Configuring an External Domain SUPPORT GUIDE DOMAINS
ABOUT THIS GUIDE This guide will instruct you on how to: Use an existing domain name Set Up Your Domain to Use Tagadab Name Servers Use Your VPS/Dedicated Server as a Mail Server Configure Relevant Services Page 2 Options for Using an Existing Domain Name A domain name registered with a third party can be used with your Tagadab VPS/Dedicated server by completing one of the following: 1. Modify the DNS zone records for individual domains to point to your VPS/Dedicated server (i.e. point www.your-domain.com only to the IP address of your VPS by amending the A Record in your Registrars Control Panel). 2. Create a DNS zone for your domain on our name servers and get your domain host to change the name servers from your domain to ours. Option 1 would be the best choice if you want to host one or two services on your Tagadab pack and your current host allows you to easily configure your DNS settings online. Option 2 would be the best choice if you want to use many services (hosting, FTP, e-mail and others) and/or your current host does not allow you to modify your DNS online. In this case, you may also want to consider transferring your domain to Tagadab. Setting Up Your Domain to Use Tagadab Name Servers 1. Log in to your Tagadab Control Panel at https://admin.tagadab.com//login. 2. Click on the Domains link in the top menu or from the home page click on "Register External Domain and you will see your Domain listed (see screen 1). Screen 1
3. Enter your domain name in the box and click the "Add DNS" button (see screen 2). Page 3 Screen 2 4. The system automatically adds the Name Server details (see screen 3). Screen 3
Complete the following to configure the domain to your Tagadab VPS/Dedicated server: Add the following 3 A Records, clicking the Submit button after each one: Hostname = @ This will allow the usage of tagdomain.com in the web browser without entering www. in front and resolve to your server Page 4 Hostname = www This will allow the usage of www. tagdomain.com in the web browser and resolve to your server Hostname = * This is a wild card and will allow the usage of any possible sub domains for tagdomain.com, (i.e. if you were to use shop. tagdomain.com) The above is the minimum configuration you need to resolve your domain to your VPS/Dedicated server. Using Your VPS/Dedicated Server as a Mail Server To use your VPS/Dedicated server as the mail server for your domain, please complete the following: 1. Add an MX record: Hostname = @ Content = mail.tagdomain.com 2. Add another A Record: Hostname = mail 3. For FTP: Add an A Record: Hostname = ftp The above will allow the usage of ftp.tagdomain.com and resolve to your server.
For Webmail: Add an A Record: Hostname = webmail The above will allow the usage of webmail.tagdomain.com and resolve to your server. Page 5 More about DNS Records Hostname This is a suggested hostname to use for this record. The hostname is what users will type in before your domain name (i.e., in www.tagadab.com the www part is the hostname). Since this part of the record is effectively just a label, it can be any mix of numbers and letters. For example, you could have people check their webmail on your domain by typing in webmail.<your domain>. The exception to this rule is the MX record that should keep the hostname @. Content This is the important part of the DNS record as it tells the traffic to your domain where to go. This generally will be the IP Address of your VPS/Dedicated Server. The exception to this rule is the MX record that should have the name of your mail server (i.e., mail.<your domain>). MX records This record is vital if you want to use e-mail with your domain as it specifies the mail server your domain uses. There is an extra attribute for this type of record called priority that determines the order in which e-mails will attempt to be delivered to your servers. Wild card records This simply replaces the hostname with an asterisk (*). A wild card record works for any sub-domain that is not set separately. Time to Live This is the time it takes for your changes to the DNS to propagate. Different registrars have this set to different values. Some allow you to set this yourself while others do not allow this to be changed unless you are on a premium package. A registrar may even charge you to change this to a lower value than the set default.
Configuring Relevant Services 1. After entering the above DNS Settings, you need to configure the relevant services (FTP, Webmail, e-mail) on your server. This can be easily done through a Control Panel such as Plesk/WHM or completed manually at the command line (SSH/Linux) or in IIS (Windows). Page 6 2. Once the services have been configured, modify the Name Servers at your Domain registrars DNS Control Panel to the Tagadab ones below: (Your domain Registrars support department should be able to assist you in entering these values.) ns0-vh.tagadab.com 195.245.201.53 ns1-vh.tagadab.com 195.112.32.53 ns2-vh.tagadab.com 195.8.69.53 Your domain ISP s support department should be able to either change these records for you or tell you how to do so yourself. As with all DNS changes, it may take up to 24 hours for the switch to be completed. Once your domain uses our name servers, you will be able to administer the DNS for your domain via our control panel. Need Further Assistance? Please e-mail us at support@tagadab.com or call us at 020 3697 5537 Monday through Friday from 8am to 6pm GMT.