Delegating Your Domain to Skyline Name Servers

Delegating your domain to Skyline name servers (DNS Path A) hands full control of your domain's DNS to Skyline Cloud. Once delegation is complete, Skyline hosts every DNS record for your domain, and the portal can publish your email and web-hosting records with a single click — no more copying individual records by hand. This guide walks you through exactly how to do it at your registrar, how long it takes, and how to confirm it worked.

The Skyline name servers

Delegate your domain to both of the name servers below. Always add both for redundancy. You only need the host names — your registrar handles the rest, and Skyline manages the underlying network addresses for you.

Note: A third name server, ns3, is reserved but not yet live. Do not add it — use only ns1 and ns2 for now.

Before you start: delegation moves ALL of your DNS

This is the most important thing to understand before you begin.

Delegating your nameservers to Skyline means Skyline becomes the authoritative DNS host for your entire domain. Any records currently served by your existing DNS provider — website A/AAAA records, other subdomains, third-party verification TXT records, existing mail records, CNAMEs — will stop being used the moment delegation takes effect, because the world will now ask Skyline for your domain's DNS.

Before you delegate:

• Inventory your current DNS records at your existing provider. Take a screenshot or export the zone file.
• Make sure you (or Skyline) can recreate every record you still need in the Skyline DNS zone editor after delegation.
• If you are not ready to recreate everything, consider Path B instead (keep DNS at your current provider and just add the individual records Skyline shows you). Path B does not move your nameservers.

If your domain only needs Skyline mail and hosting and nothing else, full delegation (Path A) is the simplest long-term option.

Step-by-step: delegate at your registrar

Nameserver changes are made at your registrar — the company where you bought the domain — not inside the Skyline portal. The exact menu names vary by registrar, but the steps are the same everywhere.

Generic steps

1. Sign in to your domain registrar account (for example GoDaddy, Namecheap, or wherever you purchased the domain).
2. Open the domain management or DNS / Nameservers area for your domain.
3. Find the Nameservers setting. It will usually show your registrar's default nameservers.
4. Choose the option to use custom (or "third-party") nameservers.
5. Replace the existing nameservers with:
   • ns1.alskyline.com
   • ns2.alskyline.com
6. Remove any other nameservers that were listed so that only ns1 and ns2 remain.
7. Save the change.

GoDaddy-style example

1. Log in to GoDaddy and go to My Products.
2. Next to your domain, select DNS (or open the domain, then Domain Settings).
3. Scroll to the Nameservers section and click Change.
4. Choose I'll use my own nameservers (Enter my own nameservers / Custom).
5. Enter ns1.alskyline.com in the first field and ns2.alskyline.com in the second.
6. Delete any extra rows so only those two remain, then Save.

That's it on the registrar side. Skyline takes over DNS from here.

Propagation: allow 24–48 hours

Nameserver changes are not instant. After you save, the change has to propagate across the global DNS system as servers worldwide refresh their records.

• Propagation typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to 24–48 hours.
• During this window, some networks may still see your old DNS while others see Skyline's. This is normal.
• Avoid making further changes mid-propagation — give it time to settle.

Confirm the delegation with a lookup

You can check whether the world is seeing the new nameservers using an NS lookup.

On Windows (Command Prompt):

nslookup -type=ns yourdomain.com

On macOS or Linux (Terminal):

dig NS yourdomain.com +short

A successful result lists both Skyline name servers:

ns1.alskyline.com
ns2.alskyline.com

If you still see your old registrar's nameservers, propagation is not finished yet — wait and check again later.

The portal auto-detects delegation

You do not have to tell Skyline manually that delegation is done. The Skyline Cloud portal verifies delegation automatically and updates your domain's status once it detects that your nameservers point to ns1/ns2.alskyline.com.

Once the portal confirms delegation:

• Skyline hosts all of your domain's DNS.
• You get one-click email setup — the portal publishes your MX, SPF, DKIM (selector skyline), and DMARC records for you, with no manual record entry.
• You can manage every record in the portal's DNS zone editor, and publish web-hosting records (such as your site's A record) just as easily.

Quick recap

1. Add both ns1.alskyline.com and ns2.alskyline.com at your registrar — ns3 is not yet live.
2. Inventory and be ready to recreate your existing DNS records, because delegation moves all DNS to Skyline.
3. Wait 24–48 hours for propagation.
4. Confirm with an NS lookup.
5. The portal auto-detects delegation and unlocks one-click mail and hosting setup.

Need help? If your lookup still shows old nameservers after 48 hours, or the portal hasn't detected delegation, open a support ticket from your Skyline Cloud portal at https://cloud.alskyline.com (Support) and our team will assist.