How to Point Your Domain to Your VPS (A and AAAA Records)

Your VPS has its own IP address. To make example.com open the websites on that VPS, you create DNS records that point the domain at the IP. Unlike our Cloud Hosting, a VPS does not use our hosting nameservers automatically, so this step is up to you.

The whole job usually takes five minutes, plus some waiting while the change spreads across the internet.

Before you start

• Find your VPS IPv4 address in your FimuroHost client area under Services → your VPS. If an IPv6 address is also listed, note it too.
• Find out where your domain's DNS is managed. That is decided by its nameservers. See How to Check Which Nameservers Your Domain Uses.

The records you need

Instead of an A record for www you may use a CNAME from www to example.com. Do not add an AAAA record unless IPv6 actually works on your server; a broken AAAA record makes the site fail for visitors on IPv6 networks.

A TTL (time to live) of 3600 seconds is fine. If you are moving an existing live site, lower the TTL to 300 a day before the change so it switches faster.

Where to add the records

If your domain uses ns1/ns2.stackdns.com

Your DNS is managed in StackCP. In the client area, go to Services, select the hosting package that uses the domain, click Login to Control Panel, and open Manage DNS for the domain. Edit the existing A records for @ and www to your VPS IP. If the domain is registered with us but not attached to any hosting package, open Domains in the client area, select it, and look for a DNS management option. If you don't see one, open a support ticket and we will set the records for you.

If your domain uses Cloudflare or another DNS provider

Add the records in that provider's DNS dashboard. On Cloudflare, you can start with the record set to DNS only (grey cloud) while you set up SSL on the server, then switch to Proxied and set SSL/TLS mode to Full (strict).

Don't break your email

Changing the @ and www A records moves your website only. Leave MX, SPF (TXT), DKIM and mail records alone if your email stays where it is. A new VPS does not have a mail server, so don't point MX records at it unless you have installed and secured one.

Check that it worked

# Windows, macOS or Linux
nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1

# macOS / Linux
dig +short example.com A
dig +short www.example.com A

                        
                    

When the answer shows your VPS IP, the change is live for that DNS resolver. Other networks may take longer. See How to Check Whether DNS Has Propagated and Why DNS Changes Can Take Up to 48 Hours.

Set up the server side

1. Open ports 80 and 443 in your firewall (firewall guide).
2. Add the domain to your web server, for example as an Nginx server_name (LEMP guide).
3. Get a free certificate with Certbot (SSL guide). This only works once DNS points to the VPS.

Reverse DNS (PTR) for mail servers

If you will send email directly from the VPS, receiving servers check that your IP's reverse DNS matches your hostname. First create an A record such as server1.example.com pointing to the VPS, then open a support ticket asking us to set the PTR record for your IP to that name. Websites do not need a PTR record.

Common problems

• Old site still shows: your computer or ISP has cached the old IP. Try mobile data or a private window, or flush DNS on Windows with ipconfig /flushdns.
• Browser shows the default Nginx or Apache page: DNS is working. Your web server just doesn't know the domain yet; add it as a server block or virtual host.
• Works with www but not without (or the reverse): one of the two A records is missing.

Need help?

If something about the VPS itself is not working (it won't start, you can't reach it, or you need console access, an upgrade or a reinstall), open a support ticket from your client area or message us on WhatsApp at 01818160926. Include your VPS IP address and what you have already tried so we can help faster.