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PTR (reverse DNS) is a reverse record: regular DNS returns the IP for the name example.com, a PTR returns the name for the IP 192.0.2.10. A website doesn’t need it, a mail server does: if there is no PTR or its name doesn’t match the one the server introduced itself with, emails land in spam or get rejected.

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PTR and A record

  • A record – name → IP. You set it, in your domain’s DNS.
  • PTR – IP → name. It is set by the owner of the IP range, that is Lumi. You can’t set it yourself and @lumivps_bot has no button for it: only through support.

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How to get one

  1. A record – the name for the PTR must point to this same IP, for example mail.example.com → 192.0.2.10: DNS records. Forward and reverse records point to each other. Domain on Cloudflare – tap Disable proxying on the record, otherwise the name won’t point to the server.
  2. Request – send @lumisup_robot the server IP and the name you want, for example mail.example.com. The IP is on the card: My servers → server → Server IP.
  3. Wait – support adds the record to the reverse zone. DNS changes take up to a few hours to propagate around the world.

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Check

The reply should show the name you set, for example mail.example.com.. No dig – install it with apt install dnsutils or check on mxtoolbox.com. Next: SSL and Let’s Encrypt, Server hardening.