NS Records

An NS record names the authoritative name servers for a zone. ZCP creates the NS record set for your domain automatically (pointing at ns1.zsoftly.ca and ns2.zsoftly.ca). Add your own NS records to delegate a subdomain to a different DNS provider.

Fields

Field	Example	Notes
Name	`subzone`	The subdomain to delegate.
Type	`NS`
Content	`ns1.other-dns.com.`	A name server for the subdomain. End with a trailing dot.
TTL	`3600`	Seconds.

Delegate a Subdomain

To hand subzone.example.com to another provider, add an NS record for subzone.

Console (zone-file view):

subzone NS ns1.other-dns.com. 3600

CLI:

zcp dns record-create --domain examplecom --name subzone --type NS --content ns1.other-dns.com.

After this change, ZCP returns a referral to the delegated provider for subzone.example.com. The delegated provider must host the subzone.example.com zone.

Verify

dig NS subzone.example.com +short
# ns1.other-dns.com.

Several Name Servers per Delegation

A name and type hold several values. Creating a second NS record at subzone adds it to the set. Delegate the subdomain to two or more name servers for redundancy. See Several values per name and type.

Delegating to ZCP From Elsewhere

The reverse also works. To host a subdomain on ZCP while the parent domain stays at another provider, create the subdomain as a ZCP domain (for example, dev.example.com). At the parent provider, add NS records for dev pointing at ns1.zsoftly.ca and ns2.zsoftly.ca. See Domains.

Notes

A ZCP zone delegates to one name server. Standard practice is two or more. ZCP cannot hold more than one NS value at a name.
The child provider must host the zone. Delegation only forwards queries. The records live at the provider you delegate to.
Do not delete the apex NS set. ZCP manages your domain’s own ns1/ns2.zsoftly.ca records.