A DNS (Domain Name System) server is a server that hosts a public IP address and related hostnames in a domain. It delivers the mechanism to translate domain names, which are easy for people to remember, into IP addresses which are required for devices to communicate with each other.
Here is how you can configure a DNS Server on a VPS:
1. Log in to your VPS: Access your VPS via SSH; you can do this with a tool like Putty or through the command line if you’re using Linux or Mac.
1. Install BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain): BIND is the most common program used for maintaining a DNS server system. With Debian (a modern, free operating system), you’d do that with the command “sudo apt-get install bind9 bind9utils bind9-docs”. On CentOS you’d use “sudo yum install bind bind-utils”.
1. Configure BIND9: Go to the directory /etc/bind/ by using the command “cd /etc/bind”. Then, with “sudo nano named.conf.options”, open the file to edit it. You need to set up forwarding to the network the DNS should listen to. Replace “IP Address” with your VPS address in the following lines: allow-query { localhost; IP Address; }; listen-on port 53 { localhost; IP Address; }; listen-on-v6 { none; };
1. Save and Exit: Press “Ctrl + X” and then “Y” to save your changes. Then do “sudo service bind9 restart” to restart BIND9 with the new settings.
1. Set up Domain Zones: Now you need to set up your domain zones. Do this with the command “sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.local”. In the file that opens, enter your domain and IP address in the right spots, then save and exit like before.
1. Create Forward and Reverse Zone Files: Use the command “sudo nano /etc/bind/zones/db.your\_domain” to create and edit your zone file. Save, exit, and restart BIND9 as before.
After these steps, your VPS should have a running DNS server. You can test this by doing “nslookup your\_domain” on your local machine, which should return your server’s IP address. If it doesn’t, you may have to debug your settings or wait a bit (as DNS changes can take a while to propagate through the entire internet).
Remember to replace “your\_domain” and “IP address” with actual values during configuration.
