CNAME record
Points one name at another name rather than at an address. The resolver then looks up the target.
What one looks like
www.example.com. 3600 IN CNAME example.com.
Things worth knowing
- A name with a CNAME cannot carry any other record — no MX, no TXT alongside it.
- The standard forbids a CNAME on the bare domain; providers offer ALIAS or ANAME records to work around it.
- Chains of CNAMEs add a lookup each and slow resolution.
Look up a CNAME record yourself
dig (macOS / Linux)
dig CNAME example.com +short
nslookup (any OS)
nslookup -type=CNAME example.com
Your resolver may still be serving a cached copy — our propagation checker queries 30+ resolvers worldwide so you can see who already has the new CNAME record.
Look up a real CNAME record
Query any domain live and see every record type with its TTL.