Glue records are special DNS entries that tell the world the IP address of a nameserver whose name is inside the same domain it's serving. If you've ever set up branded reseller nameservers like ns1.yourdomain.com — you needed glue records to make them work. This article explains what they are, why they're needed, and how to register them at your domain's registrar.
The chicken-and-egg problem
Imagine your reseller nameservers are ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com. To resolve www.yourdomain.com, a DNS resolver needs to ask one of those nameservers. To find those, it needs to look up ns1.yourdomain.com — but that lookup itself depends on knowing where yourdomain.com's nameservers are. It's a loop.
The solution: glue records. The TLD's registry (the .com registry, .ca registry, etc.) stores the IP addresses of ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.yourdomain.com directly in its parent zone. When a resolver asks the registry "where is yourdomain.com?", the registry responds with both the nameserver names and their IPs in the same answer. The loop is broken.
When you need glue records
You need glue records whenever your nameserver hostname is a subdomain of the domain it's serving:
ns1.example.comservingexample.com— needs glue.ns1.example.comservingotherdomain.ca— doesn't need glue (the resolver can look upexample.comnormally to find its nameservers).
For CanSpace clients, the typical case is reseller hosting on Gold or Titanium plans where you want clients to see ns1.youragency.com instead of our generic ns21.canspace.ca style nameservers.
How to register glue records
Glue records are registered at the parent registry (the registrar of the domain that contains the nameserver name), not at CanSpace. This is because the TLD registry has to publish them in the parent zone — we have no way to do that for you.
If your domain is registered with CanSpace
Open a support ticket with the nameserver hostnames and IPs you want registered. We'll register them with the registry on your behalf. Provide:
- Domain name (e.g.
youragency.com) - Nameserver hostnames (e.g.
ns1.youragency.com,ns2.youragency.com) - IPv4 addresses for each (we'll provide these — they're the IPs of the nameservers you want to brand)
If your domain is registered elsewhere
The exact menu varies by registrar but the feature is usually under "Manage child nameservers", "Register host", "Glue records", or similar:
- GoDaddy: My Products → Domains → DNS → Host Names
- Namecheap: Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Personal DNS Server
- Google Domains / Squarespace Domains: DNS → Glue Records
- Network Solutions, Tucows, others: search support docs for "register host" or "glue record"
For each glue record, register the hostname (e.g. ns1.yourdomain.com) with the IPv4 address of the actual nameserver. Most registrars accept up to 13 child nameservers per domain.
How to verify glue records work
From a terminal:
dig +trace ns ns1.yourdomain.com
dig @a.gtld-servers.net ns yourdomain.comThe first command should resolve the nameserver's IP. The second asks the TLD root directly — if glue is set up, you'll see your nameservers and their IPs in the additional section.
You can also use online tools like intodns.com — a missing glue warning will appear under the parent zone checks if something's misconfigured.
Related articles
Still stuck? Open a support ticket
