Point a domain at your server

A domain points at a server through DNS records, set wherever your domain's DNS is managed: usually where you bought it, or a service such as Cloudflare. Your server's address is on its Networking tab:

Add the records#

Written out, that's:

example.com.      300   A      203.0.113.10
www.example.com.  300   A      203.0.113.10

TTL

The TTL is how many seconds others may remember the answer. Use 300 while setting up, so mistakes are quick to fix, then 3600. A change shows up everywhere only once the old record's TTL has run out.

Using Cloudflare

Set the records to DNS only (the grey cloud) while you set up. With the proxy on, lookups return Cloudflare's addresses, and your certificate can fail.

Check it's working#

Ask a public resolver directly, so you aren't seeing an old answer your computer remembered:

Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type A -Server 1.1.1.1

Resolve-DnsName www.example.com -Type A -Server 1.1.1.1

dig +short example.com A @1.1.1.1

dig +short www.example.com A @1.1.1.1

dig +short example.com A @1.1.1.1

dig +short www.example.com A @1.1.1.1

Your server's address means it's working. Nothing means the record isn't there or has a typo. An old address means wait for the old TTL.

Set the server's hostname#

Some software expects the server to call itself by a name in your domain. On the server:

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname web-01.example.com

Then add a matching A record, web-01.example.com pointing at 203.0.113.10, so the name works both ways.

Set reverse DNS#

Reverse DNS gives an address its name, and you set it in the portal: see IP addresses and reverse DNS for a VPS, or Addresses and reverse DNS for a dedicated server. Mail servers check it. Outbound port 25 is also blocked until we open it: see Email won't send from my server.

Next#

Give it a website with a free certificate: see Host a website with HTTPS using Caddy.