What are Text (TXT) Records and how do I edit/add them?

Note: Any changes that you make to your Advanced DNS settings can interrupt your service. If you are not an advanced user, we strongly recommend that you not change these settings without consulting our support department.

What are TXT records?
How to create a TXT record
How to edit a TXT record
TXT records for Cloud hosting
TXT records for Classic Email hosting

What are TXT Records?

Text (TXT) Records are a type of Advanced DNS record used to store text-based information in your domain’s DNS settings. TXT Records are commonly used for domain verification and email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. TXT Records consist of the Host Name, Value, and the TTL.

Host Name
This is the name of the record. Your domain name will automatically be appended to the end (example: if you enter "_dmarc" the record will change to "_dmarc.rebelexample.com" when saved). If you enter "@" it will simply be replaced with the root domain (such as, "rebelexample.com").

Value (Text)
This is the text string the record will contain. The value is typically provided by the service you are configuring and must be entered exactly as given. It may include letters, numbers, and special characters. For example, an SPF record may begin with "v=spf1", or a verification record may include a unique string provided by Google or another service.

TTL (Time To Live)
The TTL sets the amount of time in seconds for the record to stay cached before retrieving it again. The default TTL is 3600, which is approximately one hour. Lowering the TTL of a new record will not decrease the amount of time it takes for the record to update.

How do I add my TXT Records?

Step 1.

Log in to your Rebel account, then select "Products" in the top-left corner. In the top toolbar, you will see "Domains”. Please select this.

Step 2.

Select “Manage” on the right-hand side of the domain you’d like to edit the DNS for.

Step 3.

On the domain editing page, select the "DNS" tab in the upper left.

Step 4.

Scroll down to Manage Advanced DNS Records and click on "Advanced DNS Settings".

Important: If the Nameserver Information section shows your domain as set to Use Third Party Hosting, the Advanced DNS will only be accessible with your hosting provider. Advanced DNS records live on nameservers. You will only be able to access the Advanced DNS from within your Rebel account if the name server information for your domain is currently set to Park with Rebel, Forward Domain, or Host with Rebel.

Step 5.

To add a TXT record, click the button showing "Add Record" in the upper right.

Step 6.

Click the drop-down and set the Record Type to "TXT".

Step 7.

Enter the required details for the DNS record in the “Host” and “Points to” fields.

Host: Enter the subdomain or record name (for example, @ for the root domain or www for a www record).
Points to: Enter the destination value provided by your hosting or email provider.

The TTL field can be left as the default if no information is provided.

Once all required information has been entered, select “Add Record” to save the DNS record.

How to edit an existing TXT record:

Click the "Edit" button to the right of the record, update the Host and/or Points To field, as instructed by your hosting service provider.

Once finished adding the necessary information, you can click "Update Record".

Note: Please note that TXT records require quotation marks at the beginning and end of the record.

If you are hosted with Rebel and looking to prevent email spoofing, a TXT record can be applied to your domain so that only Rebel's mail servers are authorized to send mail on behalf of your domain.

Note: This information is only applicable if you are hosted with Rebel and do not use any other mail services for sending mail.

If you use Cloud hosting:

SPF Record:

Host: @ (this will leave your host as your root domain name)
Record: "v=spf1 include:spf.cloudus.oxcs.net~all"

Neither DKIM nor DMARC is enabled on cloud hosting.

If you use classic hosting:

SPF Record:

Host: @ (this will leave your host as your root domain name)
Record: "v=spf1 mx a include:relay.mailchannels.net ip4:54.236.124.210 ip4:54.208.1.230 -all"

DMARC Record:

Host:_dmarc
Record: "v=DMARC1; p=none"

Unfortunately, DKIM cannot be enabled on Classic hosting packages.

Note: If your domain was already set to Park with Rebel, Forward Domain, or Host with Rebel, these records should take about 1 hour to propagate. If your domain was previously set to Use Third Party Hosting, updates can take up to 24-48 hours to propagate worldwide, though we find it's typically much closer to 6-12 hours.

Note: If your website is hosted in Plesk (Personal Web Hosting, Startup Web Hosting, Business Web Hosting, and Managed WordPress), you can edit your Advanced DNS records in your Plesk interface. You can find further details on how to do so here.

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