Point a domain to your server

Your domain and your server meet in DNS: an A record (and an AAAA record for IPv6) tells the world which IP address serves example.com. This guide shows both ways to set it up and how to check that it worked. Replace example.com and 203.0.113.10 with your domain and your server's address.

Before you start

• Find your server's IP address: Services › My Services, open the service, Server Information (Primary IP). For hosting plans, the welcome email lists the nameservers or the IP address.
• Find out where your domain's DNS is hosted now:

dig NS example.com +short

On Windows use Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type NS. The answer names the current DNS host.

Option A: Change the A and AAAA records

Use this when you keep your current DNS host (your registrar, Cloudflare or another provider).

1. Sign in to your DNS host and open the zone of example.com.
2. Create or edit these records:

3. Remove old A or AAAA records for the same names that point elsewhere.
4. Leave MX and TXT records alone unless your email moves too.

Option B: Change the nameservers

Use this when you want the new DNS host, for example your hosting plan's control panel, to manage the whole zone.

1. Prepare the zone at the new DNS host first, with every record you need: website, www, MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and verification records.
2. For a domain registered with HyperDC: Domains › My Domains › Manage Domain › Nameservers, choose Use custom nameservers (enter below), enter the new nameservers and select Change Nameservers. At another registrar, use its nameserver setting.
3. If the domain used DNSSEC at the old DNS host, remove the old DS record at the registrar before switching, or the domain stops resolving for validating resolvers.

Verify the result

Ask public resolvers and your authoritative nameserver:

dig example.com A +short
dig www.example.com A +short
dig example.com AAAA +short
dig example.com A @1.1.1.1 +short

Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type A
Resolve-DnsName www.example.com -Type A
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type AAAA
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type A -Server 1.1.1.1

Verify: each answer returns your server's address. If public resolvers still show the old address, wait for the old TTL to expire; your authoritative nameserver must already show the new one.

Then test the website itself:

curl -I http://example.com

A response such as HTTP/1.1 200 OK or a redirect means the server answers for your domain.

Configure the server and add HTTPS

The server must know about the domain too:

• Web hosting: add the domain in the control panel if it is not the plan's main domain.
• Your own server: configure a virtual host (nginx server_name or Apache ServerName/ServerAlias) for example.com and www.example.com.

Then add a certificate: install an SSL certificate. Free certificates validated over HTTP can only be issued once the domain points to the server.

Troubleshooting

Some visitors see the old site. Their resolver cached the old record. Wait for the old TTL to pass.

The domain works, www does not. Add the www record from the table above.

IPv6 visitors reach the wrong server. An old AAAA record still exists. Remove it or point it to your server's IPv6 address.

The domain stopped resolving after a nameserver change. The new zone is missing records, or an old DS record remains. See DNS not resolving.

Next steps

• Understand the records: DNS basics for a new domain.
• Secure the site: install an SSL certificate.
• Add a CDN in front: Cloudflare in front of your site.