Overview: Creating a DNS cluster within WHM
WHM allows you to create a DNS cluster to serve DNS from multiple servers from different, or same, geographical locations. We suggest first reviewing our Guide to DNS Cluster Configurations knowledge base article if you are unfamiliar with DNS clusters.
Don't forget to configure each server with the nameserver name (e.g., ns1.mydomain.com) you intend to use. You can set them in WHM's Basic WebHost Manager Setup interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration >> Basic WebHost Manager Setup). At the bottom of the interface, enter the desired nameserver names in the text boxes and click Save Changes.
Note: We do not recommend having DNS-only servers synchronize to host servers. Generally, you want the host server set to synchronize or write-only to your DNS-only servers, and the DNS-only servers should all be standalone.
Configuring a server for the cluster
1. Go to (WHM >> Home >> Clusters >> DNS Cluster) and click the button labeled "Enable DNS Clustering".
2. Click "Return to Cluster Status" to return to the Cluster interface and under the "Add a new server to the cluster" heading, click "Configure".
3. Fill in the following text boxes:
5. Click the link which then has you log in to the remote server.
6. Click +Generate Token
7. Select the ACLs you would like, though all you need for this scenario is:
10. Enter the token/hash into the box "Remote server API token or access hash:"
11. Select Reverse Trust relationship.
12. Select role:
14. You should be presented with something along the lines of:
Note: The access hash file has no impact on the functionality of your DNS cluster. However, it should be removed as it is a security risk to leave in place.
That's it! Now, when you view the DNS Cluster interface, you should see a green check mark under the Status column for each cluster node correctly configured:
Here are a couple of final notes to keep in mind:
Questions/Feedback
Feel free to click on the Discussion tab to let us know if you have any questions or feedback about the information in this tutorial.
WHM allows you to create a DNS cluster to serve DNS from multiple servers from different, or same, geographical locations. We suggest first reviewing our Guide to DNS Cluster Configurations knowledge base article if you are unfamiliar with DNS clusters.
Don't forget to configure each server with the nameserver name (e.g., ns1.mydomain.com) you intend to use. You can set them in WHM's Basic WebHost Manager Setup interface (WHM >> Home >> Server Configuration >> Basic WebHost Manager Setup). At the bottom of the interface, enter the desired nameserver names in the text boxes and click Save Changes.
Note: We do not recommend having DNS-only servers synchronize to host servers. Generally, you want the host server set to synchronize or write-only to your DNS-only servers, and the DNS-only servers should all be standalone.
Configuring a server for the cluster
1. Go to (WHM >> Home >> Clusters >> DNS Cluster) and click the button labeled "Enable DNS Clustering".
2. Click "Return to Cluster Status" to return to the Cluster interface and under the "Add a new server to the cluster" heading, click "Configure".
3. Fill in the following text boxes:
- Remote cPanel & WHM DNS host: <RemoteServerIP>
- Remote server username: <RemoteServerUSER>
5. Click the link which then has you log in to the remote server.
6. Click +Generate Token
7. Select the ACLs you would like, though all you need for this scenario is:
8. Copy the token/hash created:
9. Click "Yes I saved my token"
10. Enter the token/hash into the box "Remote server API token or access hash:"
11. Select Reverse Trust relationship.
12. Select role:
- Synchronize Changes: All changes made on this server will propagate to any server in the cluster that is linked to this server. Synchronization is one-way: changes made on another server will not propagate to this server unless Synchronize Changes is selected on the other server as well.
- Standalone: No changes made on this server will propagate to any other servers.
- Write-only: This server will write changes to the remote server. Changes to the remote server will not propagate back to this server.
14. You should be presented with something along the lines of:
Note: The access hash file has no impact on the functionality of your DNS cluster. However, it should be removed as it is a security risk to leave in place.
That's it! Now, when you view the DNS Cluster interface, you should see a green check mark under the Status column for each cluster node correctly configured:
Here are a couple of final notes to keep in mind:
- You must sync each web server to its DNS servers.
- You do not need to link dedicated DNS servers to each other, or link dedicated web servers to each other.
Questions/Feedback
Feel free to click on the Discussion tab to let us know if you have any questions or feedback about the information in this tutorial.