DNSNew

Move a domain's DNS to Magpie, with its existing records copied and checked before the nameservers change.

DNS copies a domain's records from its current provider and lists them for you to check. When you confirm them, it shows the two nameservers to set at your registrar, and it publishes the records once the domain's registry lists them. DNS hosting is included in every plan.

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Host DNS with Magpie or keep your current provider

Add a domain such as example.com to Personal or a team, then choose Host DNS with Magpie or Keep my current DNS provider. The list of domains says where each one's DNS is, whether Mail uses it, and how many pages are connected at addresses under it.

With Keep my current DNS provider, the records stay at that provider. You prove the domain is yours with a TXT record added at the provider, and Mail and custom domains list the records to add in the same place.

DNS and Mail share each domain. Adding a domain to DNS does not turn on Mail or need Mail's plan.

Copying the existing records

Host DNS with Magpie starts by copying the records the domain uses now; the page updates when the copy finishes.

  1. A zone transfer first

    Magpie asks the current nameservers for the complete list of records. When a provider sends it, every record Magpie can publish is copied.

  2. Names looked up one at a time

    Most providers refuse a zone transfer. Magpie then looks up the domain itself and the names most domains use, such as www and mail, the names found in public security-certificate logs, and every name that a copied record points to.

  3. What the copy could not get

    The page says how the records were found, lists names whose records could not be read, and lists records Magpie cannot publish, which will stop working when the nameservers change.

  4. Copy the records again

    A new copy replaces the copied records and keeps the records you added or edited in Magpie. Review and confirm the new copy.

Discovery cannot find every record

A subdomain with an uncommon name and no certificate can be missed when the provider refuses a zone transfer. Compare the copied list with the complete list at your current provider, including uncommon and private names, and add anything missing before you confirm.

After the nameservers change, Magpie's nameservers answer for the whole domain and the old provider is no longer used. A record that is missing from Magpie stops working, which can stop a website, email or a subdomain.

Changing the nameservers

  1. Confirm the records

    Confirm the records once the list is complete. The domain's page then shows the two Magpie nameservers assigned to it. Records added or removed after confirming still apply.

  2. Turn off DNSSEC first

    Magpie does not sign hosted zones. If DNSSEC is on for the domain, remove its DS record at the registrar before switching; the page warns when the registry still lists DNSSEC.

  3. Set the exact pair

    At the registrar, replace the domain's nameservers with the two shown and remove any others.

  4. Wait for the registry

    The zone waits until the domain's registry lists the assigned pair. Magpie checks for the change automatically, Check now checks at once, and the records are published as soon as the pair is found.

What the domain's page shows while it waits

While the zone waits, the page shows the nameservers the registry lists now and when Magpie last checked.

The old nameservers
The change has not been saved at the registrar, or the registry has not published it yet. Magpie keeps checking.
A Magpie nameserver and others
The domain must use exactly the two nameservers shown, with no others.
Not registered
The domain has to be registered before its nameservers can change.
Magpie stopped checking
After a long wait without the change, automatic checks stop. Check now starts them again.
After hosting starts
If the registry stops listing the assigned Magpie nameservers, the domain's page shows a warning.

Who can host a team's DNS

Everyone with access to a team can see its domains and records. Only a team admin can add a domain, start or stop hosting, and change records. In Personal, the domains are yours alone.

DNS hosts the records of a domain registered at a registrar of your choice. Registering, renewing and transferring the domain stay with that registrar, and so does the nameserver change.

Moving DNS away from Magpie

  1. Download zone file

    Exports the configured records, including Mail's records, as a standard zone file to load at the new provider, which creates its own SOA record.

  2. Change the nameservers

    At the registrar, once the new provider has the records.

  3. Stop hosting DNS

    Works once the registry lists no Magpie nameservers. The zone stays stored for export and recovery, and Resume Magpie DNS reuses it and waits for the nameservers again.

  4. Remove domain

    In the domain's More menu, removes the domain with its saved zone and change history. A domain that Mail uses is removed in Mail settings, and an address connected to a Store, website or Link-In-Bio List is disconnected first.

Add your domain.

Create a Magpie account, open DNS, choose Add domain, then choose Host DNS with Magpie.

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