of a domain’ or domain alias’ DNS zone.

Used with the --update-soa command only.
-soa-minimum <number>[S|M|H|D|W]  

Sets the Minimum value for the SOA record of a domain’ or domain alias’ DNS zone.

Used with the --update-soa command only.
-soa-serial-format timestamp|yyyymmddnn

Specifies format of SOA record serial number: UNIX timestamp or recommended by IETF and RIPE.

Used with the --update-soa command only.

To change the SOA record serial format to recommended by IETF and RIPE for domain example.com:

plesk bin dns --update-soa example.com -soa-serial-format yyyymmddnn

-list

"<record_1>;<record_2>;...<record_N>"

where the <record> parameter is composed according to the following rules:

  • for MX record: MX,<subdomain_name>,<mail_exchanger_name>,<priority>
  • for NS record: NS,<subdomain_name>,<name_server_name>
  • for A record: A,<subdomain_name>,<IP_address>
  • for PTR record: PTR,<IP_address/subnet_mask>,<subdomain_name>
  • for CNAME record: CNAME,<subdomain_name>,<canonical_domain_name>
  • for TXT record: TXT,<subdomain_name>,<text>
  • for DS record: DS,<subdomain_name>,<key-tag> <algorithm> <digest-type> <digest>

For adding resource records of respective types individually, consult descriptions of the options in this table.

Specifies resource records to be included in a domain’s DNS zone.

Used with the --set command only.

To add the following two resource records to the DNS zone of the domain example.com, while removing all pre-existing resource records from the DNS zone:

  • new MX resource record mail3.example.com specifying domain name mail.example.com as the mail exchanger for the record, and setting the mail exchanger’s priority to 15:

  • new NS resource record ns2.example.com setting domain ns.example.com as the name server:

    plesk bin dns -s example.com -list "MX,mail3,mail.example.com,15;NS,ns2,ns.example.com"