DNS settings
I want to move a couple of websites from a shared hosting account to a Linode server and have some questions about the DNS stuff.
Here's the situation:
I cannot change the registrars nameserver settings but I can change the DNS settings on my shared hosting.
To avoid the need of installing and maintaining a mailserver on the Linode I would like to keep the shared hosting where I can easily create mail forwarders and mailboxes if needed (using cPanel).
I'm a bit confused about the DNS configuration to be done both on my shared hosting and on the Linode
I already changed on my shared hosting the IP of the www A-record to the IP of the Linode, but this way the site is not reachable without the www prefix.
Changing the IP of th FQDN a-racord messes up the mail-settings.
Thanks for your advice!
12 Replies
I can't seem to reach either
Using the shared hosting mailserver however is not working.
I also setup serdaryoga.be to test with.
I wonder what's the best strategy. Using Linode DNS and redirect mail to shared hosting or use DNS on my shared hosting and redirect to Linode?
on shared host:
NS-records to use shared hosts nameserver
serdaryoga.be. A-record pointing to Linode IP
mail.serdaryoga.be. A-record pointing to shared hosting IP
mail.serdaryoga.be MX-record pointing to mail.serdaryoga.be
I've setup a mailadres that forwards to another, external mailbox.
on linode:
no DNS config done.
The site is shown with and without the www prefix but mail does not seem to be working.
Am I still missing something?
This seems to work indeed!
on linode:
MX-record pointing to mail.calf.be
mail.calf.be A-record pointing to shared host IP
on shared hosting:
NS-reords to use Linode nameservers
calf.be. A-record going to Linode IP
MX-record pointing to mail.calf.be
mail.calf.be A-record pointing to shared host IP
Again, this is working for the site but not for the mail
If you wish to use the Linode nameservers for calf.be, you need to make this change at your registrar (perhaps
Instead, what you have done is to create NS records on the registar's nameservers that indicate the nameservers for calf.be are actually the Linode nameservers, while leaving the registar's nameservers listed as the authoritative nameservers for the domain. So when someone wants to look up one of your DNS records, they are told that ns3.thefasthosting.com and ns4.thefasthosting.com are authoritative for the domain, but when they ask ns3.thefasthosting.com or ns4.thefasthosting.com for the DNS record, ns3.thefasthosting.com or ns4.thefasthosting.com tell them that the Linode nameservers are actually the ones they should be asking. Ideally, when someone wants to look up a DNS record, they should be sent to the Linode nameservers directly, bypassing the registrar's nameservers completely.
Essentially, when Craig asks about calf.be, he is told that Adam knows about calf.be. But when Craig asks Adam, Adam says that he should go ask Linda instead. But should Craig believe anything Linda says? According to the registrar, Adam is the person who knows all about calf.be, after all. What we want to have happen is that when Craig asks about calf.be, he is immediately told that Linda knows about calf.be (and Adam is never mentioned!).
So anyway, figure out in your registrar's web interface where you set the authoritative nameservers for your domain, and change them to the Linode nameservers. Do not create NS records in the same area of the web interface that you add A and MX records.
You do not need to maintain A and MX records on both your registrar's nameservers and on Linode's nameservers. In fact, once you change the authoritative nameservers for calf.be to the Linode nameservers, you might no longer have access to the section of the registrar's interface that allows you to set A and MX records (since you're supposed to do that at Linode now).
I changed the nameservers to ns1.linode.com, … etc on my shared hosting in cPanel "Edit DNS Zone" (I think that's the correct place to do this???)
There is only 1 A-record left, pointing to the Linode IP.
On Linode, I set an A-record mail.calf.be pointing to the shared hosting IP and a MX-record going to mail.calf.be
Unfortunately it's still not working for mail.
On the other hand, I think serdaryoga.be is now configured well, using my shared host nameservers so maybe I should just take that way of working. Unless this has some disadvantages?
I can't imagine a registrar would be using cPanel to allow you to control which nameservers are authoritative for your domain, but I am admittedly unfamiliar with cPanel and its myriad capabilities. My thinking is that if you're in cPanel or in something named "Edit DNS Zone", you're in the wrong place to be setting the authoritative nameservers at your registrar.
If you can't figure out how to set the Linode nameservers as the authoritative nameservers for your domain, you should just configure calf.be in the same way as serdaryoga.be.
The fastest way to migrate my sites to Linode will be to keep the shared hosting DNS and just change the A-records to point to the Linode.
Thanks for your support dcraig!