Route53 Record Set

The Route53RecordSet resource allows you to create and manage DNS records (resource record sets) in AWS Route53 using native Kubernetes resources.

Overview

Route53 Record Sets define how traffic is routed to resources (servers, load balancers, etc.). It supports all standard DNS record types and advanced routing policies.

Use Cases:

Simple DNS records (A, AAAA, CNAME, TXT, MX)
Alias records for AWS resources (ELB, CloudFront, S3)
Weight-based, latency-based, or geolocation-based routing
Automatic failover with health checks
Declarative DNS management via GitOps

Supported Record Types

A - IPv4 address
AAAA - IPv6 address
CNAME - Canonical name
MX - Mail exchange
TXT - Text record
PTR - Pointer record
SRV - Service locator
SPF - Sender Policy Framework
NS - Name server
SOA - Start of authority
CAA - Certification Authority Authorization
NAPTR - Name Authority Pointer

Basic Examples

Simple A Record

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: www-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: www.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.1
- 192.0.2.2

CNAME Record

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: blog-cname
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: blog.example.com
  type: CNAME
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- www.example.com

Alias Record (Load Balancer)

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: api-alias
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: api.example.com
  type: A
  aliasTarget:
hostedZoneID: Z215JYRZR1TBD5  # ELB hosted zone
dnsName: my-lb-123.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com
evaluateTargetHealth: true

Spec Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`providerRef`	`ProviderReference`	Yes	Reference to AWSProvider
`hostedZoneID`	`string`	Yes	Hosted zone ID
`name`	`string`	Yes	Full DNS name (FQDN)
`type`	`string`	Yes	Record type (A, AAAA, CNAME, etc.)
`ttl`	`*int64`	Conditional	TTL in seconds (required for non-alias)
`resourceRecords`	`[]string`	Conditional	Record values (required for non-alias)
`aliasTarget`	`*AliasTarget`	Conditional	Target for alias records
`setIdentifier`	`string`	Conditional	Identifier for routing policies
`weight`	`*int64`	No	Weight (0-255) for weighted routing
`region`	`string`	No	Region for latency-based routing
`geoLocation`	`*GeoLocation`	No	Location for geolocation routing
`failover`	`string`	No	PRIMARY or SECONDARY
`multiValueAnswer`	`bool`	No	Enable multivalue answer
`healthCheckID`	`string`	No	Health check ID
`deletionPolicy`	`string`	No	Delete or Retain (default: Delete)

Routing Policies

1. Simple Routing (Default)

A single record with one or more values:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: simple-a-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.1
- 192.0.2.2
- 192.0.2.3

2. Weighted Routing

Distributes traffic based on weights:

---
# 70% of traffic
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: app-server-1
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.10
  setIdentifier: "server-1"
  weight: 70

---
# 30% of traffic
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: app-server-2
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.20
  setIdentifier: "server-2"
  weight: 30

3. Latency-Based Routing

Routes to region with lowest latency:

---
# US East
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: global-us-east
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: global.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.10
  setIdentifier: "us-east-1"
  region: us-east-1

---
# EU West
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: global-eu-west
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: global.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.20
  setIdentifier: "eu-west-1"
  region: eu-west-1

4. Geolocation Routing

Routes based on user location:

---
# US users
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: geo-us
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: geo.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.10
  setIdentifier: "us-users"
  geoLocation:
countryCode: US

---
# European users
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: geo-eu
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: geo.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.20
  setIdentifier: "eu-users"
  geoLocation:
continentCode: EU

---
# Default (rest of the world)
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: geo-default
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: geo.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.30
  setIdentifier: "default-location"
  geoLocation:
continentCode: "*"

5. Failover Routing

Active/passive configuration:

---
# Primary
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: failover-primary
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.10
  setIdentifier: "primary"
  failover: PRIMARY
  healthCheckID: abc123-health-check

---
# Secondary (backup)
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: failover-secondary
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.20
  setIdentifier: "secondary"
  failover: SECONDARY

6. Multivalue Answer Routing

Returns multiple values with health checks:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: multivalue-1
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: multi.example.com
  type: A
  ttl: 60
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.10
  setIdentifier: "server-1"
  multiValueAnswer: true
  healthCheckID: health-check-1

Special Records

MX (Mail Exchange)

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: mx-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: example.com
  type: MX
  ttl: 3600
  resourceRecords:
- 10 mail1.example.com
- 20 mail2.example.com
- 30 mail3.example.com

TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Example:

---
# SPF Record
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: spf-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: example.com
  type: TXT
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- '"v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"'

---
# DMARC Record
apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: dmarc-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: _dmarc.example.com
  type: TXT
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- '"v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:[email protected]"'

SRV (Service Records)

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: srv-record
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: _service._tcp.example.com
  type: SRV
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 10 60 5060 sipserver.example.com

Alias Records for AWS Resources

Application Load Balancer (ALB)

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: alb-alias
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: app.example.com
  type: A
  aliasTarget:
hostedZoneID: Z35SXDOTRQ7X7K  # ALB hosted zone (us-east-1)
dnsName: my-alb-123.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com
evaluateTargetHealth: true

CloudFront Distribution

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: cloudfront-alias
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: cdn.example.com
  type: A
  aliasTarget:
hostedZoneID: Z2FDTNDATAQYW2  # CloudFront hosted zone
dnsName: d123abc.cloudfront.net
evaluateTargetHealth: false

S3 Website Endpoint

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: Route53RecordSet
metadata:
  name: s3-website-alias
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  hostedZoneID: Z1234567890ABC
  name: static.example.com
  type: A
  aliasTarget:
hostedZoneID: Z3AQBSTGFYJSTF  # S3 website hosted zone (us-east-1)
dnsName: mybucket.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com
evaluateTargetHealth: false

Operations

Create Record

Command:

kubectl apply -f recordset.yaml

Check Status

Command:

# List records
kubectl get route53recordset
kubectl get r53rs  # shortname

# Details
kubectl describe route53recordset www-record

# View change status
kubectl get route53recordset www-record -o jsonpath='{.status.changeStatus}'

Update Record

Example:

spec:
  ttl: 600  # Update TTL
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.100  # New IP

Command:

kubectl apply -f recordset.yaml

Delete Record

Command:

kubectl delete route53recordset www-record

Troubleshooting

Record Not Ready

Solutions:

Check hosted zone exists
Check IAM permissions
Validate record type and values
Check controller logs

Validation Error

Problem: Alias target and resource records cannot coexist

Solution: Use only one:

# Either aliasTarget
spec:
  aliasTarget:
hostedZoneID: Z123
dnsName: lb.example.com

# OR resourceRecords + ttl
spec:
  ttl: 300
  resourceRecords:
- 192.0.2.1

Change Status PENDING

Normal: DNS changes can take up to 60 seconds to propagate

Check:

kubectl get route53recordset my-record -w

IAM Permissions

Example:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
{
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets",
        "route53:GetChange",
        "route53:ListResourceRecordSets"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:route53:::hostedzone/*",
        "arn:aws:route53:::change/*"
      ]
},
{
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "route53:GetHostedZone",
        "route53:ListHostedZones"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
}
  ]
}

Best Practices

Set appropriate TTL — Development: 60-300s, Production: 300-3600s, reduce before changes
Use alias records for AWS resources — Free, faster resolution for ALB/CloudFront/S3
Implement health checks — Enable failover routing for high availability
Document record purposes — Clear naming conventions and descriptions
Use routing policies wisely — Simple for basic, weighted for A/B, failover for DR

AWS Resource Hosted Zone IDs

ELB/ALB by Region

us-east-1: Z35SXDOTRQ7X7K
us-west-2: Z1H1FL5HABSF5
eu-west-1: Z32O12XQLNTSW2

CloudFront

Global: Z2FDTNDATAQYW2

S3 Website by Region

us-east-1: Z3AQBSTGFYJSTF
us-west-2: Z3BJ6K6RIION7M

Complete list in AWS documentation

Overview​

Supported Record Types​

Basic Examples​

Simple A Record​

CNAME Record​

Alias Record (Load Balancer)​

Spec Fields​

Routing Policies​

1. Simple Routing (Default)​

2. Weighted Routing​

3. Latency-Based Routing​

4. Geolocation Routing​

5. Failover Routing​

6. Multivalue Answer Routing​

Special Records​

MX (Mail Exchange)​

TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)​

SRV (Service Records)​

Alias Records for AWS Resources​

Application Load Balancer (ALB)​

CloudFront Distribution​

S3 Website Endpoint​

Operations​

Create Record​

Check Status​

Update Record​

Delete Record​

Troubleshooting​

Record Not Ready​

Validation Error​

Change Status PENDING​

IAM Permissions​

Best Practices​

AWS Resource Hosted Zone IDs​

ELB/ALB by Region​

CloudFront​

S3 Website by Region​

References​

Overview

Supported Record Types

Basic Examples

Simple A Record

CNAME Record

Alias Record (Load Balancer)

Spec Fields

Routing Policies

1. Simple Routing (Default)

2. Weighted Routing

3. Latency-Based Routing

4. Geolocation Routing

5. Failover Routing

6. Multivalue Answer Routing

Special Records

MX (Mail Exchange)

TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

SRV (Service Records)

Alias Records for AWS Resources

Application Load Balancer (ALB)

CloudFront Distribution

S3 Website Endpoint

Operations

Create Record

Check Status

Update Record

Delete Record

Troubleshooting

Record Not Ready

Validation Error

Change Status PENDING

IAM Permissions

Best Practices

AWS Resource Hosted Zone IDs

ELB/ALB by Region

CloudFront

S3 Website by Region

References