How to Configure DNS Settings When Setting Up a Site with VPS

How to Configure DNS Settings When Setting Up a Site with VPS?

Hosting a website on a Virtual Private Server (VPS) offers more control and flexibility compared to shared hosting. However, properly configuring DNS (Domain Name System) settings is critical for your website to be accessible on the internet. In this article, we will examine step by step how to configure DNS settings when setting up a site on your VPS.

What is DNS and Why is it Important?

DNS is like the internet's phone book. It translates IP addresses (e.g., 192.168.1.1), which are difficult for people to remember, into easily memorable domain names (e.g., example.com). When a user types a domain name into their browser, DNS servers resolve this domain name to the IP address of the corresponding web server and direct the user's browser to that server. If DNS settings are configured incorrectly, users will not be able to access your website.

Correct DNS settings are vital for the accessibility, speed, and security of your website. Incorrectly configured DNS settings can cause your website to load slowly, experience outages, or even become vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Steps to Configure DNS Settings with VPS

The process of configuring DNS settings with VPS generally involves the following steps:

Domain Registration
Determining DNS servers
Creating DNS records (A, CNAME, MX, TXT records)
Waiting for DNS changes to propagate

1. Domain Registration

The first step is to register a domain name. If you don't already have a domain name, you need to purchase one from a domain name registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains). When choosing your domain name, be sure to choose one that reflects your brand, is memorable, and easy to spell.

After registering your domain name, you can configure DNS settings from the domain name registrar's control panel.

2. Determining DNS Servers (Nameserver Configuration)

DNS servers are responsible for resolving your domain name to its IP address. Your VPS provider usually provides you with their own DNS servers. For example, for DigitalOcean, they are usually:


ns1.digitalocean.com
ns2.digitalocean.com
ns3.digitalocean.com

If you are using Amazon Web Services (AWS) Route 53, you need to use the DNS servers assigned to you. In your domain name's control panel, you need to specify these DNS servers in the "Nameservers" or "DNS Servers" section. This ensures that DNS queries for your domain name are directed to these servers.

Enter the DNS servers provided by your VPS provider into the "Nameservers" section of your domain name's control panel and save. This process associates your domain name with your VPS.

3. Creating DNS Records (DNS Record Configuration)

DNS records contain various information about your domain name. The most common DNS record types are:

A Record (Address Record): Maps your domain name to an IPv4 address (e.g., 192.168.1.1).
AAAA Record (Quad-A Record): Maps your domain name to an IPv6 address (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).
CNAME Record (Canonical Name Record): Maps one domain name to another domain name (e.g., maps www.example.com to example.com).
MX Record (Mail Exchange Record): Specifies the email server for your domain name.
TXT Record (Text Record): Stores text-based information about your domain name (e.g., SPF records, domain name verification records).
SRV Record (Service Record): Specifies the location (hostname and port number) of a specific service.

To create DNS records, you need to use the control panel of your VPS provider or DNS service provider (e.g., Cloudflare, AWS Route 53).

Example A Record Creation

To map your domain name to your VPS's IP address, you need to create an A record. For example, if your domain name is "example.com" and your VPS's IP address is "192.168.1.1", you can create an A record as follows:

Type: A
Name/Host/Record Name: @ (or can be left blank, this usually represents the main domain name)
Value/Address/Destination: 192.168.1.1
TTL (Time To Live): 3600 (seconds)

Example CNAME Record Creation

You can create a CNAME record to redirect the "www" subdomain to your main domain name. For example, to redirect "www.example.com" to "example.com", you can create a CNAME record as follows:

Type: CNAME
Name/Host/Record Name: www
Value/Address/Destination: example.com
TTL (Time To Live): 3600 (seconds)

Example MX Record Creation

If you are using an email service (e.g., Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), you need to configure MX records correctly. MX records ensure that your emails are routed to the correct email server. Your email service provider will provide you with the necessary information for MX records.

For example, MX records for Google Workspace are usually as follows:

Type: MX
Name/Host/Record Name: @ (or can be left blank)
Priority: 1
Value/Address/Destination: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL (Time To Live): 3600 (seconds)

Other Google Workspace MX records are configured similarly, only the "Priority" and "Value" values change.

4. Waiting for DNS Changes to Propagate (DNS Propagation)

After changing DNS records, it may take some time for these changes to propagate across the internet. This period is called "DNS propagation time" and usually takes from a few minutes to 48 hours. DNS propagation time depends on the TTL (Time To Live) value of your DNS records. The lower the TTL value, the faster the changes will propagate. However, a very low TTL value can cause DNS servers to be queried more frequently and increase server load.

You can use online DNS lookup tools (e.g., whatsmydns.net, mxtoolbox.com) to check whether DNS changes have propagated. These tools query your domain name's DNS records from DNS servers in different locations and show you the results.

Security Measures

It is important to consider security when configuring your DNS settings. Here are some security measures:

DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions): DNSSEC is a security protocol used to ensure the integrity of DNS queries. By enabling DNSSEC, you can protect against DNS spoofing attacks.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): By enabling two-factor authentication when accessing the control panels of your domain name registrar and DNS service provider, you can increase the security of your accounts.
Regular Backups: By regularly backing up your DNS records, you can quickly restore them in the event of a data loss.

Conclusion and Summary

Properly configuring DNS settings when setting up a site with VPS is critical for the accessibility, speed, and security of your website. In this article, we examined what DNS is, why it is important, and how to configure DNS settings with VPS step by step. By following the steps of domain name registration, determining DNS servers, creating DNS records, and waiting for DNS changes to propagate, you can ensure that your website is accessible on the internet without any problems. In addition, by taking security measures such as DNSSEC and two-factor authentication, you can increase the security of your DNS infrastructure.