Contents:
1. Changing name server delegation
2. Name server report / bulk update
3. Managing glue (host) records
4. The Domain Manager
5. DNS record hosting
6. Website forwarding
7. Email forwarding
1. Changing name server delegation
To change the name server delegation, do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Manage link in the table row for the domain.
- Select the Update Name Servers icon or the Domain Delegation link.
- Enter the name servers provided by your hosting provider and select Update.
The name server changes will be submitted to the registry and reflected via the WHOIS lookup within moments. However, due to DNS caching and propagation it may take a number of hours for changes to take effect. This can vary depending on how the previous records were configured, and whether the records are being cached by your local computer, your local network and/or your internet service provider.
If you receive an error message when attempting to update your name servers, please ensure that the servers you have added are using valid host names (you cannot use IP addresses directly). If you are still receiving an error please confirm with your hosting provider that they have created the required glue (host) records for their name servers in the registry.
If you wish to use the Zone Manager in the management console, please use the following name servers:
- ns1.domainname.edu.au
- ns2.domainname.edu.au
- ns3.domainname.edu.au
Please note
The name servers set in this section are authoritative for all DNS records associated with your domain name. So, to avoid service disruption if you are migrating from one provider to another, before you change the name server delegation please ensure that the new provider has records in place for all services attached to your domain name.
2. Name server report / bulk update
To receive a spreadsheet of the current name server delegation for domain names under your account, do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Download DNS report link and follow the prompts.
To update the name server delegation for multiple domain names all at once (a bulk update), do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Bulk DNS delegation link.
- Select the checkboxes for the domain names you wish to update.
- Enter the new name servers in the DNS Address fields.
- Enter the Email address to receive the update confirmation.
- Select Update to submit the changes.
Please note that this will replace the existing name server delegation, not append it. If you want to retain the current name server delegation while also adding new name servers, you must enter all name servers in the DNS Address fields.
3. Managing glue (host) records
To create or change glue (host) records for your domain name, do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Manage link in the table row for the domain.
- Select the Update Name Servers icon or the Domain Delegation link.
- Navigate down to the Host records section.
Glue records are only required where you want to operate your own name servers based on your domain name. For the host name to resolve, in addition to creating the glue record you will also need to create the associated A record on your DNS servers.
If you wish to add an IPv6 address to your glue records, please email a request to
registrar@esa.edu.au from an authorised contact for the account.
Please note
1. The .au registry requires that glue (host) records are in place before any .au domain name can be delegated to the associated name servers.
2. Incorrectly configuring or failing to update your glue (host) records to match any changes made to the associated A record for your name servers will result in resolution issues for any domain names delegated to your name servers.
3. You cannot delete a glue (host) record while any .au domain name is delegated to the associated name server. If you are unsure of which .au domain names are currently delegated to your name servers, please
contact our support team.
The Domain Manager is a free service included with your edu.au domain name registration on an opt-in basis. In addition to the standard registry functions available to you via your account, the Domain Manager adds the following basic hosting features:
- DNS record hosting
- website forwarding
- email forwarding.
To enable the Domain Manager service, do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Edit DNS link in the table row for the domain.
- Navigate down to the Domain Manager section.
- Select Add to cart and follow the prompts.
Selecting the
Dashboard link in the left navigation panel will now display additional icons used to access and configure the Domain Manager features.
If using the Domain Manager, to access DNS records do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Manage link in the table row for the domain.
- Select the Zone Records icon.
To create a new record, select the required record type from the drop-down list and then select
Create new record. The following basic record types are supported:
- A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT, SPF, SRV, SOA.
For records that are to be set at the domain root (often referred to as @) leave the name field blank.
For MX records, if using an external host name (that is, not a sub-domain of your own domain name) please ensure that the
Is host fully qualified? checkbox is ticked.
Depending on which other services you have enabled, there will be a number of default records already in place. The NS records should not be changed (and the SOA record cannot be changed). Default A records will correspond to the website forwarding service, and default MX records will correspond to the email forwarding service. If these services are not being used you can remove the records by disabling each service via its corresponding icon on the
Dashboard.
Please note
1. CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records are not supported.
2. TXT records must begin and end with quotation marks (i.e. "value"). Values that exceed 255 characters may entered as a single string - this will be converted into multiple strings automatically in the name server response.
3. SRV records are currently limited to the domain root (@). It is not possible to create SRV records for sub-domains.
By default, and if you are using the included DNS record hosting, the website forwarding service will redirect those attempting to access a website at your domain name (with and without the www prefix) to your nominated alternate website address or URL. To enable the redirect and set the URL, do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Manage link in the table row for the domain.
- Select the Redirection icon.
- Toggle the service status to On (if disabled).
- Enter the URL and select the Update redirection button.
If the service was disabled, it may take some time for the associated records to propagate and the redirect to take effect. Please ensure that you have no other A Records set for the domain root and no other A or CNAME Records for the www sub-domain other than those flagged as default.
Standard forwarding
Where possible, the registrar recommends standard forwarding. Standard forwarding is performed as a 301 redirect. It results in those visiting your domain name being automatically taken to the nominated URL, with the new URL reflected in their web browser's address bar.
Cloaked forwarding
You can enable cloaking, which masks the redirect by displaying or embedding the content of the nominated URL within an HTML inline frame (iframe), and retaining your domain name in the address bar. However, as search engines will be unable to index the content, and both web browsers and web servers can be configured to block content being displayed in iframes, the registrar recommends first contacting the host of the nominated URL to discuss other options for displaying the content.
If cloaking is still the preferred option, to mitigate the above drawbacks please ensure that you complete the additional fields that become available once cloaking is selected.
- The description, title, and keywords fields assist with search engine optimisation.
- The no frames message field is displayed if the user has disabled iframe support in their web browser.
It is also recommended that you confirm that the web server hosting the nominated URL is configured to support content being embedded in this way.
Forwarding sub-domains
To forward the domain root to www or forward a sub-domain, please
contact our support team.
Please note
1) In accordance with your obligations under the
.edu.au Registrant Agreement, you must not cause a person or body accessing your edu.au domain name to be automatically redirected to another domain name operated by or on behalf of a person or body not eligible to register an edu.au domain name.
2) Website forwarding provided through the management console is only available over HTTP. For forwarding over HTTPS, you would require an SSL certificate for your domain name and a hosting service in which to both install the certificate and configure the redirect.
If you are using the included DNS record hosting, the email forwarding service can be directed to create an email address at your domain name that will deliver any mail sent to it to your nominated, existing third-party email address. To enable the server and create an email address do the following.
- Sign in to the management console using your account reference.
- From the Overview tab, select the Manage link in the table row for the domain.
- Select the Email icon.
- Toggle the service status to On (if disabled).
- Select Alias account from the drop-down menu and select Create email.
- Enter the alias name for the new email and the target address.
- Select Create email.
The alias name field should be the string before the @ symbol for the email address you want to create (for example, 'info' if you want to create 'info@yourdomain.edu.au').
Scrolling down the same page, your alias account will now be listed in the
Active email accounts section. Selecting the
Email address link in the table will allow you change the target address or add additional target addresses if you would like the emails to be forwarded to multiple recipients, and to manage an auto-responder for the address.
By default, two alias accounts can be created. For additional accounts please
contact our support team.
POP and IMAP account types are currently not supported.
