Features
DNS monitoring
DNS monitoring checks on a schedule that a hostname still resolves, and alerts you when it stops. Uptimely asks DNS for the record type you choose, and an error, a timeout or an empty answer fails the check. Alerts go out by email, SMS, phone call, Slack, Discord and browser push.
DNS is the step that happens before every request to your service. When a record is deleted, a zone is misconfigured or a DNS provider has an outage, your servers can be perfectly healthy while nobody can reach them, and a check that loads your site from inside your own network may keep working from a cache. A DNS monitor asks the question directly: does this name still resolve?
A DNS monitor takes a hostname and a record type and runs the lookup. An answer with at least one record passes. A lookup that errors, times out or comes back empty fails, the monitor goes down, and by default it opens an incident after two failed checks in a row. The incident resolves itself when the name resolves again.
Be clear about what it does not do. It checks that the record resolves, not what it resolves to: it does not compare the answer with an address or value you expect, so a record that changes to a different address still passes. It also asks one resolver at one moment, so right after a change you may see the old answer until its TTL expires.
DNS record types you can monitor
| Record type | What the lookup asks for | Where to set it |
|---|---|---|
| A | The IPv4 addresses for the name | Dashboard and API |
| AAAA | The IPv6 addresses for the name | Dashboard and API |
| CNAME | The target an alias points to, such as a www or status subdomain | Dashboard and API |
| MX | The mail servers that receive email for the domain | Dashboard and API |
| NS | The name servers for the zone | Dashboard and API |
| TXT | Text records, such as SPF or domain verification entries | Dashboard and API |
| SOA | The zone's start-of-authority record (a single record) | Dashboard and API |
| PTR | Pointer records at the name you enter, used for reverse DNS | Dashboard and API |
| SRV | Service records that point a service at a host and port | Dashboard and API |
| CAA | The certificate authorities allowed to issue for the domain | API only: set dns_record_type to CAA |
How a DNS check works
- What counts as a failure. Any error from the lookup, such as a name that does not exist or a server that fails to answer, a lookup that times out, or an answer with no records in it.
- A retry before it fails. A failed lookup is tried up to three times, one second apart, using a 5-second query timeout. A lookup that times out is not retried. The timeout and the retry count are fixed; the dashboard has no field for them.
- Fewer false alarms. A worsening check is re-checked before it counts, and an incident needs two failed checks in a row by default. You can set that anywhere from 1 to 10 per monitor.
- Public names only. Uptimely checks public DNS. A single-label name such as db, and a DNS server on a private address, are refused and the check fails with a message that says so. Other internal-only names usually fail because the check runs from Uptimely's servers, which use public DNS.
- Check now. Run a DNS check on demand from the monitor page to confirm a fix without waiting for the next interval.
- Alerts on every channel. Alerts go out by email, SMS, phone call, Slack, Discord and browser push, and an on-call policy decides who is paged and in what order.
How it works
- Create a monitor and choose DNS.
- Enter the hostname to resolve, such as example.com or status.example.com.
- Choose the DNS record type: A for a website, MX for mail, CNAME for an alias.
- Pick how often to check it.
- Choose who hears about it: email, SMS, phone call, Slack, Discord and browser push.
What the Free plan includes
- 10 monitors: one per hostname and record type you watch
- A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SOA, PTR and SRV lookups
- Incidents, on-call and alerts
- No credit card, and no time limit
Every plan and limit is on the pricing page.
Questions
What is DNS monitoring?
DNS monitoring is checking on a schedule that a domain's DNS records still resolve, so a deleted record, a broken zone or a DNS provider outage is caught before your users report it. Uptimely does it with a DNS monitor: it looks up the record type you chose for a hostname, and an error, a timeout or an empty answer fails the check and, after two failed checks in a row by default, opens an incident.
How do I monitor DNS records?
Create a monitor, choose DNS, enter the hostname and pick the record type, such as A for a website or MX for mail. Uptimely runs the lookup on the interval you choose and alerts your team when the record stops resolving. To cover several record types for one domain, add one monitor per type.
What is DNS query monitoring?
DNS query monitoring means running a real DNS query for a name and judging the result, instead of inferring DNS health from whether a page loaded. Every Uptimely DNS check is one such query. It passes when the lookup returns at least one record of the type you chose and fails on an error, a timeout or an empty answer.
Can Uptimely monitor my DNS server?
Indirectly. A DNS monitor resolves your name from Uptimely's servers, so if your DNS provider goes down and the name stops resolving, the monitor fails and alerts you. It does not let you point a monitor at one specific DNS server or check each of your name servers separately; the dashboard has no field for that today.
Does it alert when a DNS record changes?
No. A DNS monitor checks that a record resolves, not what it resolves to. It does not compare the answer with an address or value you expect, so a record changed to a different address still passes. It alerts when the record stops resolving.
Can it monitor internal or private DNS names?
No. Uptimely checks public DNS from its own servers. A single-label name such as db is refused, and so is a DNS server on a private address, with a failure message that says the address is private or internal. Other internal-only names usually fail because those servers cannot resolve them.
Start with 10 monitors on the Free plan. No credit card needed.
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