Windows – Receiving error “A new record cannot be created. Node is a CNAME DNS record.” when adding an MX record to Windows Server 2003 DNS

domain-name-systemwindowswindows-server-2003

we're trying to add an MX record to a Windows Server 2003 DNS server and getting the following error:

"A new record cannot be created. Node is a CNAME DNS record."

The domain is xyz.com. We create a new MX record and leave the "Host or child domain:" field blank, then we're putting "cluster122.us.messagelabs.com" in the "Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of mail server:" field and leaving the default Priority of 10.

Are we missing something?

Best Answer

If you are trying to set an MX record for a hostname such as corp.example.com (for mail to user@corp.example.com) and that name exists as a CNAME record instead of an A record, it would result in this error. If a host exists as a CNAME, it cannot also have other record types associated with it. You would need to re-create the hostname as an A record and then add the MX record to it.