Question NameServer settings for domains and Webspaces?

[MimiWeb]

Server operating system version

Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

Plesk version and microupdate number

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.68

Hi ...Noob here ...
I'm setting up VPS server and Plesk for the first time. (coming from SiteGround).

I don't think I'm understanding nameservers correctly and can't find the information I'm looking for (trust me, I've tried)

• I've setup Plesk and attached a domain. Let's call it CONSOLE.net
• CONSOLE.net has it's DNS settings with NS1 and NS2 of {IP address} and I've used ns1.console.net and ns2.console.net in the domain DNS settings
• I also included CNAME www. using console.net and also A mail. and A webmail. in DNS settings (with values of {IP address}) ..... all good
• I've applied SSL certificate and all working perfectly (including for webmail)

Everything to do with CONSOLE.net, Plesk and email appears to be working perfectly.

Now I add a new domain and I made this a new WebSpace as it may include other domains of its own. Let's call it MYWEBSPACE.com

• MYWEBSPACE.com has its own DNS settings including NS1 and NS2 with value of same {IP address} as above
• The IP for MYWEBSPACE.com is the same as for CONSOLE.net
• For DNS settings for MYWEBSPACE.com I set:
  • @ to A with IP address
  • www. to mywebspace.com
  • webmail. to A with IP address
  • mail. to A with IP address
  • NS1 to ns1.mywebspace.com and NS2 to ns2.mywebspace.com (as per DNS settings in Plesk).
  • SSL certificate failed!!!! error message states that there are no valid DNS values for www. and webmail. !!

So - I'm clearly doing something wrong with domain DNS settings here.

My assumption is that a new 'webspace' will have it's own DNS settings, but maybe that's not the case? (even though Plesk shows DNS settings that are different from CONSOLE.net)

Is it the case that all domains within this Plesk panel needs to use the same nameservers in all instances? ie. all domains should use ns1.console.net and ns2.console.net

Is that my error?
I'd love it if someone can point me to a relevant article/tutorial explaining the above please?

Thank you

Mianne

 

[Sebahat.hadzhi]

Hello, Mianne. It depends on the DNS template (Plesk Panel > Tools & Settings > DNS Settings). By default, that should be set to ns1.<domain>. and ns2.<domain>., which essentially means the NS records will be ns1/ns2.correspondingdomain.com, i.e. individual for each domain. Could you please double-check if the second domain name returns the correct nameserver values and DNS records using a tool like DNSChecker? Also, would you mind sharing the exact error message you encounter upon attempting to install the SSL?

 

[MimiWeb]

Hi, thank you.
The default settings still exist in the DNS template. ie. ns1.<domain> and ns2.<domain>

I think the main thing I need to understand is probably this:
So, for each domain/website/webspace I add (in Plesk), the respective domains should each use the nameservers that are displayed in 'Website & Domains > DNS' (as long as the default DNS Template settings are used?) as is shown in the Plesk DNS settings?

eg.

• website1.com domain nameservers should point to: ns1.website1.com and ns2.website1.com
• website2.net domain nameservers should point to: ns1.website1.net and ns2.website2.net
• website3.com domain (added in Plesk as a new webspace) nameservers should point to: ns1.website3.com and ns2.website3.com

Is that correct?

And when a new domain/website is added within an existing Webspace, the domain nameservers point to that website in Plesk? (not to the Webspace that the domain/website is contained within?)
Is that also correct?

SSL Certificate issue:
The error I was encountering has now been resolved. I found where I was able to manually apply the SSL for mail. and webmail. so that issue is resolved.

I am however having continued problems with the clients domain registrar (an Australian company - WebCentral! ... I'm finding them dreadfully confusing to deal with) and nameserver settings are now all over the place. I will get this resolved.

 

[scsa20]

website2.net domain nameservers should point to: ns1.website1.net and ns2.website2.net

I think you meant ns1.website2.net but yes pretty much by default

The way it works is that on the registrar you'll set up glue records to bind to that name server entries (of course this assumes that the registrar has support for creating glue records).

Now you could update the DNS template to be just a single domain and just have all your clients use that as the name server. Let me give you an example

Let's assume console.net is your main domain that your clients knows you by. You will update the template to be ns1.console.net and ns2.console.net. On the registrar for where console.net is registered on you will create your 2 glue records to point to your server's IP address for both ns1 and ns2.console.net. Now whenever you create a new web space you would just need to update the name server on the registrar to be ns1 and ns2.console.net.

The alternative would be that they simply use the registrar's built in DNS services and update the A record of the domain to the IP address of your server but that would mean all DNS management would be done on the registrar which you may not have control over if they are coming to you for help.

And when a new domain/website is added within an existing Webspace, the domain nameservers point to that website in Plesk? (not to the Webspace that the domain/website is contained within?)

I am not fully understanding the question but the way it directs the user to the correct site is based off of host names. So let say you have a subscription that has different domains with 3 different webspaces, each one is a different site so the site is different, so website1.com will go to one page while website2.com will go to a different page. You can set up forwardings and such to forward the traffic elsewhere if you want but it will grab the host that was sent to the server via the headers, look at the virtual hosts configurations to see if there's a match, and routes to the proper directory (aka the web space) for getting the content. There are plenty of info out on the web that explains what virtual hosting is and how it works which you should read up on if you want to know more about it.

 

[MimiWeb]

Thanks for your response.

To clarify - I have Plesk Obsidian and there are no subscriptions available (not that I can see anyway).
This installation is also not for on-selling hosting to clients but is used for one owner with a network of sites. (I'm starting to feel like I've gotten in over my head, but I'll see how I go)

As I am coming from SiteGround (SG), I'm used to adding a new domain and website and setting that up in SG. For each website to function, the nameservers for the domain obviously need to "point to" the SG hosting. (we're obviously not privvy to how other things are then configured in the background of SG hosting eg. with mail and webmail etc. Or maybe that's automatically added to DNS settings when a domain is purchased?).

Now that I'm trying Plesk, I see all of the DNS settings for a domain which is confusing me greatly because I'm used to only seeing these at the domain registrar!!
I do understand that Plesk can be used to manage DNS settings instead of the domain registrar and I'm working out which way to go there.

(** I think I should also add that the domain registrar currently being used is rather confusing compared to what I have used before (like NameCheap). - it's hard to explain.).

I've actually been surprised how difficult it's been to find any kind of help or tutorial that explains the process of managing multiple domains and websites in Plesk, including the required DNS settings and management.

When it comes to 'glue records', are they configured in Plesk settings for each domain/website, or is that a DNS record which is configured where DNS is managed? I understand it to be the latter.

I will be surprised if this is not confusing for someone to read and respond to. Apologies.

I'm quite prepared to go on my own learning curve, but I've found *nothing* helpful in this regard so far (and I have looked and looked!).
If anyone might understand my confusion and can point me to where I might find some clarity, please please share links to resources