Pointing Your Domain to Hosting With A Records

There are two common methods for connecting a domain to a third-party web host. The first is assigning your web host's DNS nameservers which puts your web host in charge of the DNS for your domain. The second method is pointing your domain to hosting with A records, which keeps DNS management at Porkbun.

In this guide, we will show you how to "point" your domain at your web hosting provider using A records. Let's get started!

Tip

This guide contains general information for pointing your domain to third-party hosts, but we also have dedicated guides for many common hosting providers. Check out our "Connect Domains" articles to find a guide specific to your web host.

How to point your domain to third-party hosting

For pointing your domain to hosting with A records, you'll need to first obtain the IP address or addresses of your web server from your web hosting company. Once you have this information, you must remove your existing A records then add A records to your DNS configuration that point directly at your web server's IP address.

It might sound complicated, but we'll show you how it's done!

1

Log in. You should arrive at the Domain Management screen. If you're already logged in, click on ACCOUNT in the top-right corner and select Domain Management.

2
Locate your domain and click the "Details" drop-down list to the right. On the menu that appears, click the edit icon next to "DNS Records."

3
On the Manage DNS Records screen, scroll down to the bottom section labeled "Current Records". Locate any ALIAS, CNAME, or A records that are currently pointing at the wrong web server (or Porkbun's default "pixie.porkbun.com" records). Click the trash can icons to the right of the old records to remove them.

4
Scroll up to the top of the Manage DNS Records screen to add the correct A records. Generally, you want one record for requests for www.yourdomain.example and one for yourdomain.example (without the www.) Here's what you want to enter for the first record:
Type: "A - Address record"
Host: "www"
Answer: This will be the IP address provided by your web host

After entering the information for the record, click on the "Add" button to finish adding it to the domain.
For the second record, you'll repeat the same steps as above, only the Host field will be left blank.
Type: "A - Address record"
Host: left blank
Answer: Again, this will be the IP address provided by your web host.

Note

Depending on your hosting provider, they may give you a CNAME record to add to your domain, rather than two separate A records. Just make sure to input the exact information given to you by your hosting provider.

Repeat the above steps for each IP address issued to you by your web host.

5
Once you're done, click the "X" icon in the top right of the popup box to close the "Manage DNS Records" window.

Changing A records may take a few minutes to go into effect. After about five minutes, web browser requests for your domain will begin routing directly to your web server. Congratulations!

What Are A Records and How Do They Work?

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