Use a dedicated DirectAdmin login key for the account whose domains the module should manage. The connection uses the DirectAdmin username and the key value; the descriptive key name is not the login username.

Prepare the account and key

Install PD Modules, connect the account holding your licence, then install PD DirectAdmin DNS from the Store and allow the appropriate staff role. In DirectAdmin, open Login Keys and create a named key for this integration.

Keep Allow HTM off for API-only use. Allow the required domain-list and DNS-management commands, plus the redirect or email commands only where those features are intended. Review expiry, usage limits and allowed source addresses. DirectAdmin’s API access guide explains dedicated login keys and account context.

Add and test the provider

1. Open DirectAdmin DNS → Providers → Add a provider.
2. Name the connection and enter the intended server hostname and secure API port, normally 2222.
3. Enter the prepared DirectAdmin username and login key value.
4. Run Test connection, inspect the result and save the provider.
5. Review a known domain and its records before offering customer editing.

The connection test reads the login context’s own domain list. It does not prove every DNS write, signing or forwarding action, and an administrator login alone does not make that user-domain request a server-wide inventory.

Diagnose the intended failure

Check username/context, complete key value, allowed commands, expiry, usage and source restrictions separately. Use a hostname matching the server’s valid certificate; an unrelated IP or disabled certificate validation is not a certificate repair.

Ask the server administrator to prepare the intended owning-account context where required. Do not broaden access solely to reveal unrelated domains, or send login keys and full account exports in support attachments. See the missing-domain guide for scope checks.

See the PD DirectAdmin DNS WHMCS guide for related tasks, or explore the module.