OK I will admit this. I am new to the entire dedicated server world. I am trying to set up custom Name Servers for my box. Basically I want foo.mydomain.com and bar.mydomain.com. I have already requested and reeceived two IPs, but I am doing nothing but screwing up this new box as far as I can tell. When I go into WHM and click Edit Setup I see a place that looks like where I set up the NS. However after entering the name I wanted for the primary NS and I clicked the Assign IP Address button, it assigns my servers main IP address. After it did this I DID NOT press save. It did not look like the right thing to do. When I went back into Edit Setup, the name server was not listed.

Can someone who is a little less stupid and dense than I am please point this ignorant soul in the right direction as to how to set this (probably very simple) thing up please?

Thanks...

Try this, go to Manage Nameserver IP's and this will show a list IP's. If there any there delete them by clicking on the X then start again and enter the name of a nameserver other than foo or bar in the box, then click assign IP. This will probably assign the main server IP address, if this is the case then enter foo. and ber. respectively and each of the additional new IP's will be assigned in order. Then when this is done and you see all the namserver names and IP's in the list, click on the X to the right of the dummy namesserver name to delete it. And when this is done check what is in the setup page. Don't forget to check the resolv.conf file to see the listings are correct, there's more info in the forum about that.

OK I did all that but first let me back up and give you some more information.

I just signed up for this box and have not set up anything yet. When I filled out the form on the web site to get the box they asked for a domain name and I gave them the domain I wanted to use. I have done nothing at all since then with the server as far as mydomain.com goes. I am not sure what I ned to do or when!

Anyway, I go through the steps you outlined and when I get to the resolv.conf file it looks odd to me. Now it may be just that I am a DFU as far as this file goes but here is what it has

domain darkorb.net
search darkorb.net
nameserver ###.###.###.###
nameserver ###.###.###.###
nameserver ###.###.###.###
nameserver ###.###.###.###

None of the four IPs listed next to nameserver (that is literally what is listed is "nameserver") are IPs I recognize. Have I totally botched this up already?

DB

No you haven't botched up, just delete the lines that are the IP addresses you don't know and insert the ones you have registered.

so it would be:
(.com,.net,.us. or whatever replaces the xxx''s)

domain yourdomainname.xxx
search yourdomainname.xxx

foo.yourdomainname.xxx XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
bar.yourdomainname.xxx XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX are the IP you allocated to be nameserver IP's.

OK all done! Now to pick your brain one last time (on this issue anyway)... The domain I am using is currently the main domain on my virtual server that I will be dropping soon. I have go to my account where the domain name is registered and registered these two name servers. Did that yesterday. How long will it take before I can "see" that these NSs are live by doing a ping or traceroute? Is there anything else I need to do to make them live? Appreciate your patience with me and thanks a ton for the help...

David

In my experience registration of new dns server names is 24 hours, but some have taken longer.
One thing I will suggest though, is if you see an error message when you restart the BIND (DNS) server something like 'connection to nds failed' and there is no bind status report on the restart do the following:

cd /scripts
./fixndc

I had a lot of trouble with DNS resolution on domains that I had imported through WHM until I ran this script.

Yep that seems to have fixed it! Thanks a lot Barry. The error you stated was what I was getting on restart. Running that script looks like it fixed everything on the server side. When I went back and restarted Bind again I got (what looks like) a valid response this time. Next time you are in the Richmond, VA area dial me up and I'll buy you a brew.

DB

That could be sooner than you think, maybe not tomorrow though as I drive through on route to NY.

Barry

Oh yeah I just noticed that you are in NC. I was in Lejeune from 77-81 as a guest of the USMC. Yikes now you know about how old I am... Anyway seriously I do appreciate the help. Like I said earlier I am new to the edicated server thing, but I am not your typical neophyte when it comes to 'puters. I think as long as I remeber to be patient about this all will go well. Time for the patience prayer...

"God grant me patience...
right #!@%ing NOW!"


DB
http://www.pczero.net/fun.swf

(How many people do YOU want to send to that site?)

Barry.. A follow up here. When I go to http://www.nsiregistry.com/ and enter the name servers, the whois returns the correct info. This is listing what I have set up with my Registrar if I am not mistaken. Still though when I ping the name servers I get host not found. If I ping the IPs they respond just fine. Is this normal? Wil it just take a while for everything to get in synch?


David

This does sometimes take time just make sure the main domain name you have chosen is pointing to the nameservers too and that you have created an account for that domain.

How do I get to the script section? Do you need to log-in to the server differently(ie telnet)? I have never done this, only logged into panel via browser and am unsure as to how to go about it. I think I have some of my other problems worked out, but it still gives me the ndc error and I am a bit..or more...confused. Thanks.

You need to log into your server via SSH, ie secure telnet. The tool alot use is called Putty you can download it from here
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatha...y/download.html

This will get you in to your server and then you can go to the /scripts directory and you can run the fixndc script.

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you. That fixed my problem entirely. Thanks to you greatly. Really like that putty.