DNS is typically used to resolve a domain name to an IP address. This act is known as a forward resolution and enacted every time you visit a site on the internet. Reverse DNS (rDNS), as its name implies, is a method of resolving an IP address to a domain name.

The DNS records used for resolving an IP address to the domain name are known as pointer (PTR) records. A particular type of PTR-record is used to store reverse DNS entries. The name portion of the PTR-record is the IP address with the segments reversed and “.in-addr.arpa” added at the end of the record. The “.in-addr.arpa” portion of the record refers to the “address and routing parameter area” (arpa). rDNS uses “in-addr.arpa” for IPv4 and “ip6.arpa” is used for IPv6 addresses.

For example, the reverse DNS entry for IPv4 IP “1.2.3.4” would be “4.3.2.1.in-addr.arpa”.

Uses of Reverse DNS

The use of reverse DNS is for the same reason as standard (forward) DNS. It is easier to remember and identify a domain name than a string of numbers. rDNS is less critical than forward DNS, as forward DNS records are required to load up a website. Sites will still load fine in the absence of a reverse DNS record.

Email Servers commonly use rDNS to block incoming SPAM messages. Many mail servers are set to automatically reject messages from an IP address that does not have rDNS in place. Though the rDNS record can block spam, it is not a reliable means and is used mostly as an extra layer of protection. It is also important to note that merely enabling rDNS can still result in rejected messages due to a variety of reasons.  Additionally, rDNS is also used in logging to help provide human readable data rather than logs consisting entirely of IP addresses.

The Reverse DNS Lookup Process

Reverse DNS lookups query the DNS servers of a domain for a PTR (pointer) record. If the domain’s DNS server does not have a valid PTR record setup, it cannot resolve a reverse lookup.  However, if a domain does have a PTR record, you can do a rDNS Lookup by using the method below.

Perform a rDNS Lookup

Numerous online tools can be used to perform a rDNS lookup. A few examples of these online tools are linked below:

https://mxtoolbox.com/ReverseLookup.aspx

https://www.whatismyip.com/reverse-dns-lookup/

https://www.iplocation.net/reverse-dns

You can also perform a rDNS lookup manually from command line. In Linux, the command you would use is “dig” with the added “-x” flag. 

If you are on a Windows computer, you would typically use the “nslookup” command, though you could also use “ping -a”. An example of the Linux command and its output shown below:

dig -x 8.8.8.8

Output:

;<<>> DiG 9.9.4-RedHat-9.9.4-61.el7 <<>> -x 8.8.8.8
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 36810
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
 
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;8.8.8.8.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR
 
;; ANSWER SECTION:
8.8.8.8.in-addr.arpa. 21599 IN PTR google-public-dns-a.google.com.
 
;; Query time: 19 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Wed Jul 18 11:58:54 EDT 2018
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 93

You can see the full rDNS PTR record for that IP in the “ANSWER SECTION” leading 8.8.8.8 back to the Google subdomain, google-public-dns-a.google.com :

8.8.8.8.in-addr.arpa. 21599 IN PTR google-public-dns-a.google.com.

Set Up rDNS

Liquid Web makes it easy to set up and manage rDNS for your servers IPs. Just follow the steps outlined in our Knowledge Base article below:

https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/using-manage-to-update-reverse-dns/

Setting up a reverse DNS record is straightforward and can be beneficial to ensure that an IP does indeed belong to the domain it claims. If you are unsure who your DNS provider is, follow our helpful guide in locating where you should add the rDNS record.