Changing an MX record so the A record points to only an IP address

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  lisashearmanstaff · Member · Apr 27, 2013 at 1:56 am

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  My hosting company recently contacted me regarding one of my domains, stating;

  “However, we have detected the following domains have their DNS controlled by a 3rd party: mydomain.com.au

  Please make sure the MX record for each domain points to an A record which must be updated with the following new mail server IP address: 111.11.11.111″

  Out of several domains this was the only domain that had issues, and as this is the only domain linked to a WordPress blog I figured it was something I needed to update via Worpress. We have the blog domain mapped, so I looked at the Domains > Custom DNS Setting page via the admin control panel, but the required format asks for A <subdomain> <IP> – and I don’t use a subdomain. Also the support article on custom DNS states “We reserve control over the records that make your blog work, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally breaking it.”

  I need to change these records or it will break my domain. Could you please let me know what I need to do to update this, or whether this is something I need to sort out elsewhere.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  kraftbj · Staff · May 5, 2013 at 5:41 am

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  Hi Lisa,

  Were you able to get this resolved?

  My suggestion would be to add a A record for the mail subdomain of 111.11.11.111 per your host’s instructions, then you can set your MX record to mail.curlyquestions.com.au

  Manage Your DNS Records

  Even though you haven’t used a subdomain, it would make sense in this case. Basically, DNS needs to know where your mail for your domain needs to be sent to and you don’t want to set your MX record to curlyquestions.com.au since that (root) domain is pointing to the servers at WordPress. If you set the MX record to the root domain, the mail wouldn’t go through since WordPress’s servers don’t know what to do with it.

  So, by creating a subdomain of mail.curlyquestions.com.au and setting the A record for it to 111.11.11.111, we can then use the MX record to tell the Internet that any mail for someone at curlyquestions.com.au is handled by mail.curlyquestions.com.au, which is actually 111.11.11.111.

  Lastly, should be noted, that this only critical if you’re using e-mail addresses @curlyquestions.com.au.

  I hope that clarifies and that this response isn’t too late to be helpful. Cheers!