How to Set Up Nameservers in a cPanel & WHM Environment
Overview
Nameservers match domain names to IP addresses. When a visitor attempts to find a website that your server hosts, their computer asks a nameserver for the IP address of the domain that they wish to view. The nameserver returns the IP address for your web server and directs the visitor to the correct page.
- You must publish records for your domain names to nameservers so that visitors can reach those sites.
- These nameservers communicate with other nameservers to distribute the records of sites that your server hosts.
- The propagation period is the amount of time that it takes for a domain’s DNS records to spread across the internet.
You can use several methods to update your nameservers.
In all currently-supported cPanel & WHM versions, you can use a series of WHM interfaces to configure and update your nameservers.
In cPanel & WHM version 74 and earlier, when you log in to WHM for the first time, the Initial Setup Assistant interface appears. The Nameservers section of this interface (Step 4) allows you to set up nameservers.
Note:We removed the Initial Setup Assistant interface in cPanel & WHM version 76.
Configure via WHM interfaces
To configure nameservers via the WHM interface, perform the following steps:
Select a nameserver software.
Note: If you already use your registrar’s DNS services, you can skip this step.
To select a nameserver software, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to WHM’s Nameserver Selection interface (WHM >> Home >> Service Configuration >> Nameserver Selection).
- Select the desired nameserver software.
- Click Save.
The nameserver software that you can use depends on your cPanel & WHM version:
- In cPanel & WHM version 84 and later, the system installs PowerDNS by default.
- In cPanel & WHM version 82 and earlier, the system installs BIND by default.
- In cPanel & WHM version 78, we deprecated the MyDNS and NSD nameservers and you can’t select either setting.
- MyDNS does not support Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records, which certificate authorities use to determine if they can issue certificates for a domain.
- MyDNS requires that you add external nameserver IP addresses to the resolv.conf file.
Configure your default nameservers.
To configure your default nameservers, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to WHM’s Basic WebHost Manager Setup interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration >> Basic WebHost Manager Setup).
- At the bottom of the interface, enter the desired nameserver names in the text boxes.
- Click Save Changes.
We recommend that you use the following guidelines when you name nameservers:
- The name must consist of a prefix, a dot (.), and your domain. The common convention for nameservers is to prefix your domain name with ns1 (for example, ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com).
- Your nameservers cannot share a name.
- We strongly recommend that you use a domain that reflects your company’s main homepage URL.
Add IP addresses.
To add IP addresses to your server, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to WHM’s Add a New IP Address interface (WHM >> Home >> IP Functions >> Add a New IP Address).
- Enter the IP address or IP address range in the New IP or IP range to add text box.
- Enter the subnet mask in the Select a subnet mask for the IP or IPs above to use text box.
- Enter any IP addresses that you wish to exclude in the IPs and IP ranges to exclude from the range of new IPs text box.
- Click Submit.
Create A or AAAA entries for your nameservers.
To create A or AAAA entries for your nameservers, perform the following steps:
1. Navigate to WHM’s Basic WebHost Manager Setup interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration >> Basic WebHost Manager Setup).
2. Next to the appropriate Nameservers text box, click Configure Address Records. A new interface will appear and the system will perform a DNS lookup on the nameserver that you entered.
3. settingally, update the IP addresses in the appropriate text boxes.
- To enter a different IPv4 address, enter a new value in the Enter an IPv4 address to create an A record text box or Confirm the IPv4 address to create an A record text box.
- To enter a different IPv6 address, enter a new value in the Enter an IPv6 address to create an AAAA record (settingal) text box.
4. Click Configure Address Records. The system will display the results of your changes.
5. Click Close.
6. Repeat these steps for each nameserver.
Create A entries for your hostname.
To create A entries for your hostname, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to WHM’s Add an A Entry for Your Hostname interface (WHM >> Home >> DNS Functions >> Add an A Entry for Your Hostname).
- Enter your server’s IP address in the available text box.
- Click Add Entry.
Set up nameservers with your registrar.
After you configure your server’s nameservers, you must register your nameservers with your registrar.
- When you register nameservers, you announce their existence to the rest of the internet. You do not perform this action in cPanel & WHM, but you must do it or your nameservers will not function.
- For steps for many popular registrars, see the Instructions for various registrars section below.
Manage reseller nameservers.
After you configure your nameservers, you may wish to configure special nameservers for your server’s resellers. We design cPanel & WHM to accommodate a white-label reseller experience, which allows customizable branding. You can configure hosting resellers to each use their own nameservers.
Note: Resellers may use their own nameservers, but individual cPanel accounts cannot use their own nameservers.
To edit nameserver names and assign nameserver IP addresses for individual reseller nameservers, use WHM’s Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges interface (WHM >> Home >> Resellers >> Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges).
Configure via the Initial Setup Assistant
Note:
- We removed these portions of the Initial Setup Assistant interface in cPanel & WHM version 76. In later versions of cPanel & WHM, you must use WHM interfaces or the command line to perform these tasks.
- These steps assume that you successfully completed the cPanel & WHM installation process, logged in to WHM, and completed the first three sections of the Initial Setup Assistant interface.
- In cPanel & WHM version 64 and earlier, WHM’s Initial Setup Assistant interface was the Initial Setup Wizard interface.
To configure nameservers via the Initial Setup Assistant interface, perform the following steps:
Select a nameserver software.
Note:
If you already use your registrar’s DNS services, you can skip this step.
Select the desired nameserver software. cPanel & WHM offers the following nameserver software:
- BIND — The system defaults to BIND in cPanel & WHM version 82 and earlier.
- PowerDNS — The system defaults to PowerDNS in cPanel & WHM version 84 and later.
Note: For most servers, we recommend that you select PowerDNS.
- MyDNS — We deprecated MyDNS in cPanel & WHM version 78 and plan to remove it in a future release. You can’t select this setting.
Important:
- We strongly recommend that you migrate to PowerDNS. For more information, read our cPanel Deprecation Plan.
- MyDNS does not support Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records, which certificate authorities use to determine if they can issue certificates for a domain.
- MyDNS requires that you add external nameserver IP addresses to the resolv.conf file.
NSD — We deprecated NSD in cPanel & WHM version 78 and plan to remove it in a future release. You can’t select this setting.
Important: We strongly recommend that you migrate to PowerDNS. For more information, read our cPanel Deprecation Plan.
Disabled
Name your nameservers.
Enter the desired name for each of your nameservers. We recommend that you use the following guidelines when you name nameservers:
- The name must consist of a prefix, a dot (.), and your domain. The common convention for nameservers is to prefix your domain name with ns1 (for example, ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com).
- Your nameservers cannot share a name.
- We strongly recommend that you use a domain that reflects your company’s main homepage URL
Create A entries and add IP addresses.
Select the desired settings for your server’s A entries and IP addresses.
- We strongly recommend that you select both the Add “A Entries” for all Nameservers and Add “A Entries” for Hostname checkboxes.
- If you do not enter IP addresses in the Please enter an IP address for each of your nameservers text boxes, the system automatically assigns available IP addresses from your server to each nameserver.
Set up nameservers with your registrar.
After you configure your server’s nameservers, you must register your nameservers with your registrar.
- When you register nameservers, you announce their existence to the rest of the internet. You do not perform this action in cPanel & WHM, but you must do it or your nameservers will not function.
- For steps for many popular registrars, see the Instructions for various registrars section below.
Manage reseller nameservers.
After you configure your nameservers, you may wish to configure special nameservers for your server’s resellers. We design cPanel & WHM to accommodate a white-label reseller experience, which allows customizable branding. You can configure hosting resellers to each use their own nameservers.
Note:
Resellers may use their own nameservers, but individual cPanel accounts cannot use their own nameservers.
To edit nameserver names and assign nameserver IP addresses for individual reseller nameservers, use WHM’s Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges interface (WHM >> Home >> Resellers >> Edit Reseller Nameservers and Privileges).
Instructions for various registrars
Each set of instructions assumes that the following statements are true:
- You have an account with the registrar.
- You have already registered your domain with that company.
- You have logged in to your account and are on the first screen that you see after you log in.