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To point a domain at your server, edit the domain’s authoritative DNS zone: create an A record for a public IPv4 address or an AAAA record for IPv6. Use @ (or the provider’s equivalent) for the root domain, and usually point www to the root with a CNAME. DNS only directs traffic; your web server, firewall, virtual host, redirects and TLS certificate must also be configured for the domain.

What “pointing a domain” actually does

People often say they want to point a domain to a server, but the operation has two separate parts. DNS publishes the address that browsers should contact. The server then decides whether it can answer the request for that hostname.

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When someone enters example.com, a resolver asks the domain’s authoritative nameservers for records. An A record maps a hostname to an IPv4 address such as 203.0.113.10. An AAAA record maps it to an IPv6 address. A resolver returns the address, and the browser connects to it over HTTP or HTTPS.

Changing DNS does not upload files, create a website, open ports, configure a virtual host, issue a certificate or remove an old site. Those are server-side tasks that must be completed separately.

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What you need before changing DNS

  • The domain name you want to use.
  • Access to the DNS service that is authoritative for that domain.
  • The server’s public, reachable IP address supplied by your hosting provider or network administrator.
  • A running web server listening on the required ports, normally 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS.
  • A plan for whether visitors will use the root domain, www, or both.

Use a public address, not a private LAN address

Addresses such as 192.168.1.20, 10.0.0.15 and 172.16.0.10 are private network addresses. They are not reachable from the public internet. Enter the public IPv4 or IPv6 address assigned to your server, unless this is deliberately an internal-only domain on a private network.

Check whether the address can change

A residential connection or some cloud products may use a dynamic address. If the address changes, the DNS record becomes stale. Use a static address where possible, or arrange dynamic DNS updates through a service appropriate for your environment. Do not begin a migration until you know whether the address is permanent.

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Find the authoritative DNS provider

DNS may be hosted by a different company from the one where you bought the domain. The registrar holds the registration, while the authoritative DNS provider operates the nameservers that publish the zone. The nameserver delegation is the deciding factor: records edited anywhere else will not affect public lookups.

Check the nameserver delegation

  1. Open your registrar’s domain-management page and locate the domain’s Nameservers, DNS servers or Delegation setting.
  2. Write down the nameserver hostnames currently listed. They may belong to your registrar, hosting company or a separate DNS provider.
  3. Sign in to that provider and open the DNS zone for the domain. That is where the A, AAAA, CNAME, MX and other records must be changed.

You can also query the delegation from a terminal:

dig NS example.com

On Windows, an equivalent lookup is:

nslookup -type=NS example.com

Use the returned nameserver names to identify the authoritative service. If you recently changed nameservers, wait for that delegation change to be visible before judging whether a record edit worked.

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Choose the correct DNS record

Purpose Record type Value format Typical host/name
Map a hostname to an IPv4 address A Dotted decimal, for example 203.0.113.10 @ for the root, or a label such as app
Map a hostname to an IPv6 address AAAA IPv6 notation, for example 2001:db8::10 @ for the root, or a label such as app
Make one hostname an alias of another hostname CNAME A hostname, not an IP address Usually www pointing to the root domain

Google Cloud’s DNS guidance specifies an A record for an IPv4 address and an AAAA record for IPv6. A CNAME contains a canonical hostname, so entering an IP address in a CNAME field is incorrect.

Understand the apex notation

The apex is the bare domain, such as example.com, without a label in front. Control panels commonly represent it as @, but some use a blank Host field, the word root or the complete domain name. These labels are provider-specific; they all mean the zone apex when documented that way.

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Do not create accidental conflicts

A hostname cannot normally have a CNAME alongside other record data. Remove an old CNAME before creating an A or AAAA record for the same name. Also inspect existing A and AAAA records. Multiple addresses can be intentional for round-robin or high availability, but an old address left behind by mistake sends some visitors to the wrong server.

Step-by-step: point the root domain to your server

  1. Record the current configuration. Copy the existing A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT and other records before editing. Mail records are unrelated to web hosting and must not be deleted during a website migration.
  2. Open the authoritative zone. Select the DNS-management screen at the provider identified by the nameserver delegation.
  3. Add or edit the apex record. Set Host or Name to @, blank, root or the full domain according to that provider’s instructions. Set Type to A for IPv4, or AAAA for IPv6. Enter the exact public address supplied for the server.
  4. Set the TTL. Use the provider default unless you are deliberately preparing for a migration. A shorter TTL can make a planned change easier to roll back, but it does not erase caches that already contain the previous value.
  5. Save the record. Some dashboards publish immediately; others require a separate confirmation or zone-save action.
  6. Check for leftovers. Remove obsolete A, AAAA or CNAME records for the same hostname, but retain records used for email, verification and other services.

Example apex configuration

Host/name Type Value TTL
@ (or the provider’s root equivalent) A 203.0.113.10 Provider default, or a deliberately short value during migration

The address above is an example in documentation-only space. Replace it with the public address actually assigned to your server.

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Configure www correctly

Decide which URL should be canonical: the apex (https://example.com) or the www hostname (https://www.example.com). Configure the web server to redirect the other form, and include both names on the TLS certificate if both can be requested.

Common setup: www as a CNAME

Create a record with Host or Name www, Type CNAME, and Target or Value set to the root hostname, such as example.com. (the trailing dot may be added automatically). This makes www.example.com follow the root domain’s address.

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Host/name Type Value
@ A Your public IPv4 address
www CNAME example.com

When an A or AAAA record for www is appropriate

Some hosting platforms require www to have its own A or AAAA record, or provide a dedicated address for it. Follow that platform’s required target instead of forcing a CNAME. Never put an IP address in a CNAME field.

TTL, caching and propagation

TTL is the cache lifetime attached to a DNS record. Cloudflare defines it as the field that controls how long each record is cached and, consequently, how long updates take to reach end users. A resolver that cached the old address can continue returning it until that cache expires.

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Cloudflare documents 300 seconds (five minutes) as the default TTL for its proxied records. That is a provider-specific default, not a universal propagation guarantee. Other providers and record modes can use different values, and local operating-system, browser or router caches may retain results longer.

Plan a migration

  1. Before the move, lower the existing record’s TTL if your provider allows it and wait for the old, longer TTL to expire.
  2. Prepare the new server, virtual host, firewall and certificate before changing DNS.
  3. Change the authoritative A and, where applicable, AAAA records.
  4. Keep the old server available until queries from your important networks show the new address and traffic is healthy.
  5. Restore a normal TTL after the migration is stable.

Do not promise a fixed propagation time. Check several independent resolvers and allow old TTLs to expire.

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Verify that DNS returns the intended address

Query both the public record and the authoritative nameserver. Replace the domain and address in these examples with your own values.

Check A and AAAA records

dig A example.com

dig AAAA example.com

dig A www.example.com

On Windows:

nslookup -type=A example.com
nslookup -type=AAAA example.com
nslookup -type=CNAME www.example.com

Compare results from more than one public resolver, such as your local resolver and a resolver available through a public DNS lookup service. A result that is correct in one location but old in another usually indicates caching or an incomplete nameserver change.

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Test the web service after DNS resolves

  1. Open the apex and www URLs in a private browser window.
  2. Confirm that the expected site loads rather than a provider’s default page or the previous host.
  3. Check both HTTP and HTTPS behavior, including the redirect to your chosen canonical URL.
  4. Inspect the certificate details and verify that the requested hostname is covered.

If DNS is correct but the site does not work

The domain resolves to the right IP, but the connection times out

  • Allow inbound TCP traffic on ports 80 and 443 in the server firewall and any cloud security group.
  • Confirm that the web server process is running and listening on the public interface, not only on 127.0.0.1.
  • Check whether an upstream router requires port forwarding for a privately hosted server.

You see the wrong website

  • Configure a virtual host or server block for the exact apex and www hostnames.
  • Check for an old A or AAAA record that still directs some resolvers elsewhere.
  • Verify that a reverse proxy or hosting dashboard is sending the request to the intended origin.

HTTPS shows a certificate warning

  • Issue or install a certificate containing every hostname users can request.
  • Make sure the certificate-validation DNS record, if required, was added to the authoritative zone.
  • Confirm that the server is selecting the correct certificate through SNI and that port 443 reaches that server.

Only some users see the old site

This is usually caching. Compare the TTL and answers returned by several resolvers, clear local DNS caches where appropriate, and wait for cached values to expire. Do not repeatedly change records while caches are still valid; each change makes diagnosis harder.

IPv4 works but IPv6 fails

An AAAA record makes IPv6-capable clients try IPv6. If the server, firewall or routing is not ready for IPv6, remove the incorrect AAAA record or complete the IPv6 configuration. Leaving an unreachable AAAA record can make some visitors experience failures even though the A record is correct.

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Proxying, DNSSEC and provider choices

Some DNS services can proxy web traffic instead of merely answering DNS queries. In proxy mode, visitors may receive the proxy’s address while the service connects to your origin server. This changes which IP appears in lookups and can affect TLS, firewall allowlists, logging and troubleshooting. Follow the proxy provider’s origin and certificate requirements rather than treating a proxied record like a direct A record.

When selecting a registrar or DNS host, evaluate the features that matter to your deployment:

  • Authoritative control over the zone and support for apex A and AAAA records.
  • Reliable www CNAME handling and clear behavior for the zone apex.
  • DNSSEC support if you need authenticated DNS responses.
  • TTL flexibility, an API for automation, change history and access controls.
  • Monitoring, redundancy and documented service reliability.
  • Whether traffic is merely resolved or proxied through the provider.

Registrar, DNS hosting and web hosting are separate decisions, even when one company offers all three. Changing one does not automatically change the others.

A practical cutover checklist

  • Confirm the server’s public IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and whether they are static.
  • Identify the authoritative nameservers and sign in to the corresponding DNS service.
  • Back up the current zone, especially MX, TXT and verification records.
  • Create or update the apex A record for IPv4 and AAAA record for IPv6 where supported.
  • Configure www as a CNAME to the apex, or use the separate target required by the host.
  • Remove only stale conflicting web records; do not delete mail records.
  • Configure virtual hosts, redirects, ports 80/443, firewall rules and certificates on the server.
  • Query A, AAAA, CNAME and NS records from multiple locations.
  • Open both domain forms and verify the expected site, redirect and HTTPS certificate.
  • Wait for old TTLs to expire before declaring the change complete.

The essential distinction

An A or AAAA record tells the internet where to try. It does not guarantee that anything at that address will answer correctly. The complete setup is authoritative DNS pointing at the right public address, a server configured for the requested hostname, reachable ports and a certificate covering the names visitors use.

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