Custom Nameservers on VPS and Dedicated Hosting are required when you are using multiple cPanels. This tutorial will walk you through how to set them up to use with your domains.

If your domain is registered elsewhere, you will need to configure the nameservers there.

Adding the Custom Nameservers

1. Login to your Bluehost cPanel.
2. Click Domains in the top navigation bar.
3. Select the domain in the Domain List toward the bottom of the page.
4. Click Name Servers to the right of the domain.
5. Select Custom Nameservers and enter the nameservers for your account.
   • ns1.example.com
   • ns2.example.com
   If you do not have the A records setup for the nameserver, go to the Setting A Records section of this article.

 

Setting the Custom A Records for your Nameservers

If you know that you have the A records already, you can skip this section.

1. Log in to your Bluehost cPanel.
2. Click Domains in the top navigation bar.
3. On the Quick Navigation bar click Zone Editor.
4. Under Add DNS Record fill out the following fields:
   • Host Record: ns1

     This can be anything that you would like, but you will need to remember what it is when you are entering the custom nameservers. For simplicity ns1 or ns2 works well.

   • TTL: 14400
   • Type: A
   • Points To: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

     This has to be one of the IP addresses assigned to the hosting account.

5. Click Add Record

Repeat if you would like to have more than one nameserver record.

 

Third-Party Domain Nameservers Registration

If you are using a 3rd party to handle your DNS, you will need to do the same as above, using their interface to configure the nameservers to use your IP address. This process varies depending on the registrar. Here are some guides that a few of the registrars have provided. Common names for this process are "private nameservers" and "custom nameservers" but the naming varies.

GoDaddy

Setting Custom Nameservers

NameCheap

How do I register personal nameservers for my domain?

Network Solutions

How To Register A DNS Server Or Edit A DNS Server I’ve Already Registered

Domain.com

Domain Management: How to Update Private Nameservers

If you have questions, you will need to contact your registrar. Bluehost does not ultimately have control of the settings of your registrar.