Point an apex domain with ANAME

Point your apex domain, such as example.com, at an Azion hostname with an Edge DNS ANAME record from Azion Console, the Azion CLI, or the API.

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You can point an apex domain at an Azion hostname with an ANAME record in Edge DNS from Azion Console, the Azion CLI, or the Azion API. Edge DNS then answers queries for the apex with the addresses of that hostname. To point a subdomain such as www, refer to Point a subdomain with a CNAME record instead.

The apex, also called the root or naked domain, is your domain with no subdomain, such as example.com. A CNAME record cannot sit at the apex, so the ANAME record takes its place there. For the reason, refer to How Edge DNS works.

Select your interface once. The prerequisites and the first task show only that path.

Prerequisites

  • A zone for your domain in Edge DNS. To create one, refer to Create, edit, or delete a zone.
  • The Edit Edge DNS permission, which requires View Edge DNS. Refer to Teams permissions.
  • The Azion hostname the record points at, such as the workload domain <your-workload>.map.azionedge.net. To find it and make the workload accept your apex domain, refer to Point a domain to a workload.
  • The Azion CLI, installed and authorized.
  • The ID of your zone. azion list dns-zone prints it in the ID column.
  • A personal token and curl.
  • The id of your zone. A GET request to https://api.azion.com/v4/workspace/dns/zones lists every zone with its id.
  • For every endpoint and field of the API, refer to the Azion API reference.

Add the ANAME record at the apex

The record name @ stands for the apex. The value is a hostname under azioncdn.net, azionedge.net, or azionedge.com, and the TTL is always 20. To edit or delete the record later, refer to Add, edit, or delete a record.

To add the record with the Azion CLI, replace <zone-id> with the ID of your zone and the value with your hostname:

azion create dns-record --zone-id <zone-id> --name @ --type ANAME --rdata <your-workload>.map.azionedge.net --ttl 20

The command prints the ID of the record:

Created DNS record with ID 100779

The zone holds the ANAME record at the apex. In --name, @ stands for the domain: never type the domain itself.

To add the record with the Azion API, send a POST request to the records endpoint of the zone. Replace <zone-id> with the id of your zone and the value in rdata with your hostname:

Shell
01curl -X POST https://api.azion.com/v4/workspace/dns/zones/<zone-id>/records \
02 -H "Authorization: Token [TOKEN VALUE]" \
03 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
04 -d '{"name":"@","type":"ANAME","rdata":["<your-workload>.map.azionedge.net"],"ttl":20}'

A 201 returns the record:

JSON
01{
02 "state": "executed",
03 "data": {
04 "id": 100186,
05 "description": "",
06 "name": "@",
07 "ttl": 20,
08 "type": "ANAME",
09 "rdata": ["<your-workload>.map.azionedge.net"],
10 "policy": "simple",
11 "weight": 255
12 }
13}

The zone holds the ANAME record at the apex. In name, @ stands for the domain: never send the domain itself.

To add the record in Azion Console:

Open the Edge DNS page

Access Azion Console > Edge DNS.

Open the zone

On the Zones page, select the row of the zone that holds your domain.

Select the Records tab
Select + Record

The Create Record drawer opens.

Enter @ as the name

In Name, enter @. The Console adds the domain for you, so the record answers for example.com.

Select the ANAME record type

In Record Type, select ANAME - Maps a name to another name. The Console sets TTL (seconds) to 20.

Keep the TTL at 20

Leave TTL (seconds) at 20. Edge DNS refuses any other TTL for an ANAME record.

Enter the hostname

In Value, enter the Azion hostname, such as <your-workload>.map.azionedge.net. Enter a hostname, never an IP address.

Keep the Simple policy

In the Policy section, keep Policy Type set to Simple. The Weight field stays unavailable for an ANAME record.

Select Save

The Console shows Edge DNS Record has been created, and the record appears in the Records table.

The API refuses an ANAME record with any TTL other than 20 with 19011, and a hostname outside the three Azion domains with 19016. For every rule of the type, refer to Record types.

Query the apex at Azion’s nameservers

Ask Azion’s nameserver directly, without your resolver’s cache, to confirm that it answers for the apex. This check works before your registrar delegates the domain to Azion.

To query ns1.aziondns.net for the apex, replace example.com with your domain:

dig +short @ns1.aziondns.net example.com A

The nameserver returns the addresses of the hostname, one per line:

Text
01<address>
02<address>

Edge DNS looks up the hostname itself and answers the apex with its addresses as A records. Without +short, the output shows status: NOERROR, the aa flag, a TTL of 20 on each A record, and no CNAME in the answer.

If the command prints nothing, wait a few minutes and run it again. After you add or change a record, it can take a few minutes to reach every nameserver. For more information, refer to How Edge DNS works.

Resolvers on the internet use the record only once your registrar delegates the domain to the three Edge DNS nameservers. For the delegation, refer to Migrate nameservers to Azion.

Next steps

Migrate nameservers to AzionDelegate your domain to Edge DNS so resolvers use the record.Point a domain to a workloadMake the workload accept your apex domain and check that it resolves.Record typesEvery rule of the ANAME record and of the other types.Point a subdomain with a CNAME recordSend a name such as www to another host.