---
layout: default
title: Nameservers and Delegations
---

# Nameservers and Delegations

DNSControl can handle a variety of provider scenarios. The registrar and DNS
provider can be the same company, different company, they can even be unknown!
The document shows examples of many common and uncommon configurations.

* TOC
{:toc}

# Constants

All the examples use the variables.  Substitute your own.

{% highlight javascript %}
// ========== Registrars:

// A typical registrar.
var REG_NAMECOM = NewRegistrar("namedotcom_main", "NAMEDOTCOM");

// The "NONE" registrar is a "fake" registrar.
// This is useful if the registrar is not supported by DNSControl,
// or if you don't want to control the domain's delegation.
var REG_THIRDPARTY = NewRegistrar("ThirdParty", "NONE");

// ========== DNS Providers:

var DNS_NAMECOM = NewDnsProvider("namedotcom_main", "NAMEDOTCOM");
var DNS_AWS = NewDnsProvider("aws_main", "ROUTE53");
var DNS_GOOGLE = NewDnsProvider("gcp_main", "GCLOUD");
var DNS_CLOUDFLARE = NewDnsProvider("cloudflare_main", "CLOUDFLAREAPI");
var DNS_BIND = NewDnsProvider("bind", "BIND");
{% endhighlight %}

# Typical Delegations

## Same provider for REG and DNS

Purpose:
Use the same provider as a registrar and DNS service.

Why?
Simplicity.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_NAMECOM),
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Different provider for REG and DNS

Purpose:
Use one provider as registrar, a different for DNS service.

Why?
Some registrars do not provide DNS server, or their service is sub-standard and
you want to use a high-performance DNS server.


{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_AWS),
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Registrar is elsewhere

Purpose:
This is a "DNS only" configuration.  Use it when you don't control the
registrar but you do control the DNS records.

Why?
You don't have access to the registrar, or the registrar is not
supported by DNSControl. However you do have API access for
updating the zone's records (most likely at a different provider).

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_THIRDPARTY,
  DnsProvider(DNS_NAMECOM),
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Zone is elsewhere

Purpose:
This is a "Registar only" configuration.  Use it when you control the registar but want to delegate the zone to someone else.

Why?
We are delegating the domain to someone else. In this example we're
pointing the domain to the nsone.net DNS service, which someone else is
controlling.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  NAMESERVER("dns1.p03.nsone.net."),
  NAMESERVER("dns2.p03.nsone.net."),
  NAMESERVER("dns3.p03.nsone.net."),
  NAMESERVER("dns4.p03.nsone.net."),
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Override nameservers

Purpose:
Ignore the provider's default nameservers and substitute our own.

Why?
Rarely used unless the DNS provider's API does not support querying what the
nameservers are, or the API is returning invalid data, or if the API returns no
information.  Sometimes APIs return no (useful) information when the domain
is new; this is a good temporary work-around until the API starts working.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_CLOUDFLARE, 0),  // Set the DNS provider but ignore the nameservers it suggests (0 == take none of the names it reports)
  NAMESERVER("kim.ns.cloudflare.com."),
  NAMESERVER("walt.ns.cloudflare.com."),
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Add nameservers

Purpose:
Use the default nameservers from the registrar but add additional ones.

Why?
Usually only to correct a bug or misconfiguration elsewhere.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_NAMECOM),
  NAMESERVER("ns1.myexample.tld"),
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Shadow nameservers

Purpose:
Secretly publish your DNS zone records to another server.

Why?
There are many reasons to do this:

* You are preparing to move to a different DNS provider and want to test it before you cut over.
* You want your DNS records stored somewhere else in case you have to switch over in an emergency.
* You are sending the zone to a local caching DNS server.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_NAMECOM), // Our real DNS server
  DnsProvider(DNS_CLOUDFLARE, 0), // Quietly send a copy of the zone here.
  DnsProvider(DNS_BIND, 0), // And here too!
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Dual DNS Providers

Purpose:
Use two different DNS services:

Why?
Diversity. If one DNS provider goes down, the other will be used.

Little known fact: Most DNS recursive resolvers monitor which DNS
servers are performing the best and automatically start avoiding
servers that are slow or down. This means that if you use this technique
and one DNS provider goes down, after a
while your users won't be affected.  Not all software does this properly.
More info: https://www.dns-oarc.net/files/workshop-201203/OARC-workshop-London-2012-NS-selection.pdf

NOTE: This is overkill unless you have millions of users and strict up-time requirements.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_AWS, 2),  // Take 2 nameservers from AWS
  DnsProvider(DNS_GOOGLE, 2),  // Take 2 nameservers from GCP
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

# Other uses

## Make zonefile backups

Purpose:
Make backups of DNS records in a zone.  This generates a zonefile listing all
the records in the zone.

Why?
You want to write out a BIND-style zonefile for debugging, historical, or
auditing purposes. Some sites do backups of these zonefiles to create a history
of changes. This is different than keeping a history of `dnsconfig.js` because
this is the output of DNSControl, not the input.

NOTE: This won't work if you use pseudo rtypes that BIND doesn't support.

{% highlight javascript %}
D("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM,
  DnsProvider(DNS_NAMECOM),
  DnsProvider(DNS_BIND, 0), // Don't activate any nameservers related to BIND.
  A("@", "10.2.3.4")
);
{% endhighlight %}

## Monitor delegation

Purpose:
You don't control the registrar but want to detect if the delegation changes.
You can specify the existing nameservers in `dnsconfig.js` and you will get
a notified if the delegation diverges.

Why?
Sometimes you just want to know if something changes!

See the <a href="{{site.github.url}}/providers/doh">DNS-over-HTTPS Provider</a> documentation for more info.

{% highlight javascript %}
var REG_MONITOR = NewRegistrar('DNS-over-HTTPS', 'DNSOVERHTTPS');

D("example1.com", REG_MONITOR,
  NAMESERVER("ns1.example1.com."),
  NAMESERVER("ns2.example1.com."),
);
{% endhighlight %}

# Helper macros

DNSControl has some built-in macros that you might find useful.

## `DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE`

Easily delegate a domain to a specific list of nameservers.

{% highlight javascript %}
DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM, [
    "dns1.example.net.",
    "dns2.example.net.",
    "dns3.example.net.",
]);
{% endhighlight %}

## `DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE_AUTO`

Easily delegate a domain to a nameservers via an API query.

This is similar to `DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE` but the list
of nameservers is queried from the API of a single DNS provider.

{% highlight javascript %}
DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE_AUTO("example1.com", REG_NAMECOM, DNS_AWS);
DOMAIN_ELSEWHERE_AUTO("example2.com", REG_NAMECOM, DNS_GOOGLE);
{% endhighlight %}

# Limits

{% include alert.html text="Note: Not all providers allow full control over the NS records of your zone. It is not recommended to use these providers in complicated scenarios such as hosting across multiple providers. See individual provider docs for more info." %}
