Linking Domain name to server

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 19:28

Hi

I am well and truly stuck,

I have been running wamp server from home for some time and people that need access can access it with my external IP, so all is great.

On Saturday I registered a domain name with fast2host so i can use it for my server.

Fast2host have DNS management so i have set up 3 A records pointing to my external IP, @, www and * replacing the 3 redirects they set it up with that point to there 'this domain is parked' page.

72hours + later it is not working

Fast2host also have 4 nameserver options, 2 of them are set to there name servers, 2 are blank, i have changed nothing here.

I have read this guide
http://pampserver.com/manuals/making_wampserver_accessible_over_the_internet.pdf

After reading this i have changed my PC's IP to static, although i dont think this is a huge step as it is the only thing connected to the router that is always on and the ip has been the same for as long as i can remember.

One point i have picked up from the guide, if i type my external IP into a browser followed by :80 it takes me to the login for my router,

I have port forwarding set up for 80 and 8080, if i use 8080 in the browser it gives me a connection reset error, but i think wamp is running on 80 not 8080, and if some one else types my IP into a browser they get my site so again i don't think there is a problem here.

I have edited nothing into the Apache config file about my domain name, i don't know if any thing is needed.

Sorry to waffle on a bit but i am hoping i have included enough info that some one will be able to help me link my domain name to my server.

Thank You

tolien · 20 May 2008 at 19:57

You need to point the domain name to the internal IP of the machine using the hosts file or whatever.
Unless your router does NAT loopback, you can't use the external IP from inside.

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 20:14

tolien said:
You need to point the domain name to the internal IP of the machine using the hosts file or whatever.
Unless your router does NAT loopback, you can't use the external IP from inside.

Thanks Tolien

You mean the host file located at c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc ?

then i need to add

xxx.xxx.x.xxx http://mydoamin.com

with xxx.xxx.x.xxx being the internal network IP of the PC running wamp?

m_cozzy · 20 May 2008 at 20:44

Dr Zoidberg said:
Thanks Tolien

You mean the host file located at c:/windows/system32/drivers/etc ?

then i need to add

xxx.xxx.x.xxx http://mydoamin.com

with xxx.xxx.x.xxx being the internal network IP of the PC running wamp?

For accessing wamp from the lan using a name rather than an ip yes.
For external users they should be able to use the dns name you registered which will point to the external ip of your router and this will forward the required ports onto your lan.

What happens from outside when you ping your new dns name?
If users access you via ip still can they connect?
If you want let us know your dns name so I can ping it from outside & see if it resolves to the correct ip. If it doesnt then you have made a mistake on the dns page, which I admit is easy to do. A bind file is so much more straightforward

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 21:15

m_cozzy said:
For accessing wamp from the lan using a name rather than an ip yes.
For external users they should be able to use the dns name you registered which will point to the external ip of your router and this will forward the required ports onto your lan.

What happens from outside when you ping your new dns name?
If users access you via ip still can they connect?
If you want let us know your dns name so I can ping it from outside & see if it resolves to the correct ip. If it doesnt then you have made a mistake on the dns page, which I admit is easy to do. A bind file is so much more straightforward

Help !!!!!

DNS Name ?

how it was set up, the www record has been changed a few times but is back where it was,

There are 4 name server spaces that can be filled in, 2 are empty, 2 have fast2hosts name servers in there,

Site is accessable via IP address from the out side world

m_cozzy · 20 May 2008 at 21:52

below

m_cozzy · 20 May 2008 at 21:59

Domain name:
keithdrayton.co.uk

Name servers:
ns3.fast2host.com
ns4.fast2host.com

well a quick lookup reveals this

the 2 ns*.fasthost.com servers are the authoritative nameservers for your domain. However they dont seem to be returning any information.
What you have done appears to be correct although as I mentioned I can never understand point & click interfaces compared to a simple bind file.

http://www.iptools.com/
for you:-
; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> -t A keithdrayton.co.uk
;; global options: printcmd
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

for a working site:-
; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> -t A coznet.co.uk
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 62921
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;coznet.co.uk. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
coznet.co.uk. 1200 IN A 82.69.154.50

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
coznet.co.uk. 8640 IN NS ns.coznet.co.uk.
coznet.co.uk. 8640 IN NS ns1.twisted4life.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns1.twisted4life.com. 30007 IN A 202.157.182.142

;; Query time: 187 msec
;; SERVER: 70.84.160.11#53(70.84.160.11)
;; WHEN: Tue May 20 14:31:55 2008
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 113

So querying your domain returns no nameservers.

EDIT Ensure that in the manage name servers tab you are pointing at fasthosts 2 dns servers. Reading up on it FH dont seem to have a very good reputation, maybe they have hammed something up.

Are you sure these 2 nameservers are correct??
Name servers:
ns3.fast2host.com
ns4.fast2host.com
As They dont seem to respond to ANY dns queries

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 22:32

What other name servers can i put in there? i think that is where the problem is,
I tryed to change it to the name servers of my ISP but i don't think my ISP will allow that,
I looked at using the open DNS option, but fast2host want some thing like theres look, not the IP address from open dns

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 22:37

m_cozzy said:
Reading up on it FH dont seem to have a very good reputation, maybe they have hammed something up.

Really? All reviews i found on them look good, are you sure the reviews are for fast2host and not fasthost? most of there reviews seem to be bad.

m_cozzy · 20 May 2008 at 22:40

Apologies, i read it as fasthosts. Send them a ticket requesting clarification & let us know how you get on.

AbsenceJam · 20 May 2008 at 22:49

As far as I can tell everything you've done is correct.
Your nameservers should be set to those of you registrar (ns1.fast2host.com and ns2.fast2host.com), your DNS records are correct.
You could try a DNS host such as EveryDNS.net or ZoneEdit.com, you change your nameservers to theirs and then change DNS records via their interfaces.

Dr Zoidberg · 20 May 2008 at 23:00

It is indeed fast2hosts name servers, i have changed to everydns.com and signed up there and filled in the info, slowly as it gets around the system it is starting to work.

Thanks for all the help.