Addon Domains

[miltownkid]

This park of the FAQ about Addon Domains is confusing me.

----
You cannot create an addon domain if your dns hasn't propagated to the server already. So after you change the sites dns you are trying to add you will need to wait 24-48 hours before attempting to create your addon domain. There are three fields cPanel asks for when creating an addon domain.
----

Just let me know if I understand this correctly.

1st) I register a new domain and enter the same name servers in for this new domain as I'm using for my account domain.

2nd) Wait 24-48 hours.

3rd) Create the addon domain in the cPanel.

4th) Domain should work right away (or does it take some time?)


I registered a domain. Made an addon, it didn't work (deleted it). Waited 24 hours and added it, it didn't work (and I'm about to delete it again). Do I understand everything fully and only now need to exercise patience? Also, if I make the addon domain before the DNS has propagated what happens?

Thank you,

miltownkid
(this is a post sale question )

[JZ]

You are correct that you have to wait for the dns to propagate. CPanel will check the dns to make sure that the nameservers are pointed to it's server before allowing the creation of the addon domain.

You should wait a minimum of 2 hours for everything to work properly. It will likely take longer. I have had it take as long as 6 hours.


- Justin

Hi,

This is a post-sale question similar to the above.

I want to set up an add-on domain. In my case, I want to move an existing site to hostgator. Preferably in a manner that eliminates / minimizes downtime.

So I thought I would create an add-on domain, ftp the files to the add-on domain, and THEN change the nameservers to point to hostgator. That way the transition would be more or less seamless.

From the FAQ and the above posts, I understand this is not possible. Because you first have to change the DNS to point to hostgator and it has to fully propogate. By the time this happens, the existing site will be down.

Then you create the addon domain and ftp the files up. This means the existing site would be down from anywhere between a few hours to a couple of days.

Is this understanding correct? Is there any way to move to hostgator without having downtime for an existing site?

On a side note, I had created an add-on domain before reading this post or the faq and before pointing DNS to hostgator. It seemed to set up correctly! I got a message saying www.domainname.com has been set up, along with some details. So does it work, after all?

Best regards,
San

[JZ]

I do not beleive there is a way without any downtime. If you created an addon domain without it pointing to the correct nameservers it should have added the subdomain but then notified you that the entries were removed.

Here is an example for a domain that does not exist:

Addon Domain Maintenance

Addon Domain Additions

The subdomain, notexist.yourdomain.com has been added.

Cannot determine nameserver ip for domaindoesnotexist.com. Please make sure that it is registered with a valid domain name register.

Removed Entry from httpd.conf

The subdomain, notexist.yourdomain.com has been removed.

domaindoesnotexist.com could not be setup. The subdomain notexist.yourdomain.com was not setup either.

Here is an example of one where the nameservers are not pointed to your server.

Addon Domain Maintenance

Addon Domain Additions

The subdomain, google.yourdomain.com has been added.

Nameserver ips for google.com are: 216.239.32.10,216.239.34.10,216.239.36.10,216.239. 38.10 Sorry, that domain (google.com) is already pointed at an ip address that does not appear to use dns servers on this server or master servers! Please transfer the domain to this server's nameservers or have your admin add one of its nameservers ips to /etc/ips.remotedns and make the proper A entries on that remote nameserver!

Removed Entry from httpd.conf The subdomain, google.yourdomain.com has been removed.

google.com could not be setup. The subdomain google.yourdomain.com was not setup either.

I don't know if anyone else has any ideas on how this can be accomplished.

- Justin

[JZ]

I just thought of something that might work. I havn't tried this, and if you try it, let us know if it does work.

Set your 3rd and 4th nameservers to your hostgator account and once they propagate, create the addon domain. If it allows you to create the addon domain, upload your files and change the nameservers again so that the hostgator nameservers are 1st and 2nd.

If cpanel allows you to create the addon domain when the nameservers are in the 3rd and 4th position, it should allow you to eliminate downtime.

-Justin

[mofahead]

I tried the above strategy, and it seemed to work flawlessly. Thanks Justin!

Originally Posted by Justin

Set your 3rd and 4th nameservers to your hostgator account and once they propagate, create the addon domain. If it allows you to create the addon domain, upload your files and change the nameservers again so that the hostgator nameservers are 1st and 2nd.

-Dave