Use your own or external nameservers (such as Cloudflare) for your domain

Do you want to run the DNS of your domain yourself, or have it managed by another party such as Cloudflare? Then you set different nameservers for your domain. You don't need a separate package for that. In this article you'll read how to do that and which records you need to make your website and email work at WebOké.

Changing nameservers

• When ordering: in the window where you set up your domain, click Change next to Nameservers and enter your own nameservers.
• Later: in My WebOké, go to My Domains, click on the domain and click the pencil icon on the Nameservers card. Fill in at least ns1 and ns2 (ns3 up to ns5 are optional) and click Save nameservers.
• Nameservers on your own domain, such as ns1.yourdomain.nl? Then first create them with Register own nameserver on the same domain page (a so-called glue record).

Switching back to WebOké? In the same window, click Default nameservers and then Save nameservers. Our nameservers are ns1.webawere.nl and ns2.webawere.nl.

These are the records to set at the other party

Is your website or email hosted at WebOké, but is the DNS somewhere else? Then set these records at that party, using the details of your package:

Type   Name              Value
A      @ and www         the IP address of your package
A      mail              the IP address of your package
MX     @                 the server name of your package, e.g. linux2023.webawere.nl (priority 10)
TXT    @                 your SPF record, with include:webawere.nl
TXT    x._domainkey      the DKIM key from DNS Management in DirectAdmin
TXT    _dmarc            your DMARC record

• You'll find the IP address and server name in the welcome email and in My WebOké under My Products. The IP address is also shown next to the A record in DNS Management.
• You can read how to copy the DKIM key in Setting up DKIM when the DNS is hosted elsewhere.
• If you have an IPv6 address in DNS Management, you can also set AAAA records for @ and www. This may be omitted.
• If you create a subdomain in DirectAdmin, set it at the other party as well, as an A record or CNAME record.
• Is only your email hosted at WebOké (for example with an email package)? Then the A records for @ and www aren't for us, so point those to your own web host instead.

Cloudflare: proxy off for mail

If you use Cloudflare, turn the proxy (the orange cloud) off for the A record for mail and for anything your mail program uses. Mail doesn't go through Cloudflare's proxy. Choose the grey cloud (DNS only) for that.

The proxy can also get in the way of the SSL certificate for your website: Let's Encrypt then doesn't see your server directly. Temporarily turn off the proxy until the certificate is issued, or use the SSL mode Full (strict) in Cloudflare.

Common mistakes

• Only one nameserver filled in. You need at least two.
• The nameservers are rejected. When saving, we check whether you've entered at least two valid nameserver names. After that, the change goes to the registry. Some registries, such as DENIC for .de, first check whether your domain is already set up on those nameservers. If the zone isn't ready yet, they'll reject the change. So set up the zone at the other party first.
• You can't change the nameservers. This is only possible for a domain that's registered at WebOké and active. If your domain is still with another provider, or the transfer is still in progress, change the nameservers at that provider.
• Website works, but email doesn't. The MX record or the A record for mail is often missing, or the Cloudflare proxy is turned on.
• You change records in My WebOké and nothing happens. Then your domain is using external nameservers. Change the record at that party instead.

A nameserver change can take up to 24 hours before everyone sees it. Read How long does a nameserver or DNS change take?

Detailed explanation with screenshots: Changing nameservers in the WebOké manual and DNS in My WebOké and at external nameservers such as Cloudflare in the DirectAdmin manual.