Setting up private nameservers for your reseller account

Branded private nameservers let you present your hosting under your own company name, so your clients see nameservers like ns1.youragency.com rather than Kualo's defaults. The nameserver hostnames are already registered on your reseller account when we set it up - this guide covers what you need to do at your domain registrar and in your DNS zone to make them work.

What are private nameservers?

A private nameserver is a nameserver that uses your own domain name instead of a shared hosting provider's. When a client points their domain at ns1.youragency.com, they see only your brand. Under the hood, the nameserver still resolves to an IP address on our infrastructure.

If you would like a broader introduction to the concept before continuing, read our article on what private nameservers are.

Before you start

Your private nameservers use the primary domain of your reseller hosting plan - for example, if your primary domain is youragency.com, your nameservers will be ns1.youragency.com through ns4.youragency.com.

You will need:

• Access to the registrar where your primary domain is registered, so you can add glue records.
• The four IP addresses for your nameservers. These are in your Kualo welcome email. If you cannot find them, raise a support ticket and we will confirm them for you.

Step 1 - Add glue records at your domain registrar

A glue record (also called a nameserver host record or child nameserver) tells the parent registry the IP address of your nameserver hostname. Without it, DNS cannot resolve ns1.youragency.com because the nameserver itself is responsible for answering queries about youragency.com - a circular dependency.

The exact steps vary by registrar, but the process is broadly the same everywhere.

If your domain is registered with Kualo

Open a support ticket and ask us to add glue records for your private nameservers. Provide:

• The four nameserver hostnames (e.g. ns1.youragency.com through ns4.youragency.com).
• The corresponding IP addresses from your welcome email.

We will add the glue records on your behalf and confirm when it is done.

If your domain is registered elsewhere

1. Log in to your registrar's control panel.
2. Find the domain management section for youragency.com.
3. Look for an option labelled Nameserver Registration, Child Nameservers, Glue Records, or Host Records - the label differs between registrars.
4. Add the first record:
   • Hostname: ns1 (some registrars want the full hostname ns1.youragency.com)
   • IP address: the first IP from your welcome email
5. Repeat for ns2, ns3, and ns4, using the corresponding IP addresses from your welcome email.
6. Save your changes.

Below is an example of the values you would enter:

Hostname:   ns1.youragency.com
IP address: [IP address 1 from your welcome email]

Hostname:   ns2.youragency.com
IP address: [IP address 2 from your welcome email]

Hostname:   ns3.youragency.com
IP address: [IP address 3 from your welcome email]

Hostname:   ns4.youragency.com
IP address: [IP address 4 from your welcome email]

Step 2 - Add A records for each nameserver hostname

Glue records tell the parent registry where your nameservers live, but you also need matching A records in the DNS zone that is authoritative for youragency.com. Without these, resolvers that query your zone directly will not be able to look up the nameserver hostnames.

The A records must be added in whichever DNS service is currently authoritative for youragency.com. Where you do this depends on your setup:

• If youragency.com is pointed at your reseller nameservers (or will be after Step 3) - add the A records in the cPanel Zone Editor for youragency.com on your reseller account.
• If youragency.com uses Cloudflare or another external DNS service - add the A records there instead (see the Cloudflare note below).

In either case, add four A records:

Name:  ns1.youragency.com    Type: A    Value: [IP address 1 from your welcome email]
Name:  ns2.youragency.com    Type: A    Value: [IP address 2 from your welcome email]
Name:  ns3.youragency.com    Type: A    Value: [IP address 3 from your welcome email]
Name:  ns4.youragency.com    Type: A    Value: [IP address 4 from your welcome email]

A note for resellers using Cloudflare on their primary domain

Some resellers use Cloudflare for their own website (youragency.com) while still wanting to offer private nameservers to clients. You can do this - just keep youragency.com pointed at Cloudflare's nameservers for your own site, and add the four A records above in Cloudflare with the proxy turned off. Your clients' domains can still be pointed at ns1.youragency.com through ns4.youragency.com as normal. You do not need to point youragency.com itself at your reseller nameservers for the private nameservers to work for client domains.

Step 3 - Wait for the glue records to propagate

After saving your glue records, allow up to 72 hours before moving on. Glue records need time to propagate through the DNS system, and pointing domains at your nameservers before that process is complete can cause resolution failures.

You can monitor propagation using a free tool such as whatsmydns.net - enter your nameserver hostname and select the A record type to check whether the correct IP is resolving worldwide.

Step 4 - Point your nameserver domain at the correct nameservers

Once the glue records have propagated, update the nameservers for youragency.com itself so that it is served from your reseller account. If the domain is registered with Kualo, follow our guide on updating nameservers at Kualo. If it is registered elsewhere, use your registrar's nameserver update tool and enter ns1.youragency.com through ns4.youragency.com.

Step 5 - Use your private nameservers for client accounts

Once propagation is complete, you can point any client domain at your branded nameservers. When creating a new cPanel account in WHM, your private nameservers will appear as the default option.

For existing client domains, the client needs to update their nameservers at their own registrar to ns1.youragency.com through ns4.youragency.com.

Need help?

If you get stuck at any point, open a support ticket and our team will be happy to help. If your primary domain is registered with Kualo, we can handle the glue record setup for you entirely.