How to Point Your Domain to Your VPS (DNS A Record + Free SSL)

You have a VPS and a domain name. To make example.com open your website, you add one small DNS record that says “this domain lives at this server's IP address”. It takes about 5 minutes to set up, and usually works within an hour.

This guide works wherever your domain is registered — with us, GoDaddy, Hostinger, Namecheap or anyone else — and for Linux and Windows VPS.

What you need

• Your VPS IP address — in your welcome email and in your client area. We'll use the example 203.0.113.25.
• A login to wherever your domain's DNS is managed — usually your domain registrar. If you use Cloudflare, make the changes in Cloudflare instead.
• Your website ready on the VPS — or set it up after Step 3 while DNS updates.

Step 1: Find where your DNS is managed

Your DNS is managed wherever your domain's nameservers point. Open your registrar's domain page and look at “Nameservers”:

• If they are the registrar's own (for example ns1.registrar.com), edit DNS at the registrar.
• If they say something like xxx.ns.cloudflare.com, edit DNS in your Cloudflare account.

Domain registered with Volyte? Go to Client area → Domains → My Domains → Manage → DNS Management.

Step 2: Add the A records

An A record connects a name to an IPv4 address. Add (or edit) these two records:

• Some panels want the full name instead of @ — type example.com.
• Instead of the second A record, you can use a CNAME: name www, value example.com. Either works.
• Delete any old A records for @ and www that point somewhere else (such as a “parked” page). Two different A records for the same name make visitors land on either server at random.
• If there is an AAAA record (IPv6) pointing to your old host, delete it too — or change it to your VPS's IPv6 address if it has one.

Don't touch your MX records. They decide where your email goes. Changing A records moves your website only — your email keeps working where it is.

Step 3: Check that DNS has updated

Changes usually show within 5–60 minutes. Sometimes it takes a few hours, because internet providers remember (cache) the old address until the old TTL runs out.

On Windows, open Command Prompt and type:

nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8

On Mac or Linux:

dig +short example.com @8.8.8.8

When it shows your VPS IP (203.0.113.25), DNS is ready. You can also check from many countries at once with a free online “DNS checker”.

Step 4: Tell your web server about the domain

DNS sends visitors to your server — now the server must know which website to show for that domain.

• cPanel / Plesk: add the domain in the panel (cPanel: Domains → Create a New Domain; Plesk: Websites & Domains → Add Domain). Done — skip to Step 5.
• Nginx: put both names in your site's server_name line, then reload:

  server_name example.com www.example.com;

  sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

• Apache: set ServerName example.com and ServerAlias www.example.com in your virtual host, then sudo systemctl reload apache2.
• Windows VPS (IIS): in IIS Manager, open your site → Bindings → add example.com and www.example.com on port 80.

Make sure ports 80 and 443 are open in your server's firewall.

Step 5: Add a free SSL certificate (HTTPS)

Once the domain opens your site, add HTTPS so browsers show the padlock. It's free with Let's Encrypt.

• cPanel / Plesk: AutoSSL (cPanel) or the Let's Encrypt extension (Plesk) does it automatically, usually within minutes.
• Nginx on Ubuntu / Debian:

  sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
  sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

  Certbot sets up HTTPS and renews the certificate automatically.
• Windows (IIS): use the free win-acme tool, which adds and renews Let's Encrypt certificates for IIS.

SSL only works after DNS points to your VPS — if Certbot says the domain can't be verified, wait a little and try again.

If it doesn't work

Stuck? Send us your domain name on chat or ticket and we'll check your DNS for you — 24/7, in Hindi and English. Need a server first? See our Linux VPS and Windows VPS plans, or register a domain.