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Sunday, February 11, 2007

Google Custom Domain - The DNS Server Definition

Of the confusion surrounding definition of Google Custom Domains in DNS, second only to the confusion about the DNS Referral definition, is the DNS Server definition.

(Note): This post has been migrated to (and improved in) The Real Blogger Status: The Google Custom Domain Setup - The DNS Server Definition.

Google does not provide the name servers needed for Google Custom Domains to work - the name servers must be provided by your registrar. The name servers are indicated by "NS" records, pointing to 2 - 8 servers owned by the registrar. You do not change the "NS" records.

The "NS" records point to the DNS servers provided by your DNS hosting company. You pay for the DNS hosting service, and the DNS hosting company sets up the "NS" records, on your behalf.

The name servers, provided by your registrar, are where the domain definition records, such as "A" (Address), "CNAME" (Canonical Name), and "MX" (Mail Exchange), among others, are stored. You have to provide a "CNAME" record on those servers, with that "CNAME" record pointing to "ghs.google.com", for your blog to be referenced as part of a Google Custom Domain.

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3 comments:

carondg said...

I'm sorry. I really am confused. I'm trying to redirect my "blogspot" URL to my new domain, which I registered at Network Solutions. My reading of the directions is to go to Network Solutions' Account Manager to edit the DNS setting from theirs to ghs.google.com. They call for two name servers, however. So, when I enter ghs.google.com, I get an error message. What am I doing wrong? Should I enter ghs1.google.com and ghs2.google.com?

Nitecruzr said...

Read my lips.

You do not change the "NS" records. You pay your DNS hosting company to setup the "NS" records, pointing to their servers.

You add a "CNAME" to "ghs.google.com.", to the name servers.
http://bloggerstatusforrealbeta.
blogspot.com/2007/02/
google-custom-domain-dns-referral.html

Waldo Oiseau said...

I have to agree with carondg. This is confusing, but I'm hoping your tips, Chuck, will help! I registered a custom domain on godaddy. I followed blogger's instructions to log in to godaddy, click on "Total DNS Control and MX Records" link, then under "CNAMES," add a new one, using "www" for the Name and "ghs.google.com" for the Host Name. I got an error message the first few times I tried it, but now it seems to have worked and is "pending setup," which I hope is a good sign.

One thing I don't understand is that while I'm waiting for all my custom domain stuff to process, why doesn't my blog stay at my old blogspot address? Right now, if you try to go to my original site, it redirects to the custom domain ... which is not yet working. I have tried resaving to blogspot, and it still is redirecting. :(