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Auto-PTR

Auto-PTR

Auto-PTR automatically manages PTR records in reverse zones when A or AAAA records change. Enable it per-zone in the Zone Settings card.

How it works

When Auto-PTR is enabled and you save A or AAAA record changes, the application:

  1. Finds the most-specific reverse zone in PowerDNS that covers each IP address.
  2. Creates or replaces a PTR record pointing to the record’s FQDN for every new IP.
  3. Deletes the PTR record for every IP that was removed — but only if it still points to the same FQDN. If the PTR was manually changed to point elsewhere, it is left untouched.

All PTR operations are recorded in the activity log.

Enabling Auto-PTR

  1. Open a forward zone in the editor.
  2. Expand the Zone Settings card.
  3. Check Auto-create PTR records for A / AAAA changes.
  4. Click Update Zone.
Auto-PTR is silently ignored for reverse zones and Slave zones — the checkbox is hidden for those zone types.

Missing reverse zone warning

If Auto-PTR is enabled but no reverse zone exists in PowerDNS for a given IP, a warning toast is shown after saving:

Auto-PTR: no reverse zone found for 192.0.2.1

No PTR record is created in this case. Create the appropriate reverse zone first, then re-save the A/AAAA record.

Example

Zone example.com has Auto-PTR enabled. Reverse zone 2.0.192.in-addr.arpa. exists.

ActionResult
Add www 300 A 192.0.2.1Creates 1.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa. 300 PTR www.example.com.
Change IP to 192.0.2.2Deletes old PTR, creates 2.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa. 300 PTR www.example.com.
Delete www A recordDeletes 2.2.0.192.in-addr.arpa. PTR (if it still points to www.example.com.)
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Managing Records