Using Custom Nameservers for the Domains

A custom or private name server allows you to run your own name server to respond to DNS requests for your domains. You can also decide to set up custom nameservers for branding purposes if you would like to hide the fact that your domain’s DNS requests are handled by our public name servers. Setting up your own private nameservers on a cPanel server has many benefits, most importantly enabling all of cPanel’s built-in DNS tools which can make DNS changes much easier.

There are three parts to setting your private nameservers: Configuring the server to accept and process the DNS requests, second is registering your new nameservers at the registrar who controls the domain name, and finally pointing the domains at those new nameservers.

Configuring nameservers at WHM

Log in to your server’s WHM interface and navigate to Basic cPanel & WHM Setup, under Server Configuration. Then go to “Basic Config” and enter your main VPS IP into the first field.

Now at the bottom of this page, make sure you have the correct nameservers entered at “Nameserver 1” and “Nameserver 2” then push the “Assign Ip Address” button for both the nameservers. Push the “Add an A entry for this nameserver” button for both the nameservers and Add Entry.

Registering the custom name servers

Now that the custom or private nameservers are configured in WHM, the next step is registering these nameservers. After you have verified that your domain has the correct A records configured, you can register the name servers. The procedure to do this depends on where you registered the domain. The exact steps for registering custom name servers depend on the third-party provider that you are using.

However, generally, you can do this by logging in to the registrar’s web interface and looking for an option similar to “Register custom nameservers” or “Register hostname”. If you cannot locate this, contact the registrar’s technical support. There will be a DNS propagation period. When a domain name is registered or has the name servers changed with your domain name registered this usually occurs. The ISPs must update their DNS tables to see the changes. This process makes take 24 – 48 hours to complete.

Pointing the domain

The nameservers are configured and registered and are ready for serving DNS request. The next step is to add the zone files for the domains that you need to have resolved through your nameserver. In cPanel it is a simple procedure. To configure your own name servers in cPanel/WHM please follow the steps below:

1) Login to cPanel/WHM.

2) Search for Edit DNS Zone and click on it.

3) Click on the domain you want to use for  the nameservers to select it. Then click on the edit button.

4) Add ns1 and ns2 records according to your VPS IP. You can use 1 IP for both records if you only have one IP.

5) Save the DNS zone.

You can check to see if your domain has the proper nameservers at www.intodns.com

If you need any further help please contact our support department.