Domain Setup with DNSMadeEasy

Objective

To set up your DNS settings through DNSMadeEasy (DME) so that they will function properly on Amazon EC2. Since instances can be launched and terminated on EC2 depending on a site's need at any given time, it's important that a framework is in place that will allow the DNS settings to point to the proper instances at all times.  This tutorial will show you how to use DNSMadeEasy to create A Records for your databases and frontends.

NOTE: We recommend using Elastic IPs (EIP) for your frontends instead of using Dynamic DNS.  If you do not want to use EIPs for your frontends, see the Domain Setup with DNSMadeEasy (w/o EIPs) tutorial.

Create a New Account

After you have registered a domain name, you will need to create an account on DNS Made Easy www.dnsmadeeasy.com. (If you do not have a domain, you can also register a domain directly through DME. RightScale does not register domain names.)

When you get to the DME website, click the Create New Account button.

Complete the registration form.

Confirm that you have read all of their terms and conditions.

Confirm your user information.

Now go to your email to confirm your email to complete the registration process.

Configure your DNS Settings

Go back to the main page and log in. 

Select Advanced DNS Setting.

Make sure that Internal IP's for Records, Dynamic DNS, and Default DDNS are all turned "ON" and click Set Values.

Click Main Menu and click Managed DNS.

Click Add New Domain.

Enter your domain name and expiration date.  Click Continue.

Confirm that the domain name information is correct and click Yes.

The next screen will provide a list of Nameservers and their IP address. Save this list!  You will need to provide these DME Nameservers to the company with whom you registered your domain and tell them to now point to these DME Nameservers.

Click Continue.

Add Records

The next step is to create URLs (records) for your EC2 instances.  Since we're creating a 4-instance setup, we'll need a pair for our master-slave databases and a pair for our front ends.

Now click on the Records link that corresponds to your domain.

  Click on Add A Record.

Name the new record, master1 and set the IP to 1.2.3.4 and the TTL to 100. Make sure that the Dynamic DNS option is checked and click Continue.

Verify that the information you entered is correct and click Yes.

You should now see your new record listed under the "A Records" section.

Repeat these steps and create A Records for slave1 and fe1.  Use the same settings that you used for master1.

Next, you will also need to create new A Records for the two front ends so that you can have Round-Robin DNS.  Except this time, instead of using 1.2.3.4, use the Elastic IP addresses that you created in the previous Create Elastic IPs (EIP) step.  You should now have four A Records.

Click the Domains button.

Check the box next to your domain and then click Record Listing.

Confirm that you want to create a Record Listing Report and click the Click here to process your report link.

Print and save and the Record Listing Report. Later, you will need to enter these values into your deployment.

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