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 Guide to Setting up Private Name Servers
Categories: Private Name Servers

Guide to Setting up Private Name Servers

Below is the guide to setting up private name servers for your domain.

Step 1: Locate your Private Name Servers and their IPs

It is vital for private name servers to have both the name servers and their corresponding IP addresses.

  • If you have Shared hosting (Hatchling, Baby, Business), you cannot use private name servers.
  • If you have VPS or Dedicated hosting, you should have the IP addresses and server hostname listed on your Customer Portal's hosting package management page. 

The Customer Portal will contain both the IP and the hostname that need to be registered.

Please check out the following article to know where to find them.

Step 2: Register your Private Name Dervers at your Registrar

Name servers and/or private name servers are registered at the domain's registrar. Depending on where you purchased your domain, you must configure your private name servers within your registrar's account. Please note that every registrar has a different process for registering private name servers.

Domains registered with HostGator

Most domains purchased at HostGator can be managed within the Customer Portal.

To set up your private name servers:

  1. Log in to your Customer Portal.
  2. Click Domains in the left-hand menu and select Custom Nameservers.

    Domains - Custom Nameservers

  3. Click the + Nameserver button in the upper-right corner.

    + Nameserver button

  4. Enter your nameserver hostname and IP address.

    Enter hostname and IP address

  5. Click Add.  

If you're unable to find your HostGator domain in the Customer Portal, you may have registered it with Enom, which is a legacy registrar of HostGator. Please check out the following article to learn how to set up your private name servers within Registry Rocket (Enom's control panel).

Domains registered with other registrars

If you purchased your domain from another provider, you must register the name servers with that registrar. From your registrar's account, you will want to look for options along the lines of "register DNS," "create DNS," or "add DNS." The only way to create name servers is by using the IP addresses we assigned to your hosting server. If there isn't a field asking for the IP address, you are not in the right place.

Registering private name servers vs. changing DNS

Changing your domain's DNS is not the same as registering private name servers. You will not be able to change your site's DNS to private name servers until your private name servers are registered with your domain registrar. Some registrars don't even have an option for you to create private name servers on your own. In many cases, emailing them to do it is the only option.

Need help?
If you can't figure out how to register your private name servers with your registrar, read the registrar's FAQs and look for a question along the lines of "How do I register name servers?"

If you can't figure it out from reading the FAQ documentation or navigating through your account with them, you will need to contact your registrar's Support team to request further assistance.

Step 3: Setting A records

After creating your name servers, you must add the necessary A records to your domain. Once the A record has been updated, you and your clients can use your private name servers to host all the domains on your account.

For help adding A records to your domain, please see the following article:

 

Step 4: DNS Glue/Setting SOA and NS records

Once a domain name is using your private name servers, it is important to check the DNS Glue. The DNS glue will check the SOA and NS records in your domain's DNS zone and ensure they match the exact name servers used at your registrar.

The SOA (Start of Authority) and NS (Name Server) records tell the internet that your private name servers are authoritative and contain the most up-to-date information about your DNS settings. If these are not set correctly, some DNS servers will not trust your private name servers. Other DNS servers may get confused because there is a mismatch between what the registrar says and what your name servers say. This typically results in some people being able to reach your domain while others cannot. So, it is always a good idea to double-check these settings.

For more information on DNS Glue, please refer to the following article:

 

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