Add DNSMadeEasy as a secondary DNS server

For an overview of secondary DNS, see Add a secondary DNS server to DNSimple.

Requirements

An active account with DNSMadeEasy. Every DNSMadeEasy plan allows for secondary DNS setup.
Your domain is pointing to the DNSimple name servers.

You can get started with secondary DNS from the DNS tab on the domain page.

DNS management page

Select DNSMadeEasy as the provider. Click Enable at the bottom of the form. The name servers and IP addresses DNSMadeEasy is expecting are already filled in for you.

DNSimple configuration with DNSMadeEasy

A confirmation message will tell you Secondary DNS has been enabled from the DNSimple side.

DNSimple configuration is successful

Log into your DNSMadeEasy account. The first thing you will do is to create the IP set that enables zone communication between DNSimple and DNSMadeEasy. From the top navigation menu, select Advanced, then Secondary IP Sets.

Note

At the time of writing, DNSMadeEasy only accepts IPv4 for Secondary DNS

Add a new IPv4 set with the following values:

Name: axfr.dnsimple.com
IPs: 18.189.127.127

DNSMadeEasy IP set

Now add the domain. From the top navigation menu, select DNS then Secondary DNS.

Click on Add Secondary.

DNSMadeEasy adding secondary button

In the popup, type your domain name, and select the IP set you just created.

DNSMadeEasy adding secondary configuration

If the configuration is correct, a success message will appear. You will be taken to the detail page for your domain.

DNSMadeEasy configuration successful

At the bottom of the screen, you might see an error message that the zone is out of sync. You may need to wait a few minutes for the zones to synchronize. If the zone stays out of sync, see Troubleshoot Secondary DNS Zone Transfers.

DNSMadeEasy configuration details not in sync

Refresh the page after a few minutes. If the configuration is working properly, you should see a section showing you the health of the secondary name servers.

DNSMadeEasy configuration details working

Another way to verify your configuration is by using dig and querying one of the DNSMadeEasy name servers. Read more about dig in our overview article.

From your terminal, type the following dig command, replacing example.com with your domain:

$ dig @ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com example.com soa

The query should return all the DNSimple and DNSMadeEasy name servers in the AUTHORITY SECTION.

; <<>> DiG 9.20.24 <<>> @ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com example.com soa
; (2 servers found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 33777
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 7, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1280
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;example.com.   IN  SOA

;; ANSWER SECTION:
example.com.  3600  IN  SOA axfr.dnsimple.com. admin.dnsimple.com. 1788969600 86400 7200 604800 300

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns1.dnsimple-edge.com.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns2.dnsimple-edge.net.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns3.dnsimple-edge.io.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns4.dnsimple-edge.org.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns6.dnsmadeeasy.com.
example.com.  3600  IN  NS  ns7.dnsmadeeasy.com.

;; Query time: 21 msec
;; SERVER: 208.94.148.13#53(ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Wed Sep 09 16:01:11 UTC 2026
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 304

Congratulations, your secondary DNS is now working with DNSMadeEasy.

Have more questions?

If you have any questions about adding DNSMadeEasy as a secondary DNS server, contact support, and we’ll be happy to help.