Create a managed reverse lookup zone Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
This page provides instructions about how to create a managed reverse lookupzone. For detailed background information, seeManaged reverse lookupzones.
A managed reverse lookup zone is a private zone with a special attribute thatinstructs Cloud DNS to perform a PTR lookup against Compute EngineDNS data. You must set up managed reverse lookup zones for Cloud DNSto correctly resolve non-RFC 1918 PTR records for your virtual machine (VM)instances.
To create a new managed reverse lookup private zone, complete the following steps.
Console
In the Google Cloud console, go to theCreate a DNS zone page.
For theZone type, selectPrivate.
Enter aZone name such as
my-new-zone.Enter aDNS name suffix for the zone. The suffixmust end with
Note: Cloud DNS also supports matching of any child zone. Forexample, if you create a managed reverse lookup zone with the DNS namein-addr.arpato be a reverse zone. This DNS name must matchthe reverse lookup name of the non-RFC 1918 PTR records that you aretrying to resolve through Cloud DNS.For example, if you are trying to match the PTR record for20.20.1.2,you must create a reverse lookup zone with the DNS name of2.1.20.20.in-addr.arpa.20.in-addr.arpa., the zone matches any VPC-ownedaddress20. * . * . *.Optional: Add a description.
UnderOptions, selectManaged reverse lookup zone.
Select the networks to which the private zone must be visible.
ClickCreate.
gcloud
Run thedns managed-zones createcommand:
gcloud dns managed-zones createNAME \ --description=DESCRIPTION \ --dns-name=DNS_SUFFIX \ --networks=VPC_NETWORK_LIST \ --visibility=private \ --managed-reverse-lookup
Replace the following:
NAME: a name for your zoneDESCRIPTION: a description for your zoneDNS_SUFFIX: the DNS suffix for your reverse zone thatmust end in.in-addr.arpa; typically, reverse zones take the form${ip_block_in_reverse}.in-addr.arpaVPC_NETWORK_LIST: a comma-delimited list ofVPC networks that contain the Google Cloud resourcesto whichPTRrecords resolve
Terraform
resource "google_dns_managed_zone" "default" { name = "my-new-zone" description = "Example DNS reverse lookup" provider = google-beta visibility = "private" dns_name = "2.2.20.20.in-addr.arpa." reverse_lookup = "true"}What's next
- To work with managed zones, seeCreate, modify, and delete zones.
- To find solutions for common issues that you might encounter when usingCloud DNS, seeTroubleshooting.
- To get an overview of Cloud DNS, seeCloud DNS overview.
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Last updated 2026-02-19 UTC.