A glue record is a small piece of DNS information stored at the domain registry that pairs a nameserver's hostname with its IP address. You only need one in a specific situation: when the nameserver for your domain is itself a subdomain of that same domain, for example ns1.yourdomain.co.ke pointing your domain yourdomain.co.ke.
Without a glue record, resolving that nameserver becomes circular: to find the nameserver, a resolver would need to look up yourdomain.co.ke, but doing that lookup requires already knowing the nameserver. The glue record breaks that loop by giving the registry the nameserver's IP address directly, so it can be handed out alongside the domain's other records without an extra lookup.
Do You Actually Need One?
You need a glue record only if both of these are true:
- You are using custom (vanity) nameservers, such as ns1.yourdomain.co.ke and ns2.yourdomain.co.ke, rather than your host's standard nameservers.
- Those nameserver hostnames end in the same domain name they serve.
If you are simply pointing your domain at your host's regular nameservers (something like ns1.example-host.com), you do not need a glue record, since those nameserver names live under a different domain and resolve independently.
If you are not sure whether your nameservers are "in-domain," check what you entered when you set up custom nameservers. If the nameserver hostname ends in your own domain name, you need glue records for it to work reliably.
How to Add a Glue Record
Glue records are set at the domain registry level, not inside your hosting control panel, so this is done through your domain's management screen rather than cPanel or DirectAdmin.
- Log in to your ZIPROF client area and open the domain that needs the glue record.
- Look for a section called Nameservers or Child Nameservers (sometimes labeled Register Nameservers).
- Enter the nameserver hostname (e.g. ns1.yourdomain.co.ke) together with the IP address of the server it points to.
- Repeat for each custom nameserver hostname you are using, then save.
- If you cannot find this option for your domain extension, open a support ticket with the nameserver hostnames and their IP addresses and ask ZIPROF support to register the glue records for you, since some registries require this to be done directly with them.
Once saved, allow some time for the change to take effect across the internet, the same way other nameserver and DNS changes do.
If you are setting up custom nameservers for the first time, see how to set up custom (vanity) nameservers for your domain before adding glue records for them.