For your domain to use your SwissCenter hosting (website, email, DNS zone), it must be delegated to our name servers. This article explains two ways to do it: from the Apanel console when the domain is registered with SwissCenter, or at your registrar (the company that registered the name) when it is registered elsewhere.
Our name servers are:
ns1.swisscenter.com
ns2.swisscenter.com
ns3.swisscenter.com
ns4.swisscenter.com
Enter these names only: no IP address is required.
Prerequisites
- Be the owner of the domain name, or its technical contact
- Have access to the domain's management interface: the Apanel console if the domain is registered with SwissCenter, your registrar's panel if it is registered elsewhere
- If the domain is registered with SwissCenter: its order must be paid and any transfer completed (see "Troubleshooting")
What you need to know before you start
- Where is your domain registered? Only domains registered with SwissCenter appear in the domain names console. For a domain registered elsewhere, the change is made only at your registrar.
- All name resolution changes hands. Once the domain is delegated to our servers, the records of the SwissCenter DNS zone are authoritative (website, email, subdomains). Before you change the name servers, check in the DNS manager that the zone contains the records you need, otherwise your website or email may stop working. To manage them, see the article on DNS records.
- Four servers at most. The console offers four fields, one per server. A field left empty removes the server that was in it.
- DNSSEC. While DNSSEC is active on a domain, the console does not let you change the name servers. If you are leaving another DNS host where DNSSEC is active, the keys (DS records) published at the registry point to the old host's keys and break the domain's resolution once the zone is with us: disable DNSSEC at the old host before changing the name servers.
- Delay. The console records the change at the registry when you save. When every internet user sees the new servers then depends on their provider's DNS caches: the console does not guarantee a duration. Do not shut down the old service before you have seen the change take effect.
- Do not enter IP addresses for the name servers. Older lists that give some are out of date: do not use them.
Change the name servers of a domain registered with SwissCenter
- Log in to your Apanel console.
- In the top menu, click Domain names management console. The domains console opens in a new tab. If the entry does not appear, your domain names are not attached to this account: contact us.
- On the Dashboard, the Domain names list block shows your domains and, for each one, its current Name servers (or Not configured). Click the name of the domain you want to change.
- On the Domain name dashboard page, find the Name servers block.
- If the block says "No name servers have been configured at this time", click click here: the console applies our four name servers (ns1 to ns4) directly, with no further step. Go to step 8. Otherwise, click Edit.
- In the Editing name servers window, replace the contents of the fields DNS server 1 to DNS server 4 with our four servers, one per field:
ns1.swisscenter.com, ns2.swisscenter.com, ns3.swisscenter.com and ns4.swisscenter.com. Enter the name only, without "http" or "https" and without an IP address.
- Click Save. The console checks each name with the registry, then records the change.
- The message "DNS servers have been successfully changed" appears and the Name servers block lists the four servers.
- Then check from your hosting: in the Apanel console, open the DNS manager for the domain. As long as the domain is not seen as delegated to our servers, a red banner says "the DNS service is enabled for this domain but you do not use our DNS servers"; it disappears once the delegation is visible.
If DNSSEC is active
The Name servers block shows "DNSSEC is active for this domain" and the Edit button is not offered. Click Disable DNSSEC and confirm, then resume at step 4. The console says: "To change name servers, please disable DNSSEC using the button below." Once the domain is delegated to our servers, the console then offers an Enable DNSSEC button.
Custom name servers (expert mode)
The Expert mode : Custom names servers link, at the bottom of the block, opens the list of name servers belonging to your own domain (for example ns1.yourdomain.ch), with the columns Hostname, IPv4 address and IPv6 address. This mode is not used to point to SwissCenter: use it only if you know you need it.
Point a domain registered with another registrar
The SwissCenter console cannot change a domain registered elsewhere: the change is made in your registrar's interface. Screens differ from one registrar to another; follow its documentation (for example SWITCH's for a .ch or .li, or Gandi's).
- Log in to your registrar's management interface.
- Open the domain's page, then the section about name servers (also called "DNS", "nameservers" or "delegation").
- Replace the existing servers with
ns1.swisscenter.com, ns2.swisscenter.com, ns3.swisscenter.com and ns4.swisscenter.com, without IP addresses, and confirm.
- In your Apanel console, if the domain is not yet configured on your hosting, add it with New domain name (the domain must belong to you), then check the records in the DNS manager.
Troubleshooting
- "The server is not recognized by the registry": the name entered in a DNS server field does not exist as a name server at the registry. Check for typos and enter the exact name, for example
ns1.swisscenter.com, without "http" or "https".
- "An error occurred during the operation. Error code: …": the change was not applied. Try once more; if the message comes back, contact us and give the error code shown.
- The Edit button does not appear: DNSSEC is active on the domain (see "If DNSSEC is active").
- The domain is not accessible in the console, or the page denies access: this happens when the domain has the status "Waiting for payment", "Transfer in progress", "Error during transfer" or "Updates disabled". Pay the invoice, wait for the transfer to finish, or contact us for the other two cases.
- The domain is not in the list: only domains of which you are the owner or the technical contact appear there, and only those registered with SwissCenter. For a domain registered elsewhere, see the previous section.
- The website or email stopped working after the change: check in the DNS manager that the records you need exist in the SwissCenter zone.
- The change is not visible yet: let DNS caches refresh. The DNS manager banner only disappears once the delegation is seen from outside.