How to Point Your Domain to IONOS

What does "point a domain" mean?

A domain is your website's address. DNS is like a phone book for the internet. It turns that address into a number that computers understand. Pointing a domain means telling the phone book to send visitors to IONOS servers.

IONOS is another hosting company. Use this guide when your domain is managed in a Hostvento account, or elsewhere, and your site is on IONOS.

Before you start

• Find the nameservers or the server IP address in your IONOS account. An IP address is the number address of a server.
• Copy them exactly. Do not guess.
• Save your current DNS records. A wrong change can break your site or email.

Method 1: change nameservers

Nameservers are the computers that answer questions about your domain. This gives IONOS control of your DNS.

1. Log in where the domain is registered. For a Hostvento domain, use https://secure.hostvento.com/clientarea.php.
2. Click Domains and then My Domains.
3. Choose the domain. Open Management Tools and then Nameservers.
4. Pick custom nameservers.
5. Enter the IONOS nameservers.
6. Click Change Nameservers.

Method 2: edit the A record

Use this if you want to keep your email or other services where they are. An A record points a name to a number address.

1. Open the DNS zone editor where the nameservers currently point.
2. Find the A record with host @. It stands for the bare domain.
3. Change its value to the IONOS IP address.
4. Check that the www record leads to the same place.
5. Save.

Connect the domain inside IONOS

IONOS must also know the domain. In your IONOS account, assign the domain to your hosting package or website. Choose the folder where the files are. If you skip this, visitors may see a placeholder page.

Need help? Open a ticket at https://secure.hostvento.com/submitticket.php.

Quick recap

• Get nameservers or an IP address from IONOS.
• Change nameservers, or edit the A record.
• Assign the domain inside IONOS.
• Wait for propagation.