Frequently Asked Questions

DNS24 is a free service, managed and maintained by volunteers. With respect to support, we will try to help you as far as we can, but we cannot make any guarantees. We expect our users to be fairly familiar with the workings of the Internet DNS, but we are also quite prepared to help those who are still learning.

If you're stuck, don't hesitate to contact support, but please have a look at the list of frequently asked questions first, your question is quite likely to be listed.

How do I use DNS24 with my domain?: Once your DNS24 setup is ready, you contact your domain registrar and ask them to delegate <your domain> to "ns1.dns24.ch" and "ns2.dns24.ch".
How can I best test your service?: Simply set up a test domain with a non-existent name - rosarot.test for instance. As long as the domain is not actually delegated to the DNS24 nameservers, it is not publicly visible.
How can I see my non-public test domain?: Using dig: "dig @ns1.dns24.ch domain.test".
With nslookup, first set the nameserver using "server ns1.dns24.ch".
How reliable is your service?: The service uses the same infrastructure that is used for our other services: Spamchek and Hostsuisse. These are high reliability enterprise services operating 24/7.
What is a "public refresh"?: The databases for the public DNS24 nameservers are regularly uploaded from the master database, currently every minute. This is called a "public refresh".
Why are you providing this service for free?: DNS24 is based on an internal development project intended for use at Hostsuisse. One of our staff members suggested we also use it to offer a free service. There are a few other similar free services, but none based in Switzerland, so we decided to put the service and a website together and see how it goes.
Who is supporting this service?: DNS24 is supported and developed by ENIDAN Technologies' staff members on a voluntary basis.
Do your make money with this service?: Generally, we don't charge for the use of DNS24. For advanced services, we may charge a fee.
Do you offer domain registration too?: Not at the moment, but we do expect to offer such services in the future.
Why is the site only in English and not also in German or French?: We chose English for the initial implementation to open the facilities to as many people as possible. The website is prepared for hosting in multiple languages, but adding German and French versions is not currently a priority.
What does "n/a" mean?: Not Applicable
Are two nameservers really enough?: Yes, two servers in geographically separate locations is sufficient for a fully redundant setup. Depending on the load, we may add more in the future.
How much do I need to know about BIND and zone files to use DNS24?: You need to understand what it is you want, and you need to understand the purposes of the individual record types.
Do you support DNSSEC?: No, not not currently, it is work in progress.
I've updated my domain, but I cannot see the changes yet?: The public DNS24 nameservers are regularly refreshed from the master database, currently every minute. It may therefore take up to one minute for your changes to become publicly visible. See publich refresh
I can't find record type 'RRR': We support only a subset of the complete range of possible DNS RR types. Many are marked as experimental, a few have long been deprecated, and we deem the rest to be outside the scope for DNS24. If you need other records types than those currently available, please write to us and explain.
What is a "zone file"?: "zone file" is actually a BIND term, but it does occasionally sneak in on this website too. Wikipedia has an in-depth explanation: zone file.
Warum ist die DNS24 Webseite nicht in deutscher Sprache verfügbar?: We chose English for the initial implementation to open the facilities to as many people as possible. The website is prepared for hosting in multiple languages, and we will be adding a German language version very soon.
Who pays the running costs of DNS24?: DNS24 shares resources with the other services provided by ENIDAN Technologies GmbH. Any additional expense incurred by DNS24 will be covered by ENIDAN Technologies GmbH.
I have registered for a new account, but I have not received anything from you?: Make sure that your email-address is correct - if it is already registered or if it is invalid, you will not receive anything from us.
My first registration doesn't seem to have worked: If more than 10 minutes have passed, you may repeat the registration. Simply go back to New User and repeat the process with the same email-address.
Can I use DNS24 to host my customers?: Absolutely, using DNS24 commercially is no problem.
What is "domain delegation" and how do I do it?: Delegating a domain is to assign one or more nameservers to a domain-name. You delegate your domain to DNS24 by contacting your registrar and asking them to delegate <your domain> to "ns1.dns24.ch" and "ns2.dns24.ch".
What are your nameservers called?: "ns1.dns24.ch" and "ns2.dns24.ch"
How do I use your dynamic DNS?: Please refer to this document: The DNS24 dynamic DNS howto
How do I set up a redirection URL?: Example: redirect http://your.example.com to http://my.example2.com.
You need a URL record: for your.example.com with data='http://my.example2.com'.
I can't see the URL record with nslookup or dig, where is it?: The URL 'record' is not actually a DNS record and is not published via DNS which is why nslookup and dig do not see it.
Why do you charge CHF25 for the full service level in dynamic DNS?: We do have some expenses to cover. The full service level is primarily intended for professionals and/or dedicated hobbyists, and when compared to the cost of having a static IP address, we believe our annual CHF25 fee is entirely reasonable.
How do I update dynamic DNS with cURL?: Example: curl --anyauth -u userid:password
http://dyn.dns24.ch/update/?hostname=example.dyndns24.ch&type=A&data=127.0.0.1
My router/modem has a hardcoded dyndns address, how can I use your dynamic DNS service?: On a machine behind your router/modem, use cron or similar to run curl or wget at regular intervals, every 5 minutes for instance.
URL redirection: in my browser, I want to see http://www.example.com/ instead of http://myexample.myhoster.com, how do I do that?: That is not currently supported. You need a suitable webhosting account, see e.g. http://www.hostsuisse.com/webserver/.
How do I update dynamic DNS without specifying a hostname? I want to update "example.com", not "www.example.com": In the dynamic update URL, specify "@" instead of the hostname, i.e. http://dyn.dns24.ch/update/?hostname=@.example.com&type=A&data=127.0.0.1
How do I update dynamic DNS to have "<anyhost>.example.com" ? For instance, I want to have "www.example.com" and "owncloud.example.com" point to the same address with one update.: This requires a wildcard. In the dynamic update URL, specify "*" (asterisk) instead of the hostname, i.e. http://dyn.dns24.ch/update/?hostname=*.example.com&type=A&data=127.0.0.1
You sent me an email saying that my domain is inactive and will be removed. What does this mean?: We regularly verify that domains in our database are in fact also delegated to us. If the SOA record of your domain does not point to DNS24, it is not delegated to us.
What is dynamic DNS really good for?: When you want to run a server at home, for instance for email, web, owncloud or a personal dropbox, and you don't have a static IP address (typically the case with a xDSL, cable or fibre connection), dynamic DNS is very useful for keeping DNS24 up-to-date with your current dynamic IP address.
I've installed your root certificate, but I still get warnings about an unrecognised certificate?: Verify that you've installed it in the correct location. It must be installed as a Certificate Authority.
I don't need my account anymore, how do I delete it?: Inactive accounts (i.e. accounts without active domains) are automatically deleted after a while, you don't need to do anything.
Where can I find out about zone file syntax etc?: The German wikipedia has an excellent article: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonendatei
What are the IP addresses of the DNS24 name-servers?: These can always be found using dig/host/nslookup/etc.
ns1.dns24.ch = 88.198.172.121, 2a01:4f8:130:232d::24
ns2.dns24.ch = 88.198.198.121, 2a01:4f8:a0:1312::24
My DKIM TXT record doesn't work, why not?: You are probablu using a 1536 or 2048bit key, which means the TXT records becomes too long. Please use only 1024bit keys for now.

••• If you don't find the answer to your question here, don't hesitate to contact support.