Domain & DNS Setup
Before visitors can reach your website and before email can flow, your domain's DNS needs to point at your server. This guide covers the steps for a typical domain setup.
Your server's IP address
Find your server IP in your welcome email or in the client area under Services → your server. You'll need this for every DNS record you create.
Option 1 — Use RemarkableCloud nameservers (recommended)
The simplest setup: point your domain's nameservers at RemarkableCloud and manage all DNS from your control panel.
RemarkableCloud nameservers:
ns1.remarkablecloud.com
ns2.remarkablecloud.com- Log into your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.).
- Find the nameserver settings for your domain — usually under DNS or Domain Settings.
- Replace the existing nameservers with
ns1.remarkablecloud.comandns2.remarkablecloud.com. - Save. Nameserver changes propagate within 24–48 hours, often within 1–4 hours.
- Once active, manage all DNS from your cPanel (WHM → DNS Functions) or DirectAdmin (DNS Administration).
Option 2 — Keep existing DNS, add A record
If you manage DNS elsewhere (Cloudflare, your registrar, Route53) you can keep it there and just add an A record pointing at your server.
Add this record at your DNS provider:
| Type | Name | Value | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | @ (or your domain) | YOUR_SERVER_IP | 300 |
| A | www | YOUR_SERVER_IP | 300 |
Email DNS records
For email to work reliably, you need three records in addition to your A record.
MX record — mail routing
Tells other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain:
| Type | Name | Value | Priority | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MX | @ | mail.yourdomain.com | 10 | 3600 |
Also add an A record for mail.yourdomain.com pointing to your server IP.
SPF record — sender authorization
Tells receiving servers which IPs are allowed to send mail for your domain. Prevents spoofing:
| Type | Name | Value | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXT | @ | v=spf1 ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP include:mailchannels.net ~all | 3600 |
DKIM record — email signing
DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to outgoing mail, proving it wasn't tampered with in transit. The DKIM key is generated by your mail server.
To get your DKIM record from cPanel:
- Go to cPanel → Email → Email Deliverability
- Click Manage next to your domain
- Copy the DKIM TXT record shown and add it to your DNS
DMARC record — policy enforcement
Tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM checks:
| Type | Name | Value | TTL |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com | 3600 |
Start with p=quarantine (suspicious mail goes to spam) rather than p=reject until you've confirmed legitimate mail is passing.
Checking DNS propagation
Use dnschecker.org to see your DNS records from locations around the world. Enter your domain and select the record type you want to verify.
From the command line:
# Check A record
dig yourdomain.com A +short
# Check MX record
dig yourdomain.com MX +short
# Check TXT (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
dig yourdomain.com TXT +short
dig _dmarc.yourdomain.com TXT +shortCommon issues
Site not loading after pointing DNS
- Confirm the A record has propagated using dnschecker.org
- Verify the domain is added in your control panel (it must exist there, not just in DNS)
- Check that Apache/LiteSpeed is running in WHM → Service Status
Email going to spam
- Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are all set correctly
- Check your server IP isn't on a blacklist at mxtoolbox.com/blacklists
- Ensure rDNS is set for your server IP (see client area → Server Management → Network)