Addon domains lead to merged zone file and DNS + other addon domain challenges
I have a reseller account with my hosting provider, and I usually don't use cPanel as nameserver.
However, I read out things e.g. DKIM, SPF, etc. from the zone file that are automatically generated by WHM/cPanel to use it with the nameserver (this can be the client's nameserver where the registered their domain or Cloudflare).
So far so good. But things seem to be complicated how addon domains work. There are a few topics that permanently confuse me. One of them is about the zone files.
Merged zone file - the addon domain(s) use the same zone file as the main cPanel account. So if I create 4 addon domains there will be a mix of 4 domains within one zone file. Is that how it should work?
e.g. I can have `clientwebsite.com` as main website. `clientadditionalproject.com` as secondary small website. `clientwebsite.uk`, `clientwebsite.de` only for redirecting to the main site `clientwebsite.com`
How would you set it up? I try to find one approach for my setup that I will apply on all client projects, just to increase consistency and reduce complexity.
I think the reason behind is that cPanel historically creates a subdomain for an addon domain, and that concept messes with my thinking.
Either I understand the full impact of addon domains, or I create a separate cPanel account for each domain (less confusing, clearly separated, more management, higher costs in the end)
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RELATED TOPICS: Other topics that are related and kind of difficult to comprehend:
Domain root: Addon domain can share the same domain root which from my point of view can be fatal and mess with pretty much everything. No idea why that's the case. Is there any reason why someone would like to have a shared domain root.
Backup/restore: Addon domains are based on the main account, so backup and restore can be kind of dangerous, no matter if it's a WordPress plugin or cPanel backup or JetBackup. Didn't manage to think it through, but when I imagine to restore the addon domain dev.website.com and risk to overwrite website.com ...
PHP version: With addon domains it's more difficult I think to test PHP update and have different PHP versions. I think there are ways around.
... there are even more things coming to my mind. I think I need to question every feature on how it works when running an addon domain.
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Hey there! Addon domains *do not* use the same zone file as the parent domain. They get an entirely unique zone file with all the records that a unique cPanel account would.
We do create a subdomain in order to create the Apache and directory structure for the addon domain, and because of this subdomain there will be additional records in the main DNS zone, but those won't be used typically as they would read addondomain.maindomain.com in DNS, and it's very unlikely anyone will try and visit those.
Does that help to clear things up a bit?
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Thanks, now I see it better, but as I looked more into it, also new things come up. Indeed there are separate zone files for main domain and addon domains.
The additional entries in the zone file of the main domain (cpanel account) confused me. I read about the mandatory subdomain and kind of accepted it that this is how it works with cPanel (even though it just makes things complicated as such things somehow mess with my mind)
Besides the mentioned subdomain, now I see on top of it also a parked domain 🤔 so there is even an additional layer
e.g.
cpanel account = colorcars.com
addon domain = redcars.de
required automatic subdomain = redcars.colorcars.com
de.colorcars.com (Parked)I hope I translated that correct into this fictional domain example. Any idea what the parked domain is doing and why it got created?
I can remove and unpark the Parked domain. But without knowing why its there, what it does, etc. it's difficult to remove or unpark things.
On top, if I would access redcars.colorcars.com and de.colorcars.com directly I would get a "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN"
I am quite busy, maybe that's why I can't think straight anymore about it. But it all does sound a bit strange, and probably is normally when just using shared web hosting hidden away.
Overall, those things let me question the entire cPanel/WHM system unfortunately, but probably it's everywhere the same, just hidden away and not visible to me.
I hope you can further explain those topics - thanks a lot0 -
That all sounds right to me except the parked domain portion - I don't see a parked domain on any of my addons. The subdomains, yes, but no parks. A park/alias would mean that the domain is redirecting to the content of another site.
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No idea why I got the parked domains. Maybe because I added the addon domains to a separate folder in home. When I tried to unpark the parked domain, immediately the addon domain did not work anymore. Those were obviously somehow connected. However, I anyway got rid of that setup, and moved to alias domains as you suggested in the other thread.
My hosting provider is on cPanel 114.0.15, have seen others with version 116, maybe that also makes a difference
If someone else sees the same, I didn't do anything special - just added an addon domain in a separate directory in home. And I added a permanent redirect to the main domain. Nothing else. The result was as described that I also got parked domains for whatever unknown reason
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The cPanel version wouldn't matter in this case. These areas have been the same forever, although we've tweaked the UI a few times over the years.
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