Creating Your First Route 53 Record in AWS

In this lesson, we walk through the process of creating a DNS record in Amazon Route 53, exploring the essential concepts behind domain name resolution. We also verify the record using command-line tools.

1. Creating a Record in Route 53

1. Navigate to Hosted Zone
   • Open AWS Route 53 in the AWS Management Console.
   • Select your hosted zone (e.g., stephanetheteacher.com).
2. Create a New Record
   • Click Create Record.
   • Enter the record name: test.stephanetheteacher.com.(You can use any subdomain you want.)
   • Choose the record type: A Record
     • Maps a domain name to an IPv4 address.
   • Enter an IP address: 11.22.33.44(Placeholder for demonstration; later, we will use a real server.)
3. Set TTL (Time To Live)
   • Default: 300 seconds (5 minutes)(Determines how long the record is cached by DNS resolvers.)
4. Select Routing Policy
   • Keep it as Simple Routing (default).(More advanced routing policies will be covered later.)
5. Create the Record
   • Click Create Record to save the changes.

2. Verifying the Record Using Command Line

Since 11.22.33.44 is a random IP with no real server behind it, loading test.stephanetheteacher.com in a web browser won’t work. However, we can check the DNS resolution using command-line tools.

Using AWS CloudShell

AWS provides CloudShell, a built-in Linux command-line interface, to run commands.

1. Open AWS CloudShell from the AWS Management Console.

2. Install necessary tools: (This installs nslookup and dig for DNS queries.)

   sudo yum install -y bind-utils
   
   

Using NSLOOKUP (Windows & Linux)

To check if the DNS resolution works, run:

nslookup test.stephanetheteacher.com

Expected Output