What Are Glue Records and When Do You Need Them?

Glue records solve a chicken-and-egg problem in DNS. You need them only in a specific situation: when your nameservers are subdomains of the same domain they serve.

The Problem Glue Records Solve

Suppose your domain example.co.ke uses nameservers ns1.example.co.ke and ns2.example.co.ke. To find those nameservers, a resolver must look up example.co.ke, but to look that up it needs the nameservers. Glue records break this loop by storing the nameservers' IP addresses at the registry level.

When You Need Glue Records

• You run custom branded nameservers on your own domain
• You operate a reseller or VPS and want ns1.yourbrand.com style nameservers

When You Do NOT Need Them

If you use NairoHost nameservers (ns1.nairohost.site and ns2.nairohost.site), you never need glue records. The glue for nairohost.site is already in place on our side.

How to Set Up Glue (Child Nameservers)

1. Log in to your domain registrar (or KENIC for .ke)
2. Find Child Nameservers, Register Nameservers, or Glue Records
3. Create ns1.yourdomain.com and assign its IP address
4. Repeat for ns2
5. Then set your domain to use those nameservers

Tip: Most NairoHost customers should simply use our nameservers and can ignore glue records entirely.

If you are setting up branded nameservers and need the correct IPs, contact support via the /contact page.