Tutorial

How to point your domain name to your web hosting (DNS A, MX)

Published on 10 November 2026 · 3 min read

What to know before you start

Your domain name (for example mysite.com) is registered with a registrar: OVHcloud, Gandi, IONOS, Namecheap, Cloudflare… Your website, on the other hand, is hosted on a server. For visitors to reach your site, the domain's DNS zone must contain that server's IP address.

For VexCloud web hosting, that address is:

151.240.100.9

You can also find it on your service page in the client area.

Step 1: add the domain to your hosting

If it isn't already done, the domain must be declared in Plesk: this is automatic for the domain chosen when ordering. For an additional domain (depending on your plan), add it from Plesk under Websites & Domains.

Step 2: create the DNS records at your registrar

A for the bare domain (often written @ or left empty) → 151.240.100.9
A for www → 151.240.100.9 (or a CNAME from www to your domain)

Delete any old A or AAAA records pointing elsewhere for @ and www (for example a registrar parking page): two different addresses for the same name give a site that only loads half the time.

Step 3: email (MX and SPF)

If you use your hosting's mailboxes, also add:

MX for the domain → web.vexcloud.fr (priority 10)
TXT for the domain, the SPF record: v=spf1 mx a ~all

Delete old MX records if they point to another service. If you keep your email elsewhere (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365…), leave the existing MX records alone.

To go further, you can enable DKIM in Plesk's mail settings and publish the key shown in your DNS zone: your emails will be better accepted by the major mail providers. To then set up your mailboxes on your computer or phone, follow our guide setting up email with IMAP and SMTP.

Step 4: wait for propagation

DNS changes are not instant: depending on the cache duration (TTL) of the old records, allow anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, sometimes up to 24 hours.

To check where your domain points:

in the VexCloud client area, your hosting service page has a button to check DNS;
from the command line: nslookup mysite.com on Windows, or dig +short mysite.com on macOS and Linux.

When the answer shows 151.240.100.9, you're done.

Step 5: enable HTTPS

Once the domain points to the server, open Plesk, go to SSL/TLS Certificates and request a free Let's Encrypt certificate for the domain and www. Also tick the permanent redirect from HTTP to HTTPS. The certificate then renews automatically.

If the request fails, it is almost always because DNS hasn't finished propagating yet: wait and try again.

The most common problems

The site still shows the old page: your computer's or router's DNS cache. Try a private window or a mobile connection.
It works with www but not without (or the reverse): one of the two A records is missing or points elsewhere.
The SSL certificate won't install: the domain doesn't point to 151.240.100.9 yet.
Emails don't arrive: check the MX records, and that no old MX has a higher priority.

Need help?

If something is stuck, open a ticket from the client area with your domain name: the team will check the configuration with you. And if you don't have hosting yet, all our plans are on the web hosting page.