Connect Your Domain: DNS, Nameservers & Cloudflare Print

Connect your domain to the website hosted in your Interactive Online account. You can let us manage its DNS, keep DNS at your registrar, or use Cloudflare. The correct settings depend on where your website is hosted.

Before you change anything: confirm your assigned server in your hosting welcome email or Client Area. Save a copy of your current DNS records, especially email records. If you are moving an existing website, have the new site and SSL certificate ready before switching traffic.

Choose the right connection method

• Hosting or an AI website on cPanel12 or cPanel25: use our shared nameserver pair below, or the website IP for your assigned server.
• Keeping your registrar's DNS or using Cloudflare: leave the nameservers with that DNS provider and update the website records there.

Buying a domain and connecting it are separate steps. You can register a domain through Interactive Online or use a domain you already own. Transferring its registration to us is optional when you only need to connect the website.

1. Confirm your website's destination

The following are our server addresses. Use the row for the server assigned to your account. If your welcome email or Client Area gives you a dedicated website IP, use that assigned address instead.

Both servers use the same clustered nameservers: ns1.cpanel12.primary001.net and ns2.cpanel25.primary001.net. Your website IP still depends on the server assigned to your account.

Use your assigned website IP. Do not add both server IPs as website A records to try to make the connection work. If account instructions conflict with this table, contact us so we can confirm the correct destination before you change DNS.

2. Let Interactive Online manage your DNS

Choose this method if you want your domain's DNS managed with your hosting account and have confirmed that the new DNS zone contains all records you need.

1. Sign in to the company where your domain is registered. For a domain registered with us, sign in to the Client Area, open Domains > My Domains, select the domain, and open its nameserver settings.
2. Find the domain's Nameservers setting. Select the option to use custom nameservers.
3. Enter ns1.cpanel12.primary001.net and ns2.cpanel25.primary001.net. This same pair serves accounts on both cPanel12 and cPanel25 through our DNS cluster. Replace the previous nameservers rather than adding ours alongside them.
4. Save your changes. You normally enter the nameserver hostnames, not their IP addresses. You do not need to register these nameservers as new host or glue records.

Protect email and other services: a nameserver change moves management of the entire DNS zone. Copy required MX, mail A/CNAME, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, verification TXT, and other service records into the new zone first. This is especially important if you use Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or another email provider.

If DNSSEC is enabled, coordinate its migration with your registrar and DNS provider. A stale DS record from the previous DNS provider can make the domain stop resolving. Confirm the old DS record is removed or replaced as required, then enable and validate DNSSEC with the new provider.

3. Keep DNS at your registrar or another provider

You can point the website to us while leaving the rest of your DNS where it is. Add the domain to your hosting account or AI project's publishing settings first, then edit the records at the provider listed as your domain's authoritative nameservers.

Some providers require the full domain name instead of @. Keep just the intended website records for each hostname; a CNAME cannot coexist with other record types at the same name. Review old A records and any AAAA records for the root domain and www. An old IPv6 destination can send some visitors to the previous host even when the A record is correct. Use an AAAA record only when we have supplied an IPv6 address for your service.

Do not change unrelated mail or verification records. If your existing MX record points to the root domain, changing its A record can also change where email is delivered. Confirm the email provider's required destination before making that change.

4. Use Cloudflare with your website

1. Add your domain to your Cloudflare account, or open the domain if it is already there. Review the imported DNS records carefully; the automatic scan may not find every record.
2. If you are setting up Cloudflare for the first time, change the domain's nameservers at its registrar to the exact pair Cloudflare assigns. Preserve your email and verification records, and coordinate DNSSEC before the change.
3. In Cloudflare, open DNS > Records. Set the root A record and www CNAME using the table above. If Cloudflare is your DNS provider, make these changes in Cloudflare, rather than in cPanel's Zone Editor.
4. Start website records as DNS only (gray cloud) while the domain connection and the origin SSL certificate are verified. After the website works correctly over HTTPS, you may enable Proxied (orange cloud) for its web records if compatible with your service.
5. For a proxied cPanel website, use SSL/TLS > Overview > Full (strict) once the origin has an unexpired certificate valid for your domain. Avoid Flexible mode when the website redirects to HTTPS; it can cause redirect loops.

Keep mail and non-web services DNS only. Mail server hostnames used by MX records, SMTP, IMAP, POP, and FTP should not be orange-cloud proxied with Cloudflare's standard web proxy. Retain the records supplied by your email provider. The AI website builder does not automatically provide an email mailbox just because a domain is connected.

A Cloudflare Origin CA certificate is trusted by Cloudflare, but not by normal browsers connecting directly. If visitors will reach the origin without Cloudflare's proxy, use a publicly trusted certificate for that route.

5. Publish an AI website to your domain

1. Finish reviewing the draft, including mobile layout, links, images, and forms. Confirm your plan allows publishing to a custom domain; the free draft plan does not include publishing.
2. Open the builder's Publish control. Choose your domain, or use Add New Domain and enter the full name, including its extension.
3. For an AI website hosted in your Interactive Online cPanel account, connect the domain to that account's assigned server using the appropriate method above. Follow any verification instructions shown in the builder.
4. Return to the builder and complete publishing. Check the final HTTPS website after the process finishes. Saving DNS records alone does not publish your draft.

AI Website Starter includes the website builder and a limited cPanel feature set. AI Business Hosting and AI Business Hosting Plus include full cPanel hosting tools and business email. You can upgrade your existing account while keeping your draft. For an AI-generated WordPress website, use its WordPress and hosting instructions after publication.

6. Check the connection and troubleshoot

• Allow time for DNS caches to update. Some changes appear quickly, while existing cached records or nameserver changes can take up to 48 hours. Keep the old hosting available during a planned move until website and email tests pass.
• Test both names: visit https://example.com and https://www.example.com using your own domain. Confirm the intended site appears and HTTPS is valid.
• Old website still appears: check the authoritative DNS provider, old A/AAAA records, and the selected publishing domain. Then try a private browser window and review Cloudflare's cache if applicable.
• Domain does not resolve: check its spelling, active registration status, nameservers, and DNSSEC/DS settings.
• SSL warning or Cloudflare 526 error: confirm a valid certificate is installed for the domain at the hosting origin. Ask us to check certificate issuance and DNS validation; do not work around it by disabling certificate checks.
• Email stopped working: check MX, its destination's A/CNAME record, and the email provider's SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Confirm email routing with us if your hosting or mail destination changed.

Contact Interactive Online support if you need help. Include your domain, assigned server or service, DNS provider, the change you made, and any error message. Do not include account passwords or API keys.