Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides मराठी Track your progress

12. Domains and DNS: GoDaddy, Elastic IP, A/CNAME and Subdomains

12.4 Optional: Keeping DNS in Route 53

By Last updated:

Also in the AWS course: this lesson is the same as 9.7 Alternative: GoDaddy registrar + Route 53 DNS in the AWS course, which is the main version of this page.

Companies AWS var astil tar DNS bahutek Route 53 madhe thevtat. Domain GoDaddy var thevun fakt DNS Route 53 la halavta yeto.

  1. AWS console → Route 53 → Hosted zones → Create hosted zone → Domain name example.com, Type Public hosted zone → Create.
  2. Route 53 creates NS and SOA records. Copy the four name servers (e.g. ns-123.awsdns-15.com, ns-456.awsdns-57.net, ...).
  3. Create record → Record name (empty) for the apex, type A, value 203.0.113.10, TTL 300 → Create records. Add another with record name www (type A to the EIP, or CNAME to example.com).
  4. At GoDaddy: My Products → your domain → DNS → Nameservers → Change nameservers → "I'll use my own nameservers" → enter the four Route 53 name servers → Save and confirm.
  5. Wait for the NS change (minutes to a few hours). Check with dig NS example.com +short. The Route 53 names should appear.

Records now live only in Route 53

After changing name servers, the records in GoDaddy's DNS page are ignored. Recreate any MX/TXT (email, verification) records in Route 53 before switching, or email will stop. A Route 53 hosted zone has a small monthly charge plus per-query charges. Delete unused hosted zones.

You can also register domains directly in Route 53 → Registered domains → Register domains. Route 53 then creates the hosted zone for you automatically.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

After moving the name servers to Route 53, students keep changing records in GoDaddy and say "nothing happens". Once the NS records change, GoDaddy's records are ignored. First check with dig NS yourdomain.com +short where the records actually live.

Practice task

Draw a diagram showing the registrar, the DNS host and the EC2 server for two setups: GoDaddy DNS, and GoDaddy registrar with Route 53 DNS.

Extended teaching notes

Why this lesson matters

Use this lesson to strengthen systems you own: understand the risk, practise safely in a lab, then write and apply the fix.

Apply the fix across stacks

Same class of bug, same idea in every language.

Java / Spring Boot

Parameterise queries, encode output, CSRF tokens, limited Actuator, dependency scanning.

ASP.NET Core

EF Core / parameterised SQL, Razor encoding, HTTPS, Data Protection.

Node.js / Express

helmet, parameterised SQL, npm audit, avoid eval and shell concat.

Python / Django / Flask / FastAPI

ORM, autoescape, pip-audit, Bandit; never shell=True with user input.

PHP / Laravel

PDO/Eloquent, Blade escaping, composer audit.

Go / Ruby

database/sql placeholders / ActiveRecord; html/template / ERB escaping; govulncheck / Brakeman.

nginx / Apache / Tomcat

Hide versions, TLS, security headers, least-open ports.

MySQL / PostgreSQL / MongoDB / Redis

Private networks, auth on, least-privilege users, no 0.0.0.0/0.

AWS / Azure / GCP

Roles not long-lived keys, private data stores, cloud audit logs on.

Mini case study

Suppose we are on a purple-team exercise for an Indian mid-size company (sample data). Red notes a technique from this lesson against a lab clone. Blue must show the control that stops it, the log that would have fired, and the ticket that hardens production. That is the standard this course trains you for.

Defender's worksheet (do this today)

  1. Write the lesson title, date and the exact lab target you are allowed to use.
  2. List three owned systems (VMs, apps, or cloud accounts) where this lesson applies.
  3. Run one safe check from the lesson on a lab system only. Paste the command and output.
  4. Write a two-sentence fix you would give a teammate.
  5. Name one related public advisory (CERT-In, CISA, NVD, or a vendor bulletin) with its date.

Indian workplace (sample data)

Suppose we are a junior analyst at Infosys, TCS, Wipro or a fintech SOC in Bengaluru/Pune. Turn this lesson into one checklist item with an owner, a due date and a place to store evidence (ticket + screenshot).

Global practice

Compare your notes with OWASP, CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF/IR guidance or a cloud Well-Architected security question. Write five lines on what overlaps.

Everyday analogy

Explain the risk and the fix to a family member without jargon. If they can repeat the warning, you understand it well enough to teach juniors.

Key terms

  • Control: a safeguard (patch, config, process, detection).
  • Finding: a weakness backed by evidence.
  • Remediation: the fix plus how you verified it.
  • Scope: systems you have written permission to touch.
  • Least privilege: only the access the task needs.
  • Defence in depth: several layers so one failure does not end the story.

Common mistakes

  • Skipping written permission "just for a quick scan".
  • Practising on hostel, office or public targets without authorisation.
  • Collecting tool output without writing the fix.
  • Copying attack steps onto production to "verify". Defenders verify with versions, configs and patches.
  • Publishing screenshots that contain secrets, cookies or internal hostnames.

Recap

  • Evidence, fix, owner, date.
  • Own lab only.
  • Fix > spectacle.