How to Point a Domain to Your VPS (A/AAAA Records)

Before your website is reachable at yourdomain.com instead of a raw IP address, you need to configure DNS records pointing the domain to your VPS. This guide covers the full process.

Prerequisites

A registered domain name
Your VPS's public IPv4 (and IPv6, if applicable) address
Access to your domain's DNS management panel

Step 1 — Find Your VPS's IP Address

curl ifconfig.me

Step 2 — Confirm Which DNS Provider Is Authoritative

dig NS yourdomain.com

This shows which nameservers actually control your DNS — make sure you're editing records at that exact provider, not your domain registrar if they differ.

Step 3 — Add the A Record

In your DNS management panel:

Type: A
Name: @  (represents the root domain, yourdomain.com)
Value: YOUR_SERVER_IP
TTL: 3600

Step 4 — Add a Record for the www Subdomain

Either another A record:

Type: A
Name: www
Value: YOUR_SERVER_IP

Or a CNAME pointing to the root domain:

Type: CNAME
Name: www
Value: yourdomain.com

Step 5 — Add an AAAA Record (If Your VPS Has IPv6)

Type: AAAA
Name: @
Value: YOUR_IPV6_ADDRESS

Step 6 — Wait for DNS Propagation

Depending on TTL, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. See How to Troubleshoot DNS Propagation Issues if it seems delayed.

Step 7 — Verify

dig +short yourdomain.com

Should return your VPS's IP address.

Step 8 — Configure Your Web Server

Ensure Nginx or Apache has a virtual host/server block configured for this domain — see Nginx Virtual Hosts: Hosting Multiple Websites or Apache Virtual Hosts: Hosting Multiple Websites.

Step 9 — Enable HTTPS

Once DNS resolves correctly:

sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

Common Errors

Domain shows a parking page or registrar default page — the A record wasn't saved correctly, or you edited DNS at the wrong provider; recheck with dig NS.

www works but the root domain doesn't (or vice versa) — confirm both the @ and www records were created, not just one.

"This site can't be reached" — confirm DNS has propagated with dig, and that ports 80/443 are open on the VPS firewall.

Best Practices

Set a lower TTL (e.g. 300) before a planned change, and raise it back afterward once stable
Always configure both the root domain and www subdomain
Verify with dig before troubleshooting the web server itself

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