The IP address and domain name request should include the following information and follow a standard format (using a semicolon";" for descriptions and tabs instead of spaces in all but the first line). You can copy and paste this example into your email message to UTnic.

See Choosing a Host Name for guidelines for naming your computers. See UTnic's DNS Naming Conventions for specific requirements for name selection at the University.

$ORIGIN sub-domain-name.utexas.edu.
; Name-of-contact-person telephone office-location e-mail-address
computer-name   IN  A   net-address ; computer-location

Standard Format Example

An IP address request for each of several computers associated with the cm.utexas.edu domain at the WCH buildings might look like this:

$ORIGIN cm.utexas.edu.

; Responsible-Person 475-9400 WCH 1.114 r.person@mail.utexas.edu
poblano        IN      A        128.83.134.?       ; WCH 1.104
serrano        IN      A        128.83.134.?       ; WCH 1.114
chile-verde    IN      A        128.83.134.?       ; WCH 1.116

Requested Information Details

• $ORIGIN: the existing subdomain assigned or being hosting for your department.

• Name of Contact Person: usually the technical support coordinator for the department.

• Telephone: telephone number where the contact person can be located.

• Office Location: building and room number of the contact person.

• E-mail Address: email address of the contact person for verification/updates/alerts.

• Computer Name: the name you want assigned to your device (see Choosing a Host Name).

• Network Address (A): the IP address assignment or range for your area.

• Computer Location: building and room number where computer is located.

Canonical Names (CNAMEs) and Mail eXchanger (MX) Records

Besides the A (Address) resource record, there are several others. The most common ones are:

• Canonical Name (CNAME) - used for creating alias names (in place of A).

• Mail eXchanger (MX) - identifies a machine that is designated to receive email in place of another machine (in place of A).

CNAME Example: green-chile is an alias for chile-verde:

$ORIGIN cm.utexas.edu.
; Responsible-Person 475-9400 WCH 1.114 r.person@mail.utexas.edu
green-chile     IN    CNAME     chile-verde

MX Example: In the example below, poblano mail is redirected to mailhost machine (the number 10 is a preference number that allows the use and ranking of multiple mail processor machines):

poblano         IN    MX 10     mailhost

Using the $ORIGIN Statement

In any of the above examples, the $ORIGIN statement can be excluded if a Fully Qualified Domain Name is substituted for the computer name (e.g., poblano.cm.utexas.edu. instead of onlypoblano). The MX resource record example above can be rewritten as:

; Responsible-Person 475-9400 WCH 1.114 r.person@mail.utexas.edu
poblano.cm.utexas.edu.   IN    MX 10     mailhost.cm.utexas.edu.

A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is a domain name that extends all the way back to root. It must include the root "." at the end of the name to be consider a FQDN (e.g., "tn.utexas.edu." not "tn.utexas.edu"). See Understanding How Domain Names Work for more information.