Through Plesk, a user can customize DNS settings for each domain created. The Plesk administrator can also enable the client to customize his/her own DNS settings; however, it is very important that the client possesses a strong understanding of DNS prior to making any modifications to the DNS settings.
NOTE
Improper setup of DNS results in improper functioning of web, mail and FTP services.
There are five types of accessible DNS records:
A = Address - This record is used to translate host names to IP addresses.
CNAME = Canonical Name - Used to create additional host names, or aliases, for hosts in a domain.
NS = Name Server - Defines an association between a given domain name and the name servers that store information for that domain. One domain can be associated with any number of name servers.
MX = Mail Exchange - Defines the location of where mail should be delivered for the domain.
PTR = Pointer - Defines the IP address and host name of individual hosts in the domain. Translates IP addresses into host names.
Plesk retrieves the default DNS settings from Server DNS configuration. In order to change the DNS settings, follow these steps:
At the Domain Administration page click the
DNS icon to access the DNS Settings page.The DNS Zone Status icon indicates whether DNS is turned on or off.
If you wish to turn DNS on or off for the domain, click the
Enable or 
Disable icon respectively.Turning the DNS zone off will refresh the page, so that only a list of nameservers remains.
If you are running remote DNS, and therefore want to turn DNS off for the domain, you should first create the appropriate NS entries for the domain and remove any inappropriate NS entries possibly created by the default DNS template created in the Server DNS section. At that point, turn DNS off. You see that the name server(s) for the domain remains listed as a link.
You can perform a test on these name servers by selecting any of them. Selecting any name server will perform an NSLookup to check for the DNS records for your specific domain on that specific name server. NSLookup is used to verify the A record for the domain, the CNAME record for www, and the MX record to ensure that these basic records are resolved properly on the remote name server. The results are interpreted and presented through the user interface.
In order to add a DNS entry, select the type of record you wish to create and click Add. Each record type has its own different setup. When creating DNS entries within a specific DNS zone the name of the zone must be present for all entries. Plesk sets the screen up with certain unchangeable fields in order to prevent possible errors within the zone.
For an A record you will need to enter the domain name for which you wish to create an A record. If you are simply defining an A record for your main domain, then you should leave the available field empty. If you are defining an A record for a name server then you will need to input the appropriate entry for the given name server (ie. ns1). Then, you need to enter the appropriate IP address to which to associate the domain name. Then select OK to submit your entry.
For a NS record, you will need to enter the domain name for which you wish to create the NS record. If you are defining an NS record for your main domain, then you will leave the available field blank. Then enter the appropriate name server name in the field provided. You will need to enter the complete name (i.e. ns1.mynameserver.com). Then select OK to submit your entry.
For a MX record, you will need to enter the domain for which you are creating the MX record. For the main domain, you would simply leave the available field blank. You will then need to enter your mail exchanger, this is the name of the mail server. If you are running a remote mail server named 'mail.myhostname.com' then you would simply enter 'mail.myhostname.com' into the field provided. You will then need to set the priority for the mail exchanger. Select the priority using the drop-down box: 0 being the highest and 50 being the lowest. Keep in mind you would also need to add the appropriate A record, and/or CNAME if applicable for the remote mail server. Select OK to submit your entry.
For a CNAME record, you will need to first enter the alias domain name for which you wish to create the CNAME record. You then need to enter the domain name within which you want the alias to reside. Any domain name can be entered. It does not need to reside on the same server. Select OK to submit your entry.
For a PTR record you will first enter the IP address/mask for which you wish to define the pointer. Then enter the appropriate domain name for this IP to be translated to. Select OK to submit your entry.
To remove a DNS record, select it using a corresponding checkbox, and click Remove Selected. Before anything is processed you will be asked to confirm the deletion.
From the DNS Settings page, you can switch the DNS zone type from master to slave.
To switch the DNS zone, follow these steps:
Click on the
Switch icon. The DNS Zone Properties page will open and the DNS zone type will change to slave.Enter the DNS master server IP in the field provided, and click Add. The new DNS master server record will be added immediately to the list of DNS master servers.
To remove a DNS master server record, select it by clicking in the appropriate checkbox, and click Remove Selected.
Switch icon again. You will return to the DNS Settings page.To restore the DNS zone by the DNS template, you can select the IP address from the drop-down list to be set up in the template, add the www prefix if required, and click the Default button to restore it.