21

I'm creating new DNS records in our DC (Windows Server 2016) and I bump into zones where there are a lot of records that do not have a regular hostname, only an "@".

We are using scopes and policies, new Windows Server 2016 features for DNS configuration.

I know that one can use "*" for wildcards in hostnames, but I don't know the meaning of "@".

Hostnames with "@"

3
  • "registers"? Is that a valid term or would entries or records be better? We're talking about resource records (RRs)... Feb 23, 2019 at 2:02
  • @MatthewElvey I think you are right, entries or records sounds better than "registers".
    – jask
    Feb 24, 2019 at 12:28
  • also see serverfault.com/q/83874
    – djvg
    Jan 12, 2023 at 8:48

2 Answers 2

34

If the name for a domain (or zone) is "example.com.", then an @ record indicates that the name for the DNS record is also "example.com."

In the GUI for a Microsoft Windows Server DNS Service, this is (or at least has been for a long time) called "Same as parent folder".

Normally the name used for a DNS record indicates everything before the name of the zone (commonly called the "domain name"). So if you enter a record named "server01" in a DNS zone called "example.com.", then the full record is "server01.example.com." If you want to enter a record where the full record is just "example.com" (which is necessary for a lot of things, like MX records), then you enter an @ in many DNS systems to tell the DNS server to respond to requests for "example.com." with the data you add to the record in question.

2
  • 5
    The example.com is actually shortened example.com. – in DNS server configuration example.com becomes example.com.example.com., because without the tailing dot it's relative to the $ORIGIN, which could be referred with the @. Feb 21, 2019 at 15:41
  • Thanks a lot!! Now I understand better how it works.
    – jask
    Feb 21, 2019 at 21:24
21

For what I could find in the RFC, it stands for

@               A free standing @ is used to denote the current origin.

Source: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1035

Hope it helps

0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .