Creating Name Servers
Creating name servers is fairly simple to do. All you need to do is register the name servers at your domain's registrar and create DNS records for your name servers. More details are provided below.
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Basic Name Server Information
You generally only need 2 name servers but you can use more if you like. Name servers must be an FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) and should consist of a name part and a domain name. All valid name servers should have 2 dots in them. An example of a proper name server is:
ns1.example.com
where 'ns1' is the name part and 'example.com' is the domain name.
What IPs should you point your name servers to?
This depends on your set up.
If you're using the server you ordered through Acenet to also handle your DNS, we suggest pointing your name servers to the IPs that are +1 and +2 of your server's main IP. So, for example, if your server's main IP is 83.83.83.83, you will want to point your name servers to the IPs 83.83.83.84 and 83.83.83.85.
If you're using a custom DNS set up, you will want to consult with your systems administrator or whoever handles your DNS configurations.
Registering your name servers
The first thing to do is find out where your domain is registered if you do not already know where your domain is registered. You can do this by running a WHOIS lookup of your domain. You can run a WHOIS lookup of your domain by running the following command via SSH when logged into your server as root:
whois DOMAIN
replacing DOMAIN with your actual domain.
Domain is registered through Acenet
All you need to do is submit a ticket at our help desk:
requesting for us to register your desired custom name servers for you. You will want to provide the custom name servers you're wanting to register and we will get them registered for you.
Domain is registered elsewhere
You will need to go to your domain's registrar and register your name servers there. You should be able to locate where you can do this once you're logged in at your registrar. If you have any issues locating where you can register name servers at your registrar (sometimes referred to as child name servers), you will want to contact your registrar for assistance.
Creating your custom name servers DNS records
The DNS records for your custom name servers have to be created on the server that's handling your domain's DNS.
cPanel Server
You can create the DNS records for your custom name servers through WHM (Web Host Manager) if you have root access using the 'Edit DNS Zone' feature. If you do not have root access to your server, you can create the DNS records through the domain's cPanel using the 'Simple DNS Zone Editor' or 'Advanced DNS Zone Editor' features.
Non-cPanel Server
You will need to contact your server's administrator for assistance with creating DNS records for your custom name servers if you're not sure how to do so yourself.
