At transIP you are free to choose your own nameservers. You can always use the TransIP nameservers, but you can also configure your own.
This article discusses a third option: Using your own nameservers with the TransIP nameservers as secondary. This setup allows you to keep your domain name active via the TransIP nameservers, if your primary nameservers are unavailable.
Take note:
- The method in this article only works for domain names that are registered with TransIP.
- When you use the TransIP nameservers as secondary, the DNS settings are no longer managed via your TransIP control panel. The DNS settings will then work via zone transfers (AXFR). This means our nameservers will take over the DNS settings from your own nameservers as long as the 'Conditions' at the end of this article have been met.
Configuring nameservers in your control panel
Log on to your control panel and navigate to 'Domain'. Next, select your domain name on the left hand side (don't check the box).
Now scroll down to 'Advanced domain settings', followed by 'Nameservers'.
In case you see 'Domain settings' in stead, turn off the TransIP settings to the right. The 'Advanced domain settings' will then be activated, after which you can navigate to 'Nameservers'.
You will see your current nameservers here. Make sure your own nameservers are listed first. You may have to delete the TransIP nameservers first, after which you enter your own nameservers. Enter one of our nameservers as the last nameserver:
- ns0.transip.net
- ns1.transip.nl
- ns2.transip.eu
The image below shows an example of how this should look:
Click 'Save' after entering the required nameservers.
When entering nameservers that end in the same domain name as the domain name you're configuring them for, you will be asked to enter glue records.
For instance, if your nameservers are ns0.yourdomain.com and ns1.yourdomain.com, and you want to use these for the same domain name yourdomain.com, extra fields will appear:
- At 'Gluerecord IPv4' you enter the IPv4 address of your nameserver.
- At 'Gluerecord IPv6' you enter the IPv6 address of your nameserver, if available.
If you haven't configured IPv6 addresses for your nameserver, you can leave this field empty.
After saving the nameservers, it may take up to 4 to 24 hours before the changes are saved.
Conditions
Keep in mind that several conditions have to be met, before the TransIP nameservers can be used as secondary nameservers, as the zone (DNS records) of your domain name will need to be propagated to the TransIP nameservers.
- Firstly, your nameserver needs to allow zone transfers (AXFR), which in turn allows the TransIP nameservers to take over DNS changes of your nameservers. Take note that some nameserver software disables zone transfers by default. If that is the case with your nameserver software, you will need to allow the following IP ranges access to zone transfers:
87.253.155.96/27 157.97.168.160/27
- Next, make sure the serial number of your primary nameserver's SOA record is higher than the current serial number of the TransIP nameserver's SOA record. The serial number of the SOA record uses the format YYYYMMDDXX, where YYYYMMDD is the data of the latest change and XX is a specific serial number.
The secondary TransIP nameserver will periodically check the serial number of the primary nameserver's SOA record (depending on the 'refresh' field). If the serial number of the primary nameserver's SOA record is higher than the secondary nameserver's SOA record, the secondary nameserver will request a zone transfer (AXFR). The secondary nameserver will then take over the primary nameserver's DNS and update its current serial number to match that of the primary nameserver.
Therefore it is important that you ensure the serial number in your primary nameserver is raised with each DNS-change on your primary nameserver.
- Also keep in mind that the 'minimum' field of you primary nameserver's SOA record has to be identical to the 'minimum' field of the TransIP nameserver's SOA record. If this is not the case, visitors of your domain name may not always get the same response from the nameservers.
Once these conditions have been met, the zone will correctly propagate.
Take note: NOTIFY requests are not supported by the TransIP nameservers.
In this article we discussed how to set the TransIP nameservers as secondary while using your own nameservers.
If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact our support team. You can reach them using the 'Contact us' button below or via the 'Contact' button inside your control panel.