1 files changed, 96 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/content/basic/dns.md b/content/basic/dns.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6d3d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/basic/dns.md
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+---
+title: "Connect Your Domain and Server with DNS Records"
+date: 2021-07-07
+tags: ['basic']
+---
+## The Gist
+
+Now that we have a [domain](/basic/domain) and a [server](/basic/server), we
+can connect the two using DNS records. DNS (domain name system) records
+are usually put into your registrar and direct people looking up your
+website to the server where your website and other things will be.
+
+Get your IPv4/IPv6 addresses from Vultr and put them into A/AAAA records
+on Epik. Simple process, takes a minute, but here\'s a guide with a
+million images just so you know.
+
+## Open up your Registrar
+
+As before, we will be using
+[Epik](https://www.epik.com/?affid=we2ro7sa6) as a registrar and
+[Vultr](https://www.vultr.com/?ref=8384069-6G) as a server host. Go
+ahead and log into your accounts on both. Open up Epik, or your
+registrar, and click on your domain and then a choice for \"DNS
+records.\" This is the screen you\'ll want to see on Epik.
+
+{{< img alt="Blank Epik DNS records" src="/pix/dns-epik.png" link="/pix/dns-epik.png" >}}
+
+Note that we are on the \"External Hosts (A, AAAA)\" tab by default.
+Epik sometimes adds records to this page once you buy a domain. If they
+did, you can go ahead and delete them so they look clean like the
+picture above.
+
+**All we have to do now is get our IP addresses from Vultr and add new
+DNS records that will send connections to our server.**
+
+Keep the Epik tab open and open Vultr and we will copy-and-paste our IP
+addresses in.
+
+## Find your server\'s IP addresses
+
+Looking at your server in the Vultr menu, you should see a number next
+to it. Mine here is `104.238.126.105` as you can see below the server
+name (which I have named `landchad.net` after the domain I will soon
+attach to it). That is my **IPv4** address.
+
+{{< img src="/pix/dns-ipv4.png" alt="See the IPv4 address?" link="/pix/dns-ipv4.png" >}}
+
+Copy your IPv4 address and on Epik, click the \"Add Record\" record
+button and add two A entries pasting in your IPv4 address like I\'ve
+done for mine here.
+
+{{< img src="/pix/dns-ipv4-done.png" alt="IPv4 complete" link="/pix/dns-ipv4-done.png" >}}
+
+I add two entries. One has nothing written in the \"Host\" section. This
+will direct connections to `landchad.net` over IPv4 to our IP address.
+The second has a `*` in the \"Host\" section. This will direct
+connections to all possible subdomains to the right place too, I mean
+`mail.landchad.net` or `blog.landchad.net` and any other subdomain we
+might want to add later.
+
+Now let\'s get our IPv6 address, which is a little more hidden for some
+reason. IPv6 is important because we are running out of IPv4 addresses,
+so it is highly important to allow connections via IPv6 as it will be
+standard in the future. Anyway, now back on Vultr, click on the server
+name.
+
+On the server settings, **click on settings** and we will see we are on
+a submenu labeled \"IPv4\" where we see our IPv4 address again.
+
+{{< img src="/pix/dns-vultr.png" alt="Looking for the IPv6" link="/pix/dns-vultr.png" >}}
+
+Now just click on the **IPv6** submenu to reveal your IPv6 address.
+
+{{< img alt="The IPv6 address" src="/pix/dns-ipv6.png" link="/pix/dns-ipv6.png" >}}
+
+That ugly looking sequence of numbers and letters with colons in between
+(`2001:19f0:5:ccc:5400:03ff:fe58:324a`) is my **IPv6** address. Yours
+will look something like it. Now let\'s put it into Epik. This time, be
+sure to select to put in AAAA records as below:
+
+{{< img src="/pix/dns-ipv6-done.png" alt="IPv6 complete" link="/pix/dns-ipv6-done.png" >}}
+
+Now just click \"Save Changes.\" It might take a minute for the DNS
+settings to propagate across the internet.
+
+## Test it out!
+
+Now we should have our domain name directing to our new server. We can
+check by pinging our domain name, check this out:
+
+{{< img src="/pix/dns-ping.png" alt="Pinging landchad.net" link="/pix/dns-ping.png" >}}
+
+As you can see, our ping to `landchad.net` is now being directed to
+`104.238.128.105`. That means we have successfully set up our DNS
+records! You can also run the command `host` if you have it, which will
+list both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for a domain name.