Point your domain to NetOz nameservers

When NetOz hosts DNS for your domain, your records live in a DNS zone on our Australian nameservers and you manage them from the DNS zones area of the NetOz Portal. To make that zone live, you tell your domain registrar to use NetOz nameservers instead of your current DNS provider.

This guide explains how to do that safely so your website and email keep working during the move.

Nameservers and registrars

Two different companies are often involved with a domain:

• The registrar is where you bought or renew the domain, such as the company you pay each year for your .com.au or .com. The registrar holds the list of nameservers for the domain.
• The DNS host runs those nameservers and answers questions like "what is the IP address of www.example.com.au?" When NetOz is your DNS host, those answers come from the records in your NetOz zone.

Changing nameservers does not transfer your domain away from your registrar. You keep paying the registrar for the domain as usual.

Before you start

• Make sure your domain appears in DNS zones in the NetOz Portal. If it is not there yet, contact NetOz support and we will set the zone up.
• Have the login details for your registrar account.
• Make a list of the DNS records you use today. Your current DNS provider usually lets you view or export them. Pay special attention to:
  • A or CNAME records for your website (@ and www)
  • MX records for email
  • TXT records for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and service verification, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
  • Any CNAME or SRV records used by other services

Step 1 Recreate your records in the NetOz zone

Open your zone in DNS zones and check that every record you rely on exists with the same values. Add any that are missing.

This is the most important step. As soon as your registrar points to NetOz, the internet uses only the records in your NetOz zone. Anything missing, such as an MX record, stops working.

If you are not sure what a record does, see DNS record types explained.

Step 2 Find your NetOz nameservers

Use both NetOz nameservers:

ns1.netoz.au
ns2.netoz.au

Enter both at your registrar, not just the first one, so your domain keeps resolving if one server is unavailable.

Step 3 Check DNSSEC at your registrar

If DNSSEC is switched on for your domain with your current provider, your registrar holds DS records that match your old provider's signing keys. Once you move to new nameservers, those DS records no longer match, and validating resolvers will treat your domain as broken.

Before changing nameservers, remove the existing DS records at your registrar, or switch DNSSEC off there. You can enable DNSSEC again with NetOz after the move. See Step 6.

If you have never turned on DNSSEC, you can skip this step.

Step 4 Update the nameservers at your registrar

Sign in to your registrar and find the domain's nameserver, DNS or delegation settings. The wording varies between registrars. Then:

1. Choose to use custom or third-party nameservers, rather than the registrar's own DNS.
2. Remove the existing nameservers.
3. Enter ns1.netoz.au and ns2.netoz.au, one per field.
4. Save the change.

Some .au registrars ask you to confirm the change by email. Check your inbox if the change does not appear to apply.

Step 5 Wait for the change to spread

Nameserver changes are not instant. The registry for your domain extension publishes the new nameservers, and DNS resolvers around the world update as their cached answers expire. This often takes a few hours and can take up to 48 hours.

During this time some visitors reach your old DNS provider and some reach NetOz. That is why recreating your records first matters: if both providers give the same answers, nobody notices the switch. Keep your old DNS provider active until the change has fully spread.

You can watch the change with our free tools:

• WHOIS lookup shows the nameservers your registrar has published.
• DNS propagation checker shows what resolvers are returning.
• DNS lookup lets you check individual records, such as NS, MX and A.

The zone’s page in the NetOz Portal also shows whether your domain is delegated to NetOz, and updates on its own once our checks see the new nameservers. See Check your domain uses NetOz nameservers.

When NS lookups for your domain return the NetOz nameservers, the move is complete.

Step 6 Turn on DNSSEC with NetOz (optional)

DNSSEC hosting is included with NetOz DNS. Once your domain is resolving from NetOz, you can enable DNSSEC for the zone in the portal. NetOz generates the signing keys and shows the DS records you need to add at your registrar, including the key tag, algorithm and digest type.

Add those DS records at your registrar to complete the chain of trust. You can check the result with our DNSSEC validator.

After the move

• Make future DNS changes in DNS zones in the NetOz Portal. Changes made at your old provider no longer have any effect.
• The zone's SOA record lists ns1.netoz.au as the primary nameserver and hostmaster.netoz.au as the zone contact. You do not need to change these.
• Once the move is complete, you can cancel DNS hosting with your old provider. Do not cancel the domain registration itself.

Common problems

Email stopped working. An MX record, or a TXT record for SPF or DKIM, is missing from your NetOz zone. Add it in the portal and wait for the record's TTL to pass.

The website works for some people but not others. The nameserver change is still spreading, and your old and new zones have different records. Make sure both match until the move has finished.

The domain does not resolve at all after the change. Check for leftover DS records from your old provider (Step 3), and confirm the nameserver names at your registrar are spelled correctly.

Next steps

• DNS record types explained
• What is the NetOz Portal?
• Learn more about NetOz DNS hosting.