Pointing your domain at your VPS

What this is#

Making yourdomain.com reach your VPS. DNS does one job here: an A record maps your domain name to your VPS's IPv4 address (an AAAA record does the same for IPv6). Create that record wherever your domain's DNS is hosted, and you're pointed.

Your VPS's IP is on its Manage VPS page and in your welcome email.

Pick where your DNS lives (any of these works)#

Option A: your registrar's DNS (simplest). Nearly every registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Porkbun, and the rest) includes free DNS. In its DNS or "manage records" panel, add:

• A record, host @ (the bare domain), value = your VPS IP
• A record, host www, value = your VPS IP (or a CNAME from www to @)

Option B: Cloudflare (free, with extras). Point your domain's nameservers at Cloudflare and manage records there. With the proxy enabled you also get your VPS IP hidden and attack traffic absorbed at their edge, exactly what we recommend if you expect DDoS attention, plus edge caching and certificates.

Option C: our free DNS Manager. We host DNS for your domains at no charge. Set your domain's nameservers to dns1.vpsdime.com and dns2.vpsdime.com at the registrar, then manage your records in the client area. Full guide: DNS Manager.

Propagation: give it a little time#

DNS changes aren't instant. New records typically work within minutes, but nameserver changes and edits to existing records can take a few hours (worst case a day or two) to reach every network, because resolvers cache answers. Check progress with dig yourdomain.com or an online checker like whatsmydns.net, and resist the urge to keep changing things while a previous change is still propagating.

If you'll run mail#

Two extra records matter: an MX record pointing at your mail server's hostname, and reverse DNS (PTR) on your VPS IP matching that hostname, set rDNS yourself from the Network tab. Also read the email policy first, low-volume mail is fine, bulk is not.

Troubleshooting#

• The domain doesn't resolve at all. The record hasn't propagated yet, or there's a typo in the IP, dig +short yourdomain.com should print your VPS IP. If you changed nameservers, confirm the change actually saved at the registrar.
• It resolves but no site loads. DNS has done its job; the VPS isn't answering on port 80/443. That's a web-server matter, see Hosting a website.
• www works but the bare domain doesn't (or the reverse). You created one record and not the other, add the missing @ or www record.

Records refusing to make sense? Paste your dig output and what you expected into an AI chatbot, DNS confusion unravels fast with a second pair of eyes on the actual records.

Still need help?#

You can open a support ticket. So we can help on the first reply, it's worth mentioning:

• the domain and the VPS (hostname or IP),
• where the domain's DNS is hosted (registrar, Cloudflare, or our DNS Manager),
• what dig yourdomain.com (or an online DNS checker) currently shows.

Related questions#

• "How do I point my domain at my VPS?"
• "What nameservers should I use?"
• "Do you offer free DNS hosting?"
• "How long does DNS take to propagate?"
• "Why does www work but not my bare domain?"
• "What records do I need for email?"