Point a domain to your hosting with nameservers or an A record

Nameservers or A record: which method should you use?

Both methods end in the same place: visitors who type your domain reach your VirtualCloud server. The difference is where your DNS records live afterwards.

Option A: Change your nameservers

1. Find your VirtualCloud nameservers

   They are in the welcome email we send when your hosting is set up, and in the client area under Servicesyour hosting planNameservers. The names are specific to your server, so copy them from there rather than from this page.

   Inbox›Your web hosting account details

   VirtualCloud <support@virtualcloud.in>To: you@yourdomain.in

   Domainyourdomain.in

   Nameserver 1ns1.your-assigned-ns

   Nameserver 2ns2.your-assigned-ns

   Server IP203.0.113.24

   If you bought the domain from us together with the hosting plan, the nameservers are usually set already. Check under Domainsyour domainNameservers before changing anything.

2. Open the nameserver settings at your registrar

   Sign in where the domain is registered and open the domain. The setting is usually called Nameservers, DNS / Nameservers or Manage DNS. Not sure which registrar holds your domain? Our WHOIS lookup shows it. You can also transfer your domain to VirtualCloud and manage it next to your hosting.

3. Switch to custom nameservers and replace every entry

   Choose the custom (or "use my own") option, enter both VirtualCloud nameservers and remove any others. Leaving an old nameserver in the list means some visitors will still be sent to the old host.

   Registrar›yourdomain.in›Nameservers

   Registrar defaultCustom nameservers

   Nameserver 1

   ns1.your-assigned-ns

   Nameserver 2

   ns2.your-assigned-ns

   Save nameserversCancel

   Type host names only: no http://, no trailing dot, no spaces and no IP addresses.

4. Save, then give DNS time to update

   The registry usually publishes the change within an hour. Internet providers keep the old answer until their cached copy expires, which can take up to 48 hours, so some people may see the new site before others. Check progress instead of waiting blind.

Option B: Keep your DNS and point A records

1. Find your server's IP address in cPanel

   Log in to cPanel. The General Information panel on the right of the home screen lists it as Shared IP Address, or Dedicated IP Address on plans that include one (Universe and WP Business).

   cPanel›Home›General Information

   Current Useryourus3r

   Primary Domainyourdomain.in

   Shared IP Address203.0.113.24

   Home Directory/home/yourus3r

2. Add or edit these records at your DNS provider

   Open the DNS settings for the domain and make the records match this table. Some providers want the full name (yourdomain.in) where we show @.

   Type	Name / host	Value	TTL
   A	@	203.0.113.24	3600
   CNAME	www	yourdomain.in	3600
   A	mail	203.0.113.24	3600
   MX	@	0 mail.yourdomain.in	3600

   Add the mail and MX rows only if your email is hosted with us (then create an email account in cPanel for each address). If it stays with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, leave the existing MX records alone. The same records in zone-file form:

   ; website
   @      3600  IN  A      203.0.113.24
   www    3600  IN  CNAME  yourdomain.in.
   ; only if your email is hosted with VirtualCloud
   mail   3600  IN  A      203.0.113.24
   @      3600  IN  MX  0  mail.yourdomain.in.

3. Remove anything that conflicts

   Delete other A records on @ or www, any AAAA records left over from the old host, and URL forwarding or "parked page" settings. Visitors on IPv6 will follow an old AAAA record straight to the old server.

   Using Cloudflare? Add the records there and keep the proxy (the orange cloud) switched off until AutoSSL has issued your certificate. Then turn the proxy on and set SSL/TLS mode to Full (strict).

Planning the move ahead? Lower the TTL on the records you'll change to 300 a day before. The switch itself then reaches most visitors within minutes.

Check DNS propagation after pointing your domain

The quickest way is our DNS lookup tool, which asks two public resolvers at once so you can see whether the change has spread. From a terminal, the same checks look like this:

# Which nameservers does the registry hand out? (Option A)
dig +short NS yourdomain.in

# Where does the domain point, according to two public resolvers?
dig +short A yourdomain.in @1.1.1.1
dig +short A yourdomain.in @8.8.8.8

On Windows, use nslookup in Command Prompt or PowerShell:

nslookup -type=NS yourdomain.in 1.1.1.1
nslookup yourdomain.in 8.8.8.8

When both resolvers return your VirtualCloud nameservers or server IP, you're done. Within a few hours of that, AutoSSL issues a free certificate for the domain and www; to speed it up, follow Turn on free SSL and force HTTPS.

Troubleshooting

# Windows
ipconfig /flushdns
# macOS
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder