Cloudflare DNS TTL: plan propagation before you migrate

TL;DR: It is the single variable controlling how fast your DNS change reaches users, and there is no way to force resolvers to drop a cached record early. ## The migration sequence 1. # DNS TTL and propagation TTL (time to live) tells resolvers how long to cache a DNS record. At least 24 hours before the change, lower the TTL on the records you will touch (e.g. to 300 seconds).

Fix

1. It is the single variable controlling how fast your DNS change reaches users, and there is no way to force resolvers to drop a cached record early. ## The migration sequence 1. Expected: this specific failure stops.

2. At least 24 hours before the change, lower the TTL on the records you will touch (e.g. to 300 seconds). Expected: this specific failure stops.

3. Make the change. Expected: this specific failure stops.

4. Verify propagation from multiple vantage points (. Expected: the value or setting is exactly right, nothing ambiguous.

5. Keep the old records alive until the new ones are verified. ## Checklist - TTL change first, wait, record change, verify, TTL restore. - Keep old infra answering until propagation is confirmed, not until the change is "done". Expected: this specific failure stops.

Details

DNS TTL and propagation TTL (time to live) tells resolvers how long to cache a DNS record. 2. Wait out the OLD TTL: resolvers that cached the record under the old TTL keep it until that TTL expires. This is the part teams skip. 3. 4. dig @8.8.8.8 , dig @1.1.1.1 , and a resolver on another continent). 5.

When to use

You hit exactly this: Cloudflare DNS TTL: plan propagation before you migrate in Cloudflare DNS TTL.

When not to use

A different error, or the same symptom in a different tool. This page only covers the failure above.

Compatibility

Cloudflare DNS TTL (versions mentioned here: 8.8.8, 1.1.1).

Verified against the live Create DNS records and DNS concepts docs: TTL definition, propagation behavior, recommended TTL management around migrations. Refs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/manage-dns-records/how-to/create-dns-records/ and https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/concepts/dns-concepts/