Setting up Nameservers with Godaddy for DirectAdmin

You've purchased a domain from Godaddy, added it to a User in DirectAdmin, and now you want DirectAdmin to manage the DNS.
Let's assume your domain is called ,
and you want to use .domain.com with ,
and .domain.com with .
Both 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.5 should exist on your server. Many registrars allow you to use the same IP, if needed.
Ask your hosting provided which 2 IPs to use (can be the same IPs as other nameservers on the box)

1. First, setup the DNS as desired in your zone on DirectAdmin:

   User Level -> DNS Management

   and add 2 "A" records for ns1/ns2:

   ns1    A    1.2.3.4
   ns2    A    1.2.3.5

   This will allow them to resolve once your nameserver is used.

2. Next, on the same page, add 2 new NS records:

   domain.com.    NS    ns1
   domain.com.    NS    ns2

   pay veryclose attention to the trailing dot '.' characters, as they are significant.
   
3. Lastly, delete the other 2 NS records that were there before you added yours.
   
4. Now that the zone is setup on DirectAdmin, login to your Godaddy account to setup the rest.  First we need to add "Host" records, which are just like A records managed by the parent nameservers (godaddy), so that the nameserver IPs are known, so clients know who to ask for a lookup.   When logging into Godaddy, go to:

   Manage Domain -> domain.com -> Manage DNS -> Host Names

   and add ns1 for 1.2.3.4,
   and ns2 for 1.2.3.5.
   
   At the time of this writing, the URL for Host Names looks like:
   https://dcc.godaddy.com/manage/domain.com/dns/hosts
5. now that the Host Names are set (may take a few minutes for them to make their way into the system), you'll need to change your NS records at Godaddy.  To do that, go to:

   Manage Domains -> domain.com -> Manage DNS -> Nameservers: Change

   and set the custom nameservers to ns1.domain.com and ns2.domain.com, and remove anything else that was there.
6. Wait about 10 minutes, then check your domain status at:

   http://intodns.com/domain.com

   *before* you attempt to connect to your domain through your browser.  If you wait until it resolves before trying it in your browser, you'll save propagation delays where your computers/ISPs nameserver cache the "domain does not exist" or old value for ~4+ hours, so if you can wait until it resolves to the new NS servers before accessing it, you'll save yourself quite a bit of time, waiting for the cache to expire.
   
   Once intodns.com show the new NS records, wait another few minutes, then test your domain. If it still doesn't work, wait longer :) as it's probably still a propagation delay.   As long as intodns.com shows the correct NS records, and doesn't show any red, then it should sort itself out eventually.