How to create private nameservers in OpenSRS

A nameserver is a machine that answers one question: which IP address does this domain use? Private nameservers let your domains point at ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com. Without them you use the generic hostnames your hosting provider hands out. They are also called vanity or child nameservers. Resellers use them for branding, and server owners use them to keep DNS under a name they control.

Updated for 2026: the OpenSRS interface has changed since the era of the old walk-through guides. The steps below follow the current Reseller Control Panel. Labels in your panel may still differ if you buy domains through a reseller rather than directly from OpenSRS.

What a glue record actually is

A glue record ties a custom nameserver hostname to its IP address at the registry. The registry is the organization that runs a domain ending such as .com. You need glue when the nameserver lives inside the same domain it serves. Without it, resolution runs in a circle.

Here is that circle. A resolver is the software, usually at your internet provider, that looks domains up for you. To find the address of ns1.example.com, it would have to ask the nameservers for example.com. Those are the very hosts it is trying to locate. The glue record breaks the loop by publishing the IP address directly at the registry level.

The practical rule is short:

• Your nameserver hostname is a subdomain of the domain it serves, for example ns1.example.com serving example.com. Then you need a glue record.
• Your nameservers live on a different domain than the one they serve. Then no glue record is required, because the resolver can look them up normally.

That second case explains a common habit. Many administrators register one small “infrastructure” domain. They create the nameservers there once. Then they point every other domain at those names without touching glue again.

Before you begin

OpenSRS is a wholesale registrar, and it sells through resellers. A registrar is the company that records who owns a domain. A host is the company that stores your site’s files, which is a different job. What you can do yourself depends on where the domain was bought.

• If you hold an OpenSRS reseller account, you work in the Reseller Control Panel at manage.opensrs.com.
• If you bought the domain from a reseller, a hosting company, or a storefront built on OpenSRS, the same controls live in that company’s panel. You can also open a ticket and ask them to register the host records for you.

A host record is the registry’s entry for one nameserver name and its IP address. That entry is what supplies the glue.

Two more things need to be true before the change is useful. First, the domain whose glue records you want to manage must be registered through the account you are logged into. Second, the machines behind those IP addresses must genuinely answer DNS queries for the zones you plan to point at them. A zone is the full set of DNS records for one domain.

Registering a hostname at the registry does not create a DNS service. That part comes from a nameserver you run, from your control panel’s DNS stack, or from a managed DNS provider.

Register a custom nameserver in the Reseller Control Panel

Have the hostname prefix and the IP addresses in front of you. The steps below create one host record at the registry.

1. Sign in to the Reseller Control Panel at manage.opensrs.com.
2. In the Domains section, type all or part of the domain name in the search field and search. A wildcard character matches parts of the name if you are not sure of the exact spelling.
3. Click the domain name to open its details.
4. Find the Use As Name Servers section and click Edit.
5. In the Nameserver Hostname field, enter only the prefix, for example ns1.
6. In the IP Address field, enter the address of that nameserver. You can specify an IPv4 address, an IPv6 address, or both.
7. Click the plus sign in the Action column to add the record. The new nameserver should now be listed in that section.
8. Repeat for ns2 and any further nameservers you want to publish.

Changing or removing a nameserver later

To change an address, open the same Use As Name Servers section. Click Edit beside the nameserver you want to change, update the fields, and save. Treat this as a maintenance window operation. Changing the IP address of a nameserver that is currently in use can interrupt DNS resolution for every domain that points to it. Confirm that the new address already answers queries for those zones before you save the change.

To remove one, click the x beside it and confirm. A nameserver that is still assigned to any domain cannot be deleted. So reassign the affected domains to different nameservers first, let that change settle, and only then delete the host record.

Point your domains at the new nameservers

Creating the host record does not move any domain. It only teaches the registry that the name exists and where it lives. The second step is to edit each domain and set its nameservers to ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com. That includes the domain the nameservers belong to. In the Reseller Control Panel this is a separate nameserver assignment on the domain record.

Register at least two nameservers, and put them on different IP ranges where you can. Two names on one address give you branding but no redundancy. If that machine goes offline, every domain behind it disappears from DNS, not just one site.

Verify before you trust it

Registry updates are not instant. Old delegations sit in caches around the internet until their TTL runs out. TTL, or time to live, is the number of seconds a record may be cached. That waiting period is what people call DNS propagation. Check the result rather than assuming it worked.

• Run a trace against the registry. It confirms the new hostname and IP are visible in the delegation.

  dig +trace example.com NS

• Look the hostname up on its own. This confirms the glue resolves.

  dig ns1.example.com A
  dig ns1.example.com AAAA

• Ask each nameserver for the zone it is supposed to serve. A correct answer comes back marked authoritative.

  dig @ns1.example.com example.com SOA

• Check the WHOIS record for the domain. It shows which nameservers the registry currently lists.

If a query returns the old nameservers, wait out the TTL before you start changing things again. Most of the “it did not work” reports on this topic are cache timing rather than a bad record.

Hosting tip

Private nameservers only make sense when the servers behind them are yours to keep. That means a VPS or dedicated box with at least two addresses, or a managed DNS service you control. If you are still choosing that box, our VPS hosting comparison lists providers with their locations and prices. Once the host records are live, run a DNS lookup from outside your own network. It is the fastest way to confirm the delegation really changed.

Common mistakes

• Entering the full hostname in the prefix field. The panel adds the domain for you, so ns1 becomes ns1.example.com. Typing the whole name produces ns1.example.com.example.com.
• Registering glue for nameservers on another domain. It is unnecessary. A stale record you forget about can outlive the server it points to.
• Deleting a host record still in use. Reassign the domains first, or the deletion is refused.
• Forgetting the zone itself. The nameserver must be configured to serve each domain you delegate to it. If it is not, every one of those sites stops resolving at once.

Registrar panels get redesigned on their own schedule. If a button name here does not match what you see, check the current OpenSRS support documentation for the exact wording. Do that before you change anything in production.