How to point a domain to your VPS (DNS A records explained)

Updated 2026-10-16 · Kvnthost guides

Your server has an IP address; people want to type a name. DNS connects the two. It takes five minutes of clicking at your domain registrar — and then anywhere from a minute to a few hours of waiting.

The records you need

@ means the bare domain. Some registrars write it as an empty field or as the domain itself. Instead of an A record for www you can use a CNAME pointing to the bare domain — either works.

Step by step

1. Open your registrar's DNS settings for the domain.
2. Remove the parking page. Fresh domains often point to a "parked" page; switch the DNS mode to the registrar's own DNS (or "custom records") and delete the old A record.
3. Add the A record for @ and for www with your server's IP. Leave TTL at 5–30 minutes while you're setting things up.
4. Save. Many registrars have a separate "Save DNS" button at the bottom — the most common reason nothing changes is that it wasn't pressed.

How long does it take?

New records usually work within minutes. If the name pointed somewhere else before, resolvers may keep the old answer until its TTL expires — rarely more than a few hours, despite the "up to 48 hours" warnings. Check from a terminal:

nslookup example.com 1.1.1.1
dig +short example.com @8.8.8.8

When both return your server's IP, DNS is done.

Then: HTTPS

Your web server can now get a free certificate from Let's Encrypt. Caddy does it automatically; with nginx use certbot. If issuing fails right after a DNS change, wait a little: many servers back off after failed attempts, and a restart of the web server makes it try again immediately.

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