Private Name Servers

If you are using Arvixe for your reselling platform, you will likely want for your customers to see your own branding on every tool they use when possible. One important tool for branding is the name servers that you provide to your customers so that they may point their domain to your server. It is possible to create your own private name servers that will let them point to your server using your own domain name.

Creating private name servers requires the ability to edit SOA and NS records for your DNS zone. This means that it is only possible for Arvixe customers on ResellerClass, VPSClass, and DedicatedClass hosting packages to create their own private name servers.

To create your private name servers, you'll need the following information from your welcome email:

Domain Name Server 1 IP:  Domain Name Server 2 IP:

23.91.122.238 23.91.123.120

Additionally, you'll need to choose the subdomain name you wish to use for your two name servers, which we will refer to as ns1 and ns2 within this article, or ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com, though you could replace ns1 and ns2 with any subdomain name you wished to use that you were not already using for something else.

Once you have chosen your name server names, and located your name server IP addresses, you're ready to continue. You'll need to perform these 3 actions:

1. Register your Private Name Servers
2. Create A Records for your Private Name Servers
   • Linux cPanel Instructions
   • Windows Plesk Instructions
3. Update your SOA and NS records
   • Linux cPanel Instructions
   • Windows Plesk Instructions

Register your Private Name Servers

The first step for creating private name servers is to register them with your domain registrar for the domain they are a subdomain of. For example, if you want to create the nameserver ns1.my-cool-domain.com, you'd need to register that name server name with the registrar for my-cool-domain.com. This is so that if my-cool-domain.com uses those private name servers, then DNS servers will still know where to look for their A records.

If your domain is registered with Arvixe, you may use the following instructions to register your private name servers:

1. Log into your Customer Portal.
2. Under Quick Links click My Domains.
3. Next to the domain you wish to edit, click the down arrow next to the wrench icon and select Register Nameservers.
4. In the Register a NameServer Name section:
   • Enter the subdomain for the desired name server (such as ns1 for ns1.yourdomain.com) in the Nameserver text area.
   • Enter the domain nameserver IP for the desired name server in the IP Address text area.
   • Click the Save Changes button.
5. Repeat step 4 for the next name server.

Your name servers will now be registered. If your domain was not registered with Arvixe, you may need to contact your registrar for support with registering your private name servers.

Create A Records for your Private Name Servers

After your private name servers are registered, you will need to create A records for them so that they will resolve correctly when DNS servers attempt to access them. The process for how to do this will depend on if you are on a Linux server with cPanel or a Windows server with Plesk:

• Linux cPanel Instructions
• Windows Plesk Instructions

Linux cPanel Instructions

To create A records for your private name servers on a server with cPanel:

1. Log into WHM.
2. Click on Edit DNS Zone in the left-hand menu.
3. Select the domain you wish to create private name servers for.
4. Click the Edit button.
5. Near the bottom of the page, in the Add New Entries Below this Line section in line 1:
   1. Enter the subdomain of your first name server in the first text box (Example: ns1 for ns1.yourdomain.com).
   2. Leave the second text box set to 14400.
   3. Click the dropdown marked Select and click A.
   4. In the new text box that appears, enter the name server IP for the name server you entered.
6. Repeat step 5 on line 2for the next name server.
7. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Windows Plesk Instructions

To create A records for your private name servers on a server with Windows Plesk:

1. Log into Plesk with your Reseller credentials.
2. Click Subscriptions from the left-hand menu.
3. Click the desired domain in the Subscription column.
4. Locate and click the DNS Settings icon.
5. Click the Add Record button, then on the next page:
   1. Select A as the Record type if it is not already selected.
   2. For the Domain name, enter the subdomain of the name server (Example: ns1 for ns1.yourdomain.com).
   3. Enter the domain nameserver IP for the desired name server in the IP address text area.
   4. Click the OK button.
6. Repeat step 5 for the second name server.
7. Click the Update button at the top of the page.

   Critical Note: If you navigate away from this page without clicking the Update button, your changes will be discarded.

Update your SOA and NS records

If your SOA and NS record are not updated after creating your private name servers and updating the, when you try to use them your DNS checks will show mismatch errors and you may experience other potential issues. The process of this update will depend on if you are using a Linux server with cPanel or a Windows server with Plesk:

• Linux cPanel Instructions
• Windows Plesk Instructions

Linux cPanel Instructions

To edit your SOA and NS records in cPanel via WHM:

1. Log into WHM.
2. Click on Edit DNS Zone in the left-hand menu.
3. Select the domain you wish to create private name servers for.
4. Click the Edit button.
5. In the SOA field in the top right of your DNS zone, change the value to your first name server followed by a period (Example: ns1.yourdomain.com. for ns1.yourdomain.com).
6. Next, locate the two records with NS selected in the dropdown box for the domain, they should be near the top of your DNS zone.
7. Edit the text area to the right of the first record with NS in the dropdown box to the value to your first name server followed by a period (Example: ns1.yourdomain.com. for ns1.yourdomain.com).
8. Edit the text area to the right of the second record with NS in the dropdown box to the value to your second name server followed by a period (Example: ns2.yourdomain.com. for ns2.yourdomain.com).
9. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

 Congratulations, your configuration is complete! Please allow 4 to 8 hours of propagation time, after which you may use your new private name servers!

Windows Plesk Instructions

To edit your SOA and NS records on a Windows server via Plesk:

1. Log into Plesk with your Reseller credentials.
2. Click Subscriptions from the left-hand menu.
3. Click the desired domain in the Subscription column.
4. Locate and click the DNS Settings icon.
5. Click the Add Record button, then on the next page:
   1. Select NS as the Record type if it is not already.
   2. Enter the full name server name for your first name server (Example: ns1.yourdomain.com for ns1.yourdomain.com).
   3. Click the OK button.

      Critical Note: Do not click the Update button after creating this record.

6. Locate the 2 previous records of NS type and place a check mark next to them.

   Note: Be careful not to check the NS record you just created.

7. Click the Remove button.
8. Click Yes in the popup that appears.
9. Click the Update button at the top of the page, which will now set your first new name server as your SOA record.
10. Click the Add Record button, then on the next page:
    1. Select NS as the Record type if it is not already.
    2. Enter the full name server name for your second name server (Example: ns2.yourdomain.com for ns2.yourdomain.com).
    3. Click the OK button.
11. Click the Update button at the top of the page to save all of your changes.

Note: If the name servers you are using use the same domain as you are creating the NS records for, Plesk will generate an error if you have not successfully created A records first.

Congratulations, your configuration is complete! Please allow 4 to 8 hours of propagation time, after which you may use your new private name servers!