This guide describes how to run your own nameservers on your server using KeyHelp, so that your domains are served by ns.vm00000.sayob.com and ns2.vm00000.sayob.com, where vm00000 is the identifier of your server. The nameserver names for your server are also included in the access details sent to you by email when the server is set up.
What you need first
- A second IP address on the server — the two nameservers have to answer on different addresses. See Additional IP addresses for how to order one.
- Delegation of the zone to your server. Open a ticket with our Technical Support department asking us to delegate vm00000.sayob.com to your server. Without this your nameservers are not reachable from the internet, however correctly they are configured in the panel.
Arrange the delegation before you change anything at the registrar. If the registrar starts pointing your domains at nameservers that are not yet delegated, the domains stop resolving.
1. Create the host domain
Go to Domains and use Add domain to create vm00000.sayob.com. This domain exists only to hold the DNS records; it does not need a website.
2. Add the nameserver records
Open Edit DNS records for that domain and add:
- an A record ns pointing to the first IP address of the server;
- an A record ns2 pointing to the second IP address;
- NS records ns.vm00000.sayob.com and ns2.vm00000.sayob.com.
Save the changes.
3. Point your domains at these nameservers
For each domain you want served from this server, edit its DNS records so that the NS records read ns.vm00000.sayob.com and ns2.vm00000.sayob.com.
4. Change the nameservers at the registrar
Finally, in the control panel of the registrar of each domain, set the nameservers to ns.vm00000.sayob.com and ns2.vm00000.sayob.com.
Until this step is done nothing changes for visitors: the domain is still answered by whichever nameservers the registrar has on record.
Worth knowing
Both nameservers are on the same server. That satisfies the formal requirement for two nameservers, but it is not real redundancy: if the server is unavailable, both are unavailable, and the domains stop resolving even if the sites themselves are hosted elsewhere. For anything critical, a secondary nameserver on separate infrastructure is worth having.
DNS changes propagate gradually, so allow several hours before concluding that something is wrong. If it does not work, open a ticket from your client area with the domain name and we will check the delegation.
