How to Set Up Custom Nameservers for Your Domain

With custom nameservers your domains run on nameservers under your own name, for example ns1.yourdomain.nl instead of the Theory7 nameservers. Technically nothing changes: your domains stay on our DNS servers, only the names your customers see are yours. Handy if you resell or simply want to show off your own brand.

For this you need:

• a domain name you manage yourself (for example yourdomain.nl)
• access to DirectAdmin for that domain
• access to the client area at my.theory7.net

Allow up to 24 hours for the change to take effect worldwide.

Step 1: Create DNS records in DirectAdmin

You create three names that point to our nameservers. For each nameserver you add an A record (IPv4) and an AAAA record (IPv6).

1. Log in to DirectAdmin through my.theory7.net or directly on your server.
2. Go to Account Manager > DNS Management.
3. Choose the domain you want to use for your nameservers, for example yourdomain.nl.
4. Click Add Record and choose type A.
5. Under Name, enter ns1, and under Value, enter the IPv4 address from the table below. Click Add.
6. Repeat this for ns2 and ns3, and then for the three AAAA records with the IPv6 addresses.

Note: enter only ns1, not ns1.yourdomain.nl. DirectAdmin adds the domain itself. If after saving you see ns1.yourdomain.nl. with a dot at the end, it is correct.

You do not need to change the TTL; the default value is fine.

Step 2: Register the nameservers with the registry (glue records)

The registry of your TLD needs to know which IP addresses belong to your nameserver names. This is called a glue record. Without this step your nameservers will not work, even if the DNS records are correct.

1. Log in to my.theory7.net.
2. Go to Domains and click the domain your nameservers fall under.
3. In the left menu, click Glue records.
4. Under Nameserver, enter ns1.yourdomain.nl, and under IP address, enter 188.245.108.163. Save.
5. Repeat for ns2.yourdomain.nl with 62.212.95.148 and ns3.yourdomain.nl with 213.154.231.141.

If your TLD also supports IPv6 glue, add the matching IPv6 address for each nameserver as well.

Step 3: Get your nameservers approved

Only after steps 1 and 2 have taken effect can your nameservers be approved by our team. 

1. Create a ticket asking whether your nameservers can be approved.
2. We approve your nameservers!

Step 4: Use your nameservers

After a few hours, check that everything works. From a terminal:

dig +short ns1.yourdomain.nl
dig +short NS yourdomain.nl

The first line should return 188.245.108.163, the second your three own nameservers. If you work on Windows, use nslookup ns1.yourdomain.nl.

Prefer using your browser? On whatsmydns.net you can see per location whether the change has come through yet. 

All good? Then you can set the nameservers however you like!

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to set up all three nameservers?

Two is the minimum most registries require. We recommend all three, which gives the best distribution and availability.

Will my website or email go offline because of this?

No, as long as you follow the steps in this order. The DNS zones stay on the same servers; only the name they are served under changes.

Can I use names other than ns1, ns2 and ns3?

Yes. dns1, dns2 or something else works just as well, as long as you use the same names in every step.

I use DNSSEC on my domain

Temporarily turn off DNSSEC before you change the nameservers, and turn it back on afterwards. Otherwise resolvers will reject your domain as insecure during the transition.

How long does it take?

Usually visible within an hour, and worldwide within 24 hours at the latest.