Academy

Welcome to the Managing Website DNS training session. Here's what we'll cover:

• Introduction to DNS
• DNS Record Types & Explanations
• Adding An External Domain
• Adding A Fully Delegated Domain
• FAQ's & Questions

If you've not followed a training session before, then there are a few things to note about how you can use this page:

1. First, click a "Segment" on on the right-hand side of a page to skip the video to the beginning of that specific segment and start watching.
2. Second, any important links and pages we discuss during a training session can also be found on the right hand side of this page, below Segments.
3. Finally, the Overview section will outline key steps you can follow to achieve what is shown in the video. Either follow along with the video, or follow the Segment Overview, it's totally up to you!

Domain Name System, or “DNS” as it’s more commonly called, is essentially an address book for the internet.

DNS allows us to look up an easy to remember domain name (www.mydomain.com) and matches it to an IP address for us behind the scenes to ensure you load up the content you are looking for.

When a person searches for your website in their internet browser, the browser goes off and looks at your DNS registrar, to find out where your website is located. If the registrar says it knows, it will return an IP address to your computer, allowing you to load the website found. By working this way, it saves us all from having to remember lots and lots of digit IP addresses... instead, we have nice and simple, easy to remember words!

Whether you're looking to move your website to Siteglide from another platform or just creating one, you will need to update your registrar so that you can be found on the internet.

There are two methods of adding a domain to a Siteglide site: External or Fully Delegated. We'll take a look at both options during this training session, so skip to the relevant section below if you prefer.

Here are a list of DNS record types we cover in this training session and short descriptions for each:

• NS - Name Server records, define which DNS server is authoritative for the domain.
• CNAME - Canonical name records, used in lieu of an A record and for subdomains.
• A - Address records, defines the IP address of a given domain.
• TXT - Text records, primarily used for service identification security such as email.
• MX - Mail Exchange records, direct to a mail server.
• SRV - Service records, define specific host and port for services such as VoIP, IM etc.
• SPF - Sender Policy Framework record, authorizes a server to send mail.
• PTR - Pointer record, opposite of an A record. Usually used for managing network infrastructure.

Step 0 - Add An External Domain to Siteglide

First, you need to add the domain to your Siteglide site. Head over to Site Settings from your portal, navigate into the "Domains" tab and then click the blue "+ Add Domain" button to get started. 

Next, choose the "External" card and type your root domain name into the field excluding any "https://" or "www.".

Finally, click the blue "Add Domain" button in the bottom right-hand corner. 

Step 1 - Add the generated SSL Record

Once the domain you have added has finished processing (usually a couple of minutes), refresh the page to view the generated record for Step 1 of 2.

The DNS record provided in Step 1 is for domain authentication... if proves you own the domain and also allows an SSL certificate to be generated and applied to your site, ready for when you complete Step 2.

Step 2 - Add the generated CNAME records

Once you have added the SSL verification record from Step 1, give your registrar some time to process the change.

Periodically refresh the page after 5-10 minutes (typical time for most registrars to apply the change) to view Step 2.

Finally, add the generated "www" CNAME record provided to your registrar and setup either domain forwarding, or the second root CNAME record we discuss in this training session.

Once these records have been processed by your Registrar, your Siteglide website will become live to the world - Congratulations!

Step 0 - Add A Fully Delegated Domain to Siteglide

First, you need to add the domain to your Siteglide site. Head over to Site Settings from your portal, navigate into the "Domains" tab and then click the blue "+ Add Domain" button to get started. 

Next, choose the "Fully Delegated" card and type your root domain name into the field excluding any "https://" or "www.".

Step 1 - Add any existing DNS records to the domain

Once you have added your Fully Delegated domain, click on it to open the "Hosted Zone". From here, you can add any existing DNS records you would like to continue working.

We recommend adding your existing records before continuing, to minimise downtime of services.

Checkout this doc for more information on the record type examples we discuss in this training session: Record Types & Examples

Step 2 - Update the NS records in your Registrar

Once you have added all of the existing DNS records you would like to keep, refresh the domain page to view 4 "NS Records" listed below and DNS records you have just added.

Head over to your registrar and add all 4 provided NS records, replacing any that already exist.

Once your registrar has finished processing the changes, your site will automatically become live to the world - congratulations!

Question 1 - How do we add multiple records with the same name?

To add a DNS record with the same name on Siteglide (AWS), create a single record with the name. In the value field, add the first record value and hit enter onto a new line to add a second. AWS will render this as two separate records once you have saved them.

Question 2 - How do we add a record with a name of “@”?

To add a DNS record with the name value of "@" or "root", simply leave the name field blank. Registrars always append the contents of the name field with the root romain ("example.com").

Question 3 - how do we add a record with more than 255 characters in its value?

To add a DNS record with more than 255 characters in its value (such as long DKIM records), split the characters in half with "" marks without entering onto a new line or adding any spaces. See the training session video for more information. Some services also allow you to request a shortened DKIM if you prefer.

Question 4 - Why do AWS use a CNAME Load Balancer and not IP?

CNAME load balancers are growing in popularity and use. They enable the platform (in this case AWS) to dynamically update the IP address linked with your website at any time, maximising uptime and performance.

Question 5 - Why should we use 4 NS records and not just 1?

Some very old registrars only allow for one or two NS records to be added. This is workable but far from ideal, as by adding all 4 records you are reducing the risk of downtime on your website incase of server issues.

Question 6 - I have copied a new record in and it isn’t working, why?

One of the most common issues we see is when people try to add a DNS record provided by an external service is that the record they copy includes their domain as well as the value. Registrars always append the name field with your root domain for you, so you don't need to write the domain name in that field... otherwise it will render as duplicated (e.g. "_sip._tls.example.com.example.com" rather than "_sip._tls.example.com").