registering your .co.za domain name
(This is for .co.za domains only)
The first step in setting up email or a website for your company/private use, is getting your own domain name.
A domain name is basically the yourdomainname.co.za part that makes the whole thing work. For a more in detail description about how DNS (the domain name system) works, this is a pretty good article, on Wikipedia. It does not have to be .co.za extension, it could be anything from .net, .com to .org etc. I am doing .co.za because it is the most widely used in South Africa and if you can register a .co.za domain the other types will be pretty easy thereafter.
Why would you want to register and administer a domain name yourself instead of letting an ISP take care of it for you?
- You always maintain full control over your domain, so you are never at the mercy of any provider. Much like Open Source software. But different in the sense that it is DNS.
- You can make changes to your DNS as you wish and at any time without all the jazz that surrounds getting your ISP to make changes for you. Ever tried getting large ISPs in SA to alter your DNS? Case in point.
- You will save some money.
- It is really not as hard to do as you might think it is, especially if you have the basics down
- It is cool
South African domain names mostly use a text based ticket system for registrations, transfers and updates, with the .org.za and .co.za ones being very similar in operation. In contrast, most other (international for lack of a better word) domain names work through a browser based interface that is a whole lot easier to use for a novice.
Now before you get started, you have to ensure that the domain name you want, is still available. You can do this by going to the Uniforum WHOIS page. Simply type the name you want and click Enter. If the domain name you want is available, it will say “Match: No Matches”. If the domain is already taken, it will display the current owner’s details. It would be best to list a few domains before you start your search, listed in order of preference. If the domain that you really have your heart set on is taken, all hope in not lost. You can always try to transfer/obtain the domain from the current owner. If he/she is not using it and is not a domain hogging bastard, odds are you will be able to get your dream domain. Albeit at a price and with no guarantees that owner x will release the domain.
So the domain name you want is available? Sweet like a lemon bru! It is time to get cracking. However, one more way in that SA domains differ from most of it’s domainy counterparts, is that you have to have DNS servers setup for the domain before you submit the registration form. You can register other domains and then edit the DNS server list later on, but Uniforum checks your name servers (DNS servers) first.
Now I am pretty sure you don’t have your own name servers? Don’t worry, most people don’t. Luckily for us name server less folk, a cool guy by the name of David Ulevitch came along and started a free service called EveryDNS, aptly named “DNS for the rest of us”. It allows you to host 20 domains free of charge. Gratis. Simply go through the very very simple signup process and login to you dashboard (it is rather self explanatory). Once logged in, underneath Add New Domain type in the domain name that you have decided on (the full yourdomainname.co.za). Now click on the >>(basic) to the right to add your domain name to the EveryDNS servers. You can ignore the other settings for now. Congrats you DNS is now setup.
Moving on to the worst part of registering a .co.za domain name, filling out the Uniforum application form. It looks hellishly complicated but it really is dead simple. All you have to do is fill in some details, ok a lot of details 
The form can be found here. Firstly save the text page that opens in your browser as a .txt file on your local pc, then open it up in a text editor. The first thing you will notice is how easy it actually is! It would be best to complete the application form first, then save it so that it could be re-used later.
You have to complete the following fields as illustrated below (see text in bold);
1. DOMAIN NAME and ACTION
Give the name of the subdomain. This is the name that will be
used in tables and lists associating the domain with the name
server and IP addresses. The .co.za domain names that are
delegated by UniForum S.A. are at the third level, for example:
thisnetwork.co.za. Domain names in the CO.ZA zone are limited
to 30 characters.
The Action field specifies whether this is a ‘N’ew application, an
‘U’pdate or a ‘D’eletion.
1a. Complete domain name: yourdomainname.co.za
1b. Action - [N]ew, [U]pdate, or [D]elete : N (depending on what action is to be taken)
You also have to fill in sections 2. DOMAIN REGISTRANT and BILLING / 4. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT/ 5. TECHNICAL CONTACT. What goes in the fields is rather obvious and the application form explains it in enough detail.
The only potentially difficult part is section 6. NAMESERVERS FOR THIS DOMAIN. Now earlier we already setup your domain on EveryDNS, so you can just copy and paste this onto your application form;
6a. Primary server FQDN: ns1.everydns.net
6b. Primary server IPv4 glue:
6c. Primary server IPv6 glue:
6e. Secondary server FQDN: ns2.everydns.net
6f. Secondary server IPv4 glue:
6g. Secondary server IPv6 glue:
6i. Secondary server FQDN: ns3.everydns.net
6j. Secondary server IPv4 glue:
6k. Secondary server IPv6 glue:
6m. Secondary server FQDN: ns4.everydns.net
6n. Secondary server IPv4 glue:
6o. Secondary server IPv6 glue:
That is all that you have to complete on the application form. Save it so that you can only make minor changes later on should you wish to register more domains etc. Now select all the text and copy it to your clipboard. Open your email client and create a new email message. Make sure that the email is set to plain text, otherwise the application will get rejected! Paste the text into the email and give it a descriptive subject line (to make finding it in your mail archives easier should you need to reference it later on). Send the email to coza-admin@co.za.
If the form was filled in- and your DNS setup correctly, you will receive a email in about 5 minutes confirming that the domain has been added. If anything goes wrong, you will receive email with a descripton of the error. It will mostly be that the application form was badly formatted, a typo somewhere or misconfigured DNS. Occasionally Uniforum will give false errors when checking your name servers, complaining about time-outs, but you don’t have to worry about that. It will usually fix itself in a few hours.
And that is basically it. You are now a domain owner by your own hand! All that remains to do is to pay the R50 yearly fee for the domain. If you have any questions, feel free to mail me at prieur (at) gmail.com.
