How to link a domain to your Cloud or Dedicated server?
Overview
To ensure your Cloud or Dedicated server works with your domain, you'll need to configure the domain's DNS settings correctly. You have three options for doing this:
- Using Private or Personalized Nameservers (Recommended): The best choice for seamless integration with your server.
- Using WHC Parking Nameservers: A simple option for domains registered with WHC, involving minimal configuration.
- Using a Third-Party DNS Provider: Suitable for those who prefer to manage DNS through an external provider
Using Private or Personalized Nameservers
At WHC, we strongly recommend using private or personalized nameservers for your server. These nameservers offer several advantages, including seamless integration with cPanel & WHM DNS Zone Manager. Any changes you make within cPanel are automatically reflected, and new domains can be set up without the need to manually update IP addresses through an external DNS provider.
The key difference between private and personalized nameservers lies in their naming conventions:
- Private Nameservers: These nameservers use your cloud or dedicated server’s default address. They typically look like ns1.cloud123456789.mywhc.ca and ns2.cloud123456789.mywhc.ca.
- Personalized Nameservers: These nameservers are custom-branded to your domain, such as ns1.yourdomain.ca and ns2.yourdomain.ca.
How to Set Up Private or Personalized Nameservers
Setting up personalized nameservers is straightforward. All you need is an additional IP address, which can be obtained for an extra cost. Once you have the IP address, simply contact our support team to request the activation of your new nameservers.
How to Use Your Private or Personalized Nameservers
Once our team sets up the nameservers, you can update your domain’s DNS to use your new nameservers, and you can configure the DNS records directly from cPanel or WHM. More details can be found here.
Using WHC Parking Nameservers
For this option, all you have to do is to update the “A record” of your domain linked to your Cloud or Dedicated server using the DNS manager from the Client Area. The “A record” should point to the IP address of your server, which you can find in your Welcome Email or by accessing your WHM (steps can be found down below in this article).
Note: Please note that this change may take up to 24 hours to take effect. This is due to DNS propagation.
Using a Third Party DNS Provider
If your domain uses a third party DNS provider, you can ask them to update the primary "A record" of the domain to the IP address of your server. The IP address of your server was sent to you in your Welcome Email or you can find it using your WHM (steps can be found down below in this article).
Note: If you choose this method, any subdomain or aliases associated with this domain will need to be added through the third party DNS provider.
Finding Your Server’s IP address
When you initially purchase a Cloud or Dedicated server, you'll receive an email containing your server details, including the server’s IP address. You can refer to this email to find your primary IP address, as shown in the screenshot below:
What’s next ?
To ensure your server responds to domain requests:
- Create a cPanel account with the domain name, if you haven't done so already. You can find the steps here.
- Set up an addon domain in one of the existing cPanel accounts with the correct domain name or subdomain.
