Guide for Beginners

survice

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Joined
May 6, 2009
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I am very new to DA. I am trying to understand the sequence of events to follow in order to get my server up and running with my domain.

I have tried viewing other discussions about this topic but they seem a bit all over the place.

These are the questions that i have in mind:

Before even touching DA, i go to the company that has my domain registered and i have inputed the nameserver of my server. Do i put my primary ip in the IP boxes of the NS or do i put the new ips that i have created (192.168.0.1).

Is there a guide i can read on how to set a "brand new" setup of DA ?
 
Using an ip like 192.168.0.1 is not going to help you any since its not public. You cannot just make up ip addresses. You have to use the ones your data center gave you.

Also you cannot just make up nameserver names either. They have to be based on one of your domains. You have to create nameserver records at the registrar. After you create the nameserver records then you can point domains to them.
 
Floyd,

Is there a guide or anything i can read on how to set up things properly from the moment that i get a dedicated server from the company ?
 
Not that I know of. Setting up DirectAdmin is supposed to be for experienced administrators. Beginners should not be setting up DirectAdmin at least not for production use. Why? Because what if something goes wrong? How is a beginner going to fix it as you have found out?

As you have indicated in your post you are not an experienced administrator. You do not even know how the internet works yet. You need a guide on how the internet works. Then setting up DirectAdmin will be clear to you.

I personally like howstuffworks.com. Learn about the internet, DNS, webservers.
 
Floyd, if i can explain to you a bit what is the situation.

I do understand how DNS work but not not 100% when it comes to nameservers.

Just to begin:

I have a domain with another company and i think i changed the DNS correctly to redirect it to my dedicated server.

Do i need to edit the A Records with the company my domain is hosted at or just the name servers ?
 
Floyd,

I just called the company that hosts my domain and they explained to me to do the A-Records for the subdomains of ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com

How do i now "receive" those requests on behalf of DA, meaning how can i set up DA properly to receive those requests ?
 
I do understand how DNS work but not not 100% when it comes to nameservers.

I am not sure but that might a paradox. Since nameservers are at the heart of DNS then you really cannot say you understand DNS if you don't understand nameservers.

I have a domain with another company

What domain? What company? Are you talking about a hosting company? Domain registration company? Some other company?

i think i changed the DNS correctly to redirect it to my dedicated server

What did you do to make the change?

Do i need to edit the A Records with the company my domain is hosted at or just the name servers ?

That depends on which server is going to handle the DNS for you? Do you want your server to do it or do you want the registrar to do it or some other company to do it?

I am not trying to be a PITA but you have not given us anything to really help you. We don't know what the domain is. We don't know what the nameservers are. We do not even know what server you want to handle DNS.
 
Floyd, i appreciate your patience and help give me a moment please to explain everything down to the bolts...
 
I have registered a domain with a "domain registrar" (netfirms.com) my domain eligon.ca

when i called them they explained to me to do the following changes in order to do things properly on the behalf of the registrar company.

for primary domain (eligon.ca) do a DNS to ns1.eligon.ca and ns2.eligon.ca

create two sub-domains
ns1.eligon.ca with A-Record to the first IP address that i have created in the dedicated server
ns2.eligon.ca with A-Record to the second IP address that i have created in the dedicated server

they said it might take 12-24 hours for changes to take effect.

and i have bought a dedicated server with a primary IP address and 5 IP addresses in range (with two of the IP belonging to the ns1.eligon.ca and ns2.eligon.ca )

Now i have to wait 12-24 hours and see if everything on the "redirecting" (meaning the registrar's company side) is working properly and then set up the "receiving" (dedicated server) side.

Floyd, I hope i have provided enough information for you to understand my situation.
 
Floyd, this should give me a really good head start.

I know though that i have to wait for few hours before i can check it.

I really don't know how do thank you enough. You are very patient person.
 
You have NOT set up nameserver records for eligon.ca. Both Floyd's links and my simple command line tests show that:
Code:
[jlasman@of1 ~]$ dig @m.ca-servers.ca ns1.eligon.ca +short
[jlasman@of1 ~]$ dig @m.ca-servers.ca ns2.eligon.ca +short
[jlasman@of1 ~]$
Note above there were no IP#s returned for either query.

Now let's do a query on one of my nameservers so you'll see what I mean:
Code:
[jlasman@of1 ~]$ dig @a.gtld-servers.net ns1.ns-one.net +short
85.17.204.1
[jlasman@of1 ~]$
Once your nameservers are properly set up, then things will begin to fall into place.

Jeff
 
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