How to Set Custom Nameservers with a VPS on Ubuntu 24.04

This guide will walk you through setting up ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com directly on your Ubuntu VPS using BIND9, the most popular DNS server

Step 1: Install BIND9 DNS Server

SSH into your server:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install bind9 bind9utils bind9-doc -y

Step 2: Configure Your DNS Zone

Assuming your domain is yourdomain.com, do the following:

1. Create the zone file

sudo nano /etc/bind/zones/db.yourdomain.com

Paste this (edit the IPs and domain as needed):

$TTL 604800

@ IN SOA ns1.yourdomain.com. admin.yourdomain.com. (

3 ; Serial

604800 ; Refresh

86400 ; Retry

2419200 ; Expire

604800 ) ; Negative Cache TTL

; Nameservers

@ IN NS ns1.yourdomain.com.

@ IN NS ns2.yourdomain.com.

; A records

@ IN A 192.0.2.10 ; your VPS IP

ns1 IN A 192.0.2.10

ns2 IN A 192.0.2.11 ; second IP or same as above

; Example host

www IN A 192.0.2.10

2. Create zones directory (if not existing)

sudo mkdir -p /etc/bind/zones

Step 3: Edit BIND Config

Add your zone to named.conf.local:

sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.local

Add:

zone "yourdomain.com" {

type master;

file "/etc/bind/zones/db.yourdomain.com";

};

Step 4: Check and Restart BIND

Check config syntax:

sudo named-checkconf

sudo named-checkzone yourdomain.com /etc/bind/zones/db.yourdomain.com

If all OK:

sudo systemctl restart bind9

sudo systemctl enable bind9

Step 5: Set Up Custom Nameservers at Your Domain Registrar

At your domain registrar:

1. Go to “Register custom nameservers” or “Glue Records”
2. Add:
   • ns1.yourdomain.com → 192.0.2.10
   • ns2.yourdomain.com → 192.0.2.11
3. Change domain nameservers to:
   ns1.yourdomain.com
   ns2.yourdomain.com
   
   Step 6: Test It

Run these commands from a remote computer:

dig @192.0.2.10 yourdomain.com

dig @ns1.yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com

You're Done!

You’ve now set up custom nameservers using BIND9 on Ubuntu 24.04. You can manage DNS for your domain from this VPS like a pro.