How to Set Up Private Nameservers

Private (vanity) nameservers let your clients see your brand on their domain's nameserver records instead of {{COMPANY_NAME}}'s defaults. For example, instead of ns1.{{COMPANY_NAME}}.com, your clients see ns1.yourbrand.com.

Why Use Private Nameservers?

• Professional Branding — Clients see your company name, not your provider's
• Client Confidence — Signals a legitimate, established hosting business
• Portability — If you switch providers, you can repoint your nameservers without asking every client to update DNS

Prerequisites

1. A domain name registered with a registrar that supports glue records
2. Your reseller server's IP addresses (provided by {{COMPANY_NAME}})
3. Access to your domain registrar's control panel

Step 1: Get Your Server IP Addresses

Log in to WHM and go to Server Information. Note down the primary IP and secondary IP (if available). If you only have one IP, the same IP works for both ns1 and ns2.

Step 2: Register Child Nameservers (Glue Records)

At your domain registrar:

1. Navigate to the DNS or Nameserver management section
2. Look for Register Nameservers, Child Nameservers, or Glue Records
3. Create two records:

1. Save the changes

Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation

Glue records can take 24-48 hours to propagate globally. Check using nslookup ns1.yourdomain.com or whatsmydns.net.

Step 4: Configure WHM

1. Log in to WHM
2. Go to Basic WebHost Manager Setup
3. In the Nameservers section, enter ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com
4. Save the configuration

Step 5: Update Client Accounts

Existing client accounts still reference old nameservers. Ask each client to update their domain's nameservers. New accounts created after this change automatically use your private nameservers.

Verifying Your Setup

dig ns1.yourdomain.com +short
# Should return your server IP

dig clientdomain.com @ns1.yourdomain.com
# Should return the client's hosting IP

Common Issues

Nameservers Not Resolving

• Verify glue records at your registrar
• Wait the full 48 hours for propagation
• Confirm IP addresses are correct

Client Website Not Loading After Change

• DNS changes take up to 48 hours to propagate
• Verify the client updated nameservers correctly
• Check that a DNS zone exists in WHM

Related Articles

• White-Label Branding for Resellers
• Getting Started with Reseller Hosting

Need help? Contact our support team at {{SUPPORT_URL}}/client/support.