Knowledge Base

Overview

Vanity DNS is a service that allows you to rebrand Constellix nameservers using your own domain name. The hostname for all of your nameservers displays your domain name and maps back to the IP addresses of Constellix nameservers. 

Common Use Cases for Vanity DNS

Companies that use another provider’s DNS service utilize this configuration to give the illusion that they are using their own resources, rather than another provider’s.  When a DNS lookup is performed on the organization’s name, its domain name will be returned, rather than the DNS provider in which the records are hosted. Vanity DNS is also used in a similar manner to rebrand Secondary DNS nameservers and email servers. 

Brands that have their own DNS service use Vanity DNS as an additional security precaution of server location. If they are located on-site, your company’s brand will appear on the nameserver but disguise where your DNS records are hosted.  

Prerequisites

• A domain has been added to your Constellix account
• Domain registrar account information to complete Vanity DNS setup 
• Vanity DNS has been set up and configured for your domain(s), along with A record setup. See our tutorial for help with setting up Vanity DNS.

Apply Vanity DNS to Your domain

1. Navigate to Access Control List 
   
   Navigate to Managed DNS in the left sidebar and then click Domains. 
   
   
   
   
2. Navigate to Apply Vanity Nameserver 
   
   Select your domain and click on the green Advanced Settings button on the top right and select Apply Vanity Nameserver from the dropdown options. 
   
   
   
   
3. Apply Vanity Nameserver Configuration 
   
   In the Apply Vanity Nameserver window, select the configuration you defined from the dropdown menu. Click Apply.
   
   NOTE: Don’t forget to commit your changes. 
   
   
   
   
4. Delegate Vanity Nameservers with Your Registrar 
   
   Contact your domain registrar to delegate your vanity nameservers as authoritative nameservers for your domain. Please contact your registrar’s support team if you have further questions regarding this step. 

Note: You can only delegate the vanity nameservers, after the vanity configuration is applied to the domain. 

IMPORTANT: During delegation, ensure that you assign your vanity nameservers with the respective Constellix nameservers’ IPs that are assigned to your zone in our system. Most registrars will not allow you to assign your own vanity nameservers to a domain without completing this first, because they would be unable to map your customized nameservers.