This article deals with setting DNS record of a domain to a specific hosting service (webhosting, WebSite, VPS and others) automatically. If you need to redirect a domain (i.e. direct one domain to another domain), follow the instructions in the article Domains – Basic Redirection.

In this article, you will learn:

• What it means to direct DNS
• How to quickly direct a domain
• How to direct DNS manually
• Common issues
• Frequently asked questions

DNS is a system of records that assign (computer-readable) IP addresses to (human-readable) domains. A typical domain needs to find out from these records at which IP address to find the web and email servers. For more information about basic records, see the article DNS – Domain Records.

DNS record changes typically propagate within 1-2 hours.

These records are located on DNS servers. These servers are often managed by the respective domain registrar, but this is not the rule. You can have a domain with one registrar and its DNS records with another.

Changing DNS servers can take up to 48 hours. During this time, queries are directed to either the new or old servers.

Directing DNS to services therefore consists of writing DNS records with IP addresses or service names to selected DNS servers (NSSET).

Quick DNS direction typically takes effect within 1 hour.

If you have both the domain and the corresponding DNS records with WEDOS, you can direct your domain without manual intervention in the DNS records:

1. Log into the customer administration panel.
2. In the navigation bar, slect Domains.
3. Select a domain to direct.
4. In the left menu, click Direct Domain to Service.
5. Choose the service(s) to direct the domain (or subdomains) to:
   • Direct the domain to up to one service.
   • Direct subdomains to Webhosting, Mailhosting, WMS or WebSite with the same name or alias.
6. Click the Set button.

Directing to Webhosting, WebSite or WMS will overwrite the relevant A (or AAAA), CNAME and MX records for the domain, other records will remain unchanged. If you have subdomain service (for example webhosting sub.domain.tld), you can direct there separately.

Directing DNS records to Webhosting, WebSite, or WMS changes MX records. If you use mail services from a provider other than WEDOS, consider updating DNS records manually.

Directing to Mailhosting will only overwrite the relevant MX records of the domain or subdomain.

This will overwrite only the relevant A records (if available), the others will remain unchanged. Further routing within the system is fully under the control of the virtual server or cloud administrator.

This will only overwrite the relevant A (or AAAA) records. Set the destination IP addresses in the WEDOS Global interface according to Global – DNS and Target IPs.

Directs DNS to a “Domain is registered” page. The setting will overwrite only the relevant A and AAAA records, the others will remain unchanged.

Select this option if you are redirecting email or a website on a domain, but the redirection settings did not automatically redirect the domain due to an error. The setting will override the appropriate A (or AAAA) records if you are redirecting a website, and MX records if you are redirecting email. Other records will remain unchanged.

Setting DNS records will typically take effect within 1 hour. Changing DNS servers can take up to 48 hours.

Detailed instructions for manual DNS record setup can be found in the article DNS – Domain Records.

You can use manual settings especially if you do not have all the services with WEDOS. Typical cases include:

• Domain with another registrar: Set DNS records manually according to the instructions in the link above.
• Domain and DNS with another registrar: Set DNS records manually with your registrar. Setting WEDOS DNS records will have no effect until you change the DNS servers to ours in the domain settings.
• Webhosting/serverhosting with another provider: Set the appropriate A records. Also set AAAA records if your hosting has an IPv6 address. If it doesn’t have one, delete the original AAAA records.
• Email with another provider: Find out the MX record settings, as well as the TXT SPF record, from your provider.

Common problems with directing domain to services include:

• Domain direction doesn’t work
• Emails stopped coming to another provider

Issue: After directing the domain to a service, the changes haven’t taken effect even 1 hour later.

Cause: This problem has two most common causes:

• The domain doesn’t use WEDOS DNS. If the domain is not using our DNS servers, any change you make there will not affect its functionality.
• The TTL value of the original recording is greater than 1 hour. If the value of the TTL parameter of the original record is 3600 or higher, the record has a lifespan of at least 1 hour and its updates are therefore slower.

Solution: Make sure the domain uses WEDOS DNS servers (NSSET). Wait longer if TTL is high.

Issue: Quick setup changed emails from another provider to WEDOS.

Cause: Directing to Webhosting, WMS, and WebSite services overwrites both A and AAAA, as well as MX records.

Solution: Change MX records manually according to your email service provider’s instructions.

Question: What if I have a domain with another provider?
Answer: If you have a domain elsewhere and only DNS with us, you have to set DNS records manually. The system performs automatic settings only when setting up or renaming the service (in the case of Webhosting, when setting an alias).