10 Steps to Configuring DNS, Host Name and Reverse Pointers

10 Steps to Configuring
DNS, HOST NAME & REVERSE POINTERS

Welcome! This guide is to help those of you who are new to domain hosting. One of the most daunting tasks I found when setting up my server was establishing my own DNS control! I found a great guide by Jared Stenquist that helped me out. This guide is a revised version of the guide on JaredWeb.com. I have updated it to mesh with Plesk 7.5 Reloaded and later versions of Plesk. The guide has also been expanded to include the configuring of the Full Host Name and Reverse Pointers. If you find any problems within this guide, please email me!

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Table of Contents:

Requesting Additional IP Addresses
Entering New IP Addresses into Plesk
Configuring Your DNS Template
Creating a Main DNS Domain
Adding Name Server Records
Pointing Your Registrar to Your Name Servers
Creating a Host Name Record
Configuring the Full Host Name
Creating Pointer Records for IP Addresses
Registerng the Reverse Pointers with EV1

The Scenario:
You want to host domains on your new Plesk server. Instead of relying on EV1's DNS, you want to handle it all yourself. To do that you'll need to set up your own DNS servers. DNS servers look similar to this, "ns1.yourdomain.com, ns2.yourdomain.com." All of the domains on your server will use these new nameservers. In the following guide I will be using the following example IP Addresses:

Main Server IP: (IP given at time of server purchase)	67.10.00.20
Second Domain IP: (This is optional. You can share your main IP with all domains on your server.)	67.10.00.21
Name Server 1 IP:	67.10.00.210
Name Server 2 IP:	67.10.00.211
Throughout this guide, you will need to substitute in your own IP Addresses in place of these default IPs. Likewise, the domain 'yourdomain.com' would be substituted with the name of your main domain.

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Step 1 - Requesting Additional IP Addresses
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Step 1A
Log In to EV1Servers' Member's Area, Server Command.

Enter your username (account number) and password and click Submit.

Step 1B
Choose Upgrades / Orders > Additional IPs from the menu on the left.

Request Additional IPs Menu

Step 1C
At the top of the page, choose your main IP from the menu. At this point, it should be the only IP listed.
Scroll down the page to this form:

Request Additional IPs

In the form, select Nameservers/DNS as the Purpose and choose 2 as the Number Requested.
You can put in some text for Justification if you like. Be polite and ask nicely!
Click Submit.

After submitting your request you will receive an email from EV1servers.net stating that IPs have been assigned to your account. Take note of the new IP Addresses. Write them down exactly as they appear, you will need them in the next step..

Step 2 - Entering New IP Addresses into Plesk
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Step 2A
So, we now have 3 IP Addresses to play with. Next you'll need to assign these new IPs to your server.

Log in to your Plesk Control Panel via the Admin account.
Once there, you should be on the Server Administration pane, if not, click Server on the left side menu.
The top row of icons should look something like this:

IP Addressed Button

Click on IP Addresses.

Step 2B
On this screen you should see your main IP already listed.

Add New IP Address

Click on Add New IP Address.

Step 2C

Type in the new IP address given to you by EV1(in this case, 67.10.00.210) followed by '/' and the subnet mask. The subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0.
Chances are you won't have to change the Interface, IP Type or SSL Certificate. That's a whole other tutorial!
You can make these IPs Shared or Exclusive. It won't really matter for use with your Name Servers. But, I wouldn't put any websites on them.

Repeat this step to add your second IP Address.

Note: Older versions of Plesk had separate blanks for the IP and Subnet Mask. I'm not sure why Plesk changed it. But, nevertheless, it looks like this as of Plesk7.5 Reloaded.

Step 2D
Your IP addresses management screen should now look similar to this:

Added IPs

Note: I have added the IP 67.10.00.21 for new secondary domains that will get their DNS information from the template we are about to create. You will not need to have an additional IP for this. You can simply share the IP of your main domain. In this case, 67.10.00.20. Any and all IPs on the server can be shared for domains. But, again, the IPs used for your Name Servers should be left just for that, not for domain hosting.

Additionally, you can check the configuration of your new IP Addresses by inspecting the ifcfg-eth0 files within /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. Within the main file (ifcfg-eth0) will be all the settings for your gateway and subnet mask (usually set to 255.255.255.0). You will have additional ifcfg-eth0 files for each additional IP you have beyond your main one. They will be named: ifcfg-eth0:1, ifcfg-eth0:2, ifcfg-eth0:3...and so on. These files, by default, will only contain the subnet mask setting and the IP address itself.

Step 3 - Configuring Your DNS Template
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We will now create the server's default DNS settings. This will act as a template for all new domains created on the server.

Click Server on the left side menu.
Click DNS in the Server Administration pane.

Set up your DNS Host Records to look like this:

IP Addressed Button

The settings here will be used to set up any domains you add to the server under any IP Address.

Step 4 - Creating a Main DNS Domain
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Your main domain may or may not be set up at this point. If it has not been set up already, click Domains on the left side panel.
On the Domains pane, click Add New Domain.
Select the Client you'd like this domain to belong to.
Enter the Domain name into the blank (in this tutorial it is yourdomain.com).
Select your main IP address from the Select an IP address menu.
On the next pages you will set up all of the other settings involved in hosting a domain. I won't get into all of that here. Once again, a whole other tutorial!

Your main domain will end up looking similar to this. Next we'll add the Name Server records that make this your main DNS.

Domain from Template

Step 5 - Adding Name Server Records
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Step 5A
Once your main domain has been configured, click on Domains on the left side panel and then choose your main domain from the list.
Click on DNS on the Domain Administration pane.

Create Host Records to look like the following. Substitute "yourdomain.com" for the name of your main domain and the IPs as explained at the beginning of the guide.
Some Host Records may already be here if your main domain was created after your domain template. In which case there are just a couple records to add relating to your name servers.

Main Domain DNS

The main difference between this DNS set up and all others that will be created on your server is the addition of the two A records that denote the IP Addresses of the nameservers, ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com. Both pointing to the two additional IPs you requested from EV1.

Note: The "www.yourdomain.com CNAME yourdomain.com" line is created automatically by Plesk when a domain is created. Some will debate the need for this line at all. Instead, they add "www.yourdomain.com A 67.10.00.20" so that a www call will point directly to the IP instead of a www call pointing to the domain name and then the domain name pointing to the IP address. The A record method can be more efficient but, the CNAME record works and it's what Plesk does automatically, so why not just leave it?

Step 5B
Subsequent domains you create will look similar to this:

Domain from Template

Once again, the IP, 67.10.00.21 was created just for this domain. You will not need to do so on your server. In this example, "yourdomain.com" does NOT refer to the main domain of the server. Rather, it is just the default name for this particular domain on the server.

Step 6 - Pointing Your Registrar to Your Name Servers
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Now, comes the fun part!
If you haven't registered your domain already, do so.

Here are a few registrars you can choose from:
Network Solutions
GoDaddy
Dotster

If you have registered your domain, access the member's area of your domain's registrar (netsol.com, godaddy.com, dotster.com, etc.).
Navigate to the area that allows you to register name servers.

You will then add your name servers. It should look similar to this:

IP Addressed Button

Click Update (or whatever your registrar's form says) and then add your second nameserver.
It is mandatory to always have at least 2 name servers.
You'll then, need to change the name servers assigned to your domain to the name servers you just created. If you need further assistance with step 6, your registrar will be able to help.
Some registrars allow you to assign the name servers to the domain at the same time as creating them. If you have more than one domain, you can even change them all at once.

Be advised, it normally takes 24-72 hours for DNS changes with a registrar to take place and propogate across the entire internet. Give it 3 days before you ask for assistance.

At this point you have completed the section on DNS. You can now progress into the Host Name configuration.

Step 7 - Creating a Host Name Record
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Now we'll create the host name for your server. By default, the hostname is set to something like, plesk.ev1servers.net. Well, we can't have that shameless promotion!

First thing we need to do is create an additional host record in the DNS settings of our main domain.

Note: Your host does not HAVE to share the domain name of your main domain. You can assign it to any of the domains on your server. But, it sure is nice to have it on the main domain using the main IP address.

Click on Domains on the left side panel.
On the Domains pane, choose your main domain.
Click the DNS button.

Here you'll see the familiar DNS setup we just completed in the DNS configuration portion of the guide.

Create an additional A record as seen at the bottom of the list here:

IP Addressed Button

The new Host is listed as sub.domain.com. But, it can be named anything you want as long as it keeps that same structure. Assign this A record to point to the main IP address. (Or the IP address you chose to put your host name on. For this guide, it's the main IP and is what I suggest.)

Step 8 - Configuring the Full Host Name
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Step 8A
Click on Server on the left side panel.
Click the Server Preferences button on the Server Administration pane under Control Panel.

This will bring up the Server Preferences pane.
In the Full hostname blank, type in the host you created in step 7.

Click Ok.

Step 8B
Unfortunately, we hit a shortcoming in Plesk here that forces us to get into Linux a bit.
Plesk does not fully establish the host name on the system. So, we have to go in and manually configure it.

At your SSH console (such as PuTTY) or using WinSCP, edit the file /etc/hosts. Be sure that the host name listed is what it should be.
Now, edit /etc/sysconfig/network and check again for the correct hostname.

Once those two files are showing the proper host name, then you're all set!

Once this is set up correctly, any admin emails, return email etc. will come from the host name you just created. It's much more easily identifiable by you and others than to get an email from plesk.ev1servers.net. Several times in my office I had people asking what this email was they had gotten. So, I had to explain why it said plesk.ev1servers.net. Then I set up my host name and I don't get that question anymore!

At this point you have completed the section on Host Name. You can now progress into the Reverse Pointer configuration.

Step 9 - Creating Pointer Records for IP Addresses
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Click on Domains on the left side panel.
On the Domains pane, choose your main domain.
Click the DNS button.

Here you'll see the familiar DNS setup we just completed in the DNS and Host Name configuration portions of the guide.

We'll create 3 PTR records similar to below. One for each of the IPs currently on the server.

Server Preferences

Note: Your main IP's PTR record could point to any subdomain you choose to create. In this case, I've pointed it to the same subdomain we created for the Host Name.

Step 10 - Registering the Reverse Pointers with EV1
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Step 10A
Log In to EV1Servers' Member's Area, Server Command.

Enter your username (account number) and password and click Submit.

Step 10B
Choose DNS Configuration > Edit Reverse Pointers from the menu on the left.

Request Additional IPs Menu

Step 10C
Choose your main IP Address from the list at the top of the form.
This will display the current Reverse Pointer set for this IP.
Change the Reverse to be the subdomain you set in Step 9.
Click Save.

Request Additional IPs Menu

Repeat this step for each of your IP addresses.

That's it! You're all done! That wasn't so bad, was it?
I hope this guide was helpful to you.
Have fun and happy hosting!
Matt Tyree

Thanks to all those good folks on the various forums, chat rooms and help desks who have helped me understand the varied aspects of a web server. Without them explaining it to me, I could never explain it to anyone else!

This page is intended for private instruction purposes only.
Questions or Comments, email me.
Matt Tyree nor TyreeOnline.com are in any way affiliated with EV1Servers.net, RedHat or SWsoft/Plesk®.
Plesk® is a registered trademark of SWsoft, Inc. All rights reserved.