Updated: May 4, 2001
Note:
This example is specific for using the GraniteCanyon.com
free DNS service. However, it can be adapted to work with any DNS
service if you replace "ns1.granitecanyon.com" and "ns2.granitecanyon.com"
in lines 1 and 2 with the names of the nameservers you are using.
This article assumes that
you already looked at How to write
a zone file beforehand. All we are going to do here is add a
subdomain.
You might want a subdomain
for several reasons. You can use it to access a part of your website
faster. For example, www.dslwebserver.com
leads to the main site and you can enter the forums by clicking on the
icon labeled "forums". However, the good people at DSL/Cable Webserver
know that some people want to go directly into the forums without going
through the main site so we created a subdomain called "forums".
This way, you can go into our forums by simply typing in forums.dslwebserver.com.
Pretty cool and handy.
Another reason you might
want to use subdomains is so that you can host somebody's website under
your domain name. Something like this:
-
jack.dslwebserver.com
-
jill.dslwebserver.com
-
jessie.dslwebserver.com
You could set it up so each
of those subdomain + domain names go to each person's website. Very
nifty.
There are two ways we can
setup subdomains. We can set the subdomain to go to:
-
Option 1. The same
IP address as the domain name.
-
Option 2. A different
IP address than the domain name.
Most of us hosting websites
on DSL or Cable only have 1 IP address so Option 1 is probably more applicable
to us. In order to host subdomains on the same IP address, your webserver
software must be able to host multiple websites on a single IP address.
A list of the operating systems and webserver software that can do this
can be found in Server Software.
In each instance, you must
add a new line in the zone file for each additional subdomain. This
should be obvious.
Once you are done writing
your zone file, go and upload it to your DNS company. Here is How
to Upload a Zone File at GraniteCanyon.com. After your DNS changes
are complete, you must configure your webserver software to work with subdomains.
Cut and past the text in
the yellow boxes and use the "replace" function in either Notepad or Microsoft
Word to do your replacements. It will save you time and be more accurate.
Here is the generic zone
file for reference.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns1.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns2.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN RP yourname.yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
www.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
ftp.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
localhost.yourdomain.com.
IN A 127.0.0.1
yourdomain.com.
IN MX 10 yourdomain.com. |
Replace yourdomain
with your domain name
Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
with your IP number
Replace yourname
with your own name
Option 1:
Here is the zone file where
the subdomain has the SAME IP address as the
domain name.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns1.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns2.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN RP yourname.yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
www.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
ftp.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
subdomain.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
localhost.yourdomain.com.
IN A 127.0.0.1
yourdomain.com.
IN MX 10 yourdomain.com. |
Replace yourdomain
with your domain name
Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
with your IP number
Replace yourname
with your own name
Replace subdomain
with your desired subdomain name
Option 2:
Here is the zone file where
the subdomain has a DIFFERENT IP address than
the domain name.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns1.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN NS ns2.granitecanyon.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN RP yourname.yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
yourdomain.com.
IN A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
subdomain.yourdomain.com.
IN A ZZZ.ZZZ.ZZZ.ZZZ
www.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
ftp.yourdomain.com.
IN CNAME yourdomain.com.
localhost.yourdomain.com.
IN A 127.0.0.1
yourdomain.com.
IN MX 10 yourdomain.com. |
Replace yourdomain
with your domain name
Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
with your IP number
Replace yourname
with your own name
Replace subdomain
with your desired subdomain name
Replace ZZZ.ZZZ.ZZZ.ZZZ
with the IP number of your subdomain
Once you are done writing
your zone file, go and upload it to your DNS company. Here is How
to Upload a Zone File at GraniteCanyon.com
After your DNS changes are
complete, you must configure your webserver software to work with subdomains.
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