Getting started with DNS

Users interact with SoftLayer's authortative DNS servers through the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain service. Each SoftLayer_Dns_Domain has a collection of SoftLayer_DNS_Domain_ResourceRecords referenced by the resourceRecords relational property. While it is possible to interact with resource records through the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain service, it is best to use the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord service directly after initial zone creation.

Domains

Listing

A list of all domains currently hosted on the SoftLayer nameservers can be retrieved with SoftLayer_Account::getDomains which returnr an array of SoftLayer_Dns_Domain template objects. You can extend this call to also pull the records associated with these domains with an object mask.

$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Account', null, $apiUser, $apiKey);
$objectMask = "mask.resourceRecords";
$client->setObjectMask($objectMask);
$domains = $client->getDomains();
print_r($domains);

Creating

To create a new zone, a SoftLayer_Dns_Domain template object must be created and passed into SoftLayer_Dns_Domain::createObject. NS records for ns1.softlayer.com and ns2.softlayer.com are automatically added during creation. Include at least one A or AAAA record with the template object for successful creation. Domain serial numbers will be added/updated by the API so there is no need to include them in the template object.

The following properties are necessary when creating a SoftLayer_Dns_Domain object.

• name - Domain name including the TDL "example.com"
• resourceRecords - An array of at least one SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord

$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain', null, $apiUser, $apiKey);
$template = new stdClass();
$template->name = "createexample.com";
$template->resourceRecords = array();
$template->resourceRecords[0] = new stdClass();
$template->resourceRecords[0]->data = '127.0.0.1';
$template->resourceRecords[0]->host = 'server1';
$template->resourceRecords[0]->type = 'a';
$result = $client->createObject($template);
print_r($result);

SoftLayer_Dns_Domain::createObject will return a fully populated SoftLayer_Dns_Domain object.

Editing

Modifying existing SoftLayer_Dns_Domain entries is not possible. Changes to zone names should be refactored to creation of new zones.

Deleting

Removal of a zone is accomplished with SoftLayer_Dns_Domain::deleteObject. This method requires only an init parameter be provided.

$domainId = 1545925;
 
$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain', $domainId, $apiUser, $apiKey);
 
$result = $client->deleteObject();
print_r($result);

SoftLayer_Dns_Domain::deleteObject returns a bool value: true for successful, false for failed.

Records

Listing

In addition to the method mentioned above domain resource records can be retrieved with SoftLayer_Dns_Domain::getResourceRecords which returns an array of SoftLayer_Dns_DomainResourceRecord objects.

$domainId = 12345;
$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain', $domainId, $apiUser, $apiKey);
 
$result = $client->getResourceRecords();
print_r($result);

Creating

Creating records directly through the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord service is accomplished by creating a SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord template object and passing it into SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord::createObject. The use of '@' in the host property denotes a wildcard hostname.

The SoftLayer DNS system supports these record types:

• a
• aaaa
• cname
• mx
• ns
• ptr
• soa
• spf
• srv
• txt

At minimum the template object must contain:

• data - value of the record
• host - label to be added under the zone

$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord', null, $apiUser, $apiKey);
$domainId = 123456;
 
$template = new stdClass();
$template->data = 'webserver01.example.com';
$template->host = 'www';
$template->type = 'cname';
$template->domainId = $domainId;
 
$result = $client->createObject($template);
print_r($result);

Editing

Edit resource records by passing a template object into SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord::editObject. The template object must contain:

• id - identifier for the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord to be edited.
• domainId - identifier of the SoftLayer_Dns_Domain this resource record is a child to
• properties to be changed
  Note: Domain serial numbers will be updated by the API automatically.

$domainId = 45567;
$resourceRecordId = 1234;
$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord', $resourceRecordId, $apiUser, $apiKey);
 
$template = new stdClass();
$template->id = $resourceRecordId;
$template->domainId = $domainId;
$template->data = '127.0.0.1';
$template->host = 'server01';
 
$result = $client->editObject($template);
print_r($result);

It is also necessary to populate the init params with the resource records id property. A bool is returned by SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord::editObject

Deleting

Removal of a record is accomplished with SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord::deleteObject. This method requires only an init parameter be provided.

$recordId = 1545925;
 
$client = SoftLayer_SoapClient::getClient('SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord', $recordId, $apiUser, $apiKey);
 
$result = $client->deleteObject();
print_r($result);

SoftLayer_Dns_Domain_ResourceRecord::deleteObject returns a bool value: true for successful, false for failed.