office-365-domains-screenshotYou may have seen that Microsoft have launched a new cloud service for small business called Office 365. This service ties together Microsoft’s popular communications and collaboration products and makes them available via the cloud.

The service includes the latest versions of Exchange, Sharepoint, Lync and Office and is currently in public beta. With such a broad selection of apps available, Office 365 is a good proposition for businesses wanting the flexibility of the cloud and the trusted reliability of Microsoft products.

The service is in public beta at the moment and Microsoft are pretty quick at approving new sign-ups of beta accounts.

We’re offering Office 365 customers discount domain registration with most spaces costing as little as $14.95 a year. This comes with an advanced DNS tool enabled to make verifying your domain name very easy.

For customers with existing domain names we’re offering transfers of most domain spaces and customised guides about how to configure your domain name using other common domain name registrars.

We’ve developed a comprehensive guide for using your domain name with Office 365 which is available below and will shortly be available as a free download.
Adding a domain name to add an existing domain name to Office 365 beta, you must firstly be logged into the Microsoft Online Services; as outlined in the previous guide.

1. Ensure you are logged into Office 365 through Microsoft Online Services
2. In the above toolbar, click Admin
3. To the left, you will see the Admin Overview panel. Under ‘Management’ click Domains.
4. By default, your Microsoft Office 365 domain is active and ready to be used. If you have your own domain name, you can now add it to utilise the Office 365 features.
5. Click Add a domain
6. Type in your domain name without the www. and click Check Domain.
7. You will be presented with Domain confirmation.
If this is correct, click Next.

8. At this point, your domain name has successfully been added. However for it to be operational, you are required to have it verified. After clicking Next, you will be presented with instructions on how to verify your domain. Please note: Alias or Host Name is a unique identifier. Please make sure you have a record for when creating a CNAME record below.

Adding a domain name to Office 365

To add an existing domain name to Office 365 beta, you must firstly be logged into the Microsoft Online Services; as outlined in the previous guide.

  1. Ensure you are logged into Office 365 through Microsoft Online Services
  2. In the above toolbar, click Admin
  3. To the left, you will see the Admin Overview panel. Under ‘Management’ click Domains.
  4. By default, your Microsoft Office 365 domain is active and ready to be used. If you have your own domain name, you can now add it to utilise the Office 365 features.
  5. Click Add a domain
  6. Type in your domain name without the www. and click Check Domain.
  7. You will be presented with Domain confirmation. If this is correct, click Next.
  8. At this point, your domain name has successfully been added. However for it to be operational, you are required to have it verified. After clicking Next, you will be presented with instructions on how to verify your domain. Please note: Alias or Host Name is a unique identifier. Please make sure you have a record for when creating a CNAME record below.
  9. Now that the domain name has been added, it is pending verification. Please refer to Create a CNAME record at Melbourne IT guide.

Create a CNAME record at Melbourne IT

To create a CNAME record at Melbourne IT it is imperative that you have created yourself a Melbourne IT MyAccount. If you haven’t created a MyAccount, please refer to How to create a MyAccount. Otherwise proceed to the login section.

  1. Sign in to your account at www.melbourneit.com.au.
  2. With your mouse pointer, hover over the MyAccount tab and click Log In
  3. The MyAccount console will appear requesting you to enter your logon information. Once your User name and password have been entered, click Log In.
  4. In the MyAccount console, under ‘Manage Domain Names’ click Manage Domain Names
  5. You should see a list of all your domain name/s hyperlinked. Click the domain which you added in Office 365.
  6. You will now be presented with details about your domain name that you can manage.
  7. IMPORTANT: Step 7 onwards is for customers who currently have activated DNS management for their domain name. If you are a first time user of DNS management, refer to Activating DNS Management.
  8. Under ‘DNS’ click on Manage DNS
  9. This will open the Manage DNS Edit Records page.
  10. Under ‘A, CNAME, AAA Records’, in the HOSTNAME box, type or paste your unique hostname
  11. In the POINTS TO box, type or paste ps.microsoftonline.com. IMPORTANT: You must add a trailing period (“.”) at the end of the host name.
  12. In the Type box, select ‘CNAME’, and then click Add.
  13. Once you click Add you will see your DNS entry publishing (this will take a moment). Once successful, a confirmation message will be given stating your entry has been ‘Published’. Please note: It can take up to 72 hours for the CNAME record that you created to propagate through the DNS system.
  14. Sign out of the Melbourne IT website. Wait at least 15 minutes for the changes to take effect.
  15. Return back to Office 365 Support.

Activating DNS management

To modify the CNAME record for your domain name, you are required to activate your DNS management. Activating DNS will cause your domain name to be redelegated to DNS servers and as a result all services you previously had attached will go down. Please ensure you back up any existing data prior to activating DNS.

  1. The following steps assume that you are logged into your MyAccount and under Manage Domain Names.
  2. Click Activate DNS.
  3. Check I agree and accept Melbourne IT’s terms and conditions.
  4. Click Enable DNS.
  5. The request to activate DNS has been submitted and will be processed in a few minutes but can take up to 24 hours.
  6. For the DNS to start working you will have to redelegate the domain name. Click Redelegate Now if you would like the automatic redelegation to occur.
  7. The DNS Status is ‘Installing’. After a few minutes refresh your page and check the status again. Note: You may have to wait 24 hours for installing to complete.
  8. Providing everything is setup successfully, the DNS status will change to ‘Activated’.
  9. You can now manage your DNS and continue on with Edit name server records at Melbourne IT.

Redelegating domain name

If DNS management has been activated previously on your domain name, you will not be able to activate it again. In this case, you need to redelegate your domain name to the DNS servers. Below are instructions on how to redelegate your domain.

  1. The following assume that you are logged into your MyAccount and under Manage Domain Names.
  2. Click Redelegate Domain Name.
  3. Replace the current name servers with the following: Primary: ns1.secure.net Secondary: ns2.secure.net
  4. Click Continue to complete the redelegation process. Note: It may take up to 72 hours or more until this change has completed propagating its way through the Internet.

Verifying domain name in Office 365

To complete the verification process at Office 365, you need to make sure that you have successfully added the CNAME record at Melbourne IT in the previous step. If you haven’t done so yet, please refer to the above guide.

  1. Ensure you are logged into Office 365 through Microsoft Online Services
  2. In the above toolbar, click Admin
  3. To the left, you will see the Admin Overview panel. Under ‘Management’ click Domains.
  4. The Domains page will appear. You will see the recently added domain name with its status of ‘Pending verification’
  5. Check the domain that is pending, click View properties.
  6. Click Troubleshoot domain
  7. Scroll to the bottom and click Verify
  8. A ‘Verifying domain’ popup will appear. Please wait until confirmation is given.
  9. Your domain has been verified. To finish adding your domain to Microsoft Office 365, you’ll edit the name server record at Melbourne IT. Note: After this change is made, Melbourne IT will no longer host DNS records for your domain. Instead, Microsoft Office 365 becomes the DNS hosting provider for your domain.

Edit name server records at Melbourne IT

After all the above steps have been completed and the domain name has been verified through Office 365, you may begin editing name server records. To edit the name server records, you are required to log into your MyAccount. To edit your name server records, refer to the instructions below.

  1. Sign in to your account at www.melbourneit.com.au.
  2. With your mouse pointer, hover over the MyAccount tab and click Log In
  3. The MyAccount console will appear requesting you to enter your logon information. Once your User name and password have been entered, click Log In.
  4. In the MyAccount console, under ‘Manage Domain Names’ click Manage Domain Names
  5. Click the domain which was verified in Office 365.
  6. You will now be presented with details about your domain name that you can manage.
  7. Before redelegating the domain name to new name servers. You must cancel the current DNS which is active.
  8. Click Cancel DNS.
  9. A warning message will appear. Click Yes, I am sure.
  10. You will be redirected to the manage page for your domain name.
  11. Click Redelegate Domain Name.
  12. Replace current name servers with the following:
    Primary: ns1.bdm.microsoftonline.com
    Secondary: ns2.bdm.microsoftonline.com
  13. Click Continue.
  14. The domain name has successfully been redelegated to Microsoft Office 365 name servers. Please note: Your name server setting updates may take up to 72 hours to propagate through the DNS system. Your Office 365 domain redelegation will be complete after DNS propagation finishes.

Never without at least three different portable technology devices in tow, Jon lives and breathes all things IT. Jon manages the Product Management team for Melbourne IT's SMB Solutions division to deliver the best possible products for our customers. In his spare time he likes to read everything there is about every topic in order to sound impressive during Trivia nights at his local.

http://www.melbourneit.com.au/