How to Connect a Domain to Cloudways (DNS and A Record)
I set up the Cloudways domain connection with cw.testpilotweb.com, a subdomain of a test domain. Simply adding a domain registers it as an alias (Alias), and the WordPress site address only changes to the new domain once you set it as Primary.
I have summarized the steps in order — setting up the A record, adding the domain and setting it as Primary — based on the console as of October 2026.
1️⃣ Check the Server IP and Set Up the A Record
In the top menu, open the [Applications] tab and select the application you want to connect the domain to.
Scroll down the application’s first screen, [Access Details], to find the server IP under [Public IP] in [Application Credentials].
Add an A record where the domain’s DNS is managed. For a subdomain, enter only the first part (cw) in Hostname and the IP above in the IPv4 address field. Below is the Bunny DNS screen, with the TTL set to 5 minutes (5m).
If you use the DNS of the company where you bought the domain, such as Namecheap, add the A record the same way.
You can check whether the record has taken effect with the command [dig +short A cw.testpilotweb.com]; once it returns the server IP, move on to the next step.
2️⃣ Add a Domain in Cloudways
In the application’s left menu, click [Domain Management], and you will see a single temporary address created by Cloudways registered as Primary. The site can also be reached at the temporary address, so you can work on the site before connecting a domain.
Click [Add Domain], enter the domain to connect in [Domain name], and click [Add Domain(s)]. For a multisite that uses several subdomains, check [Add as WildCard].
The Cloudflare option is an add-on at $4.99 per domain per month ($0 for the first month); if you leave it unchecked, only the domain is registered at no extra cost.
When the addition finishes, a [Domain added successfully] notice appears and the new domain is listed as an alias without the Primary label.
3️⃣ Set the Primary Domain
Click [⋮] at the end of the added domain’s row and select [Make Primary].
The confirmation window says that the current Primary domain will become an alias and that a Search & replace will run to change the domain name in the WordPress database. Click [Set as Primary].
The [Please wait while domain is being updated] screen took about 2 minutes. When it finished, the new domain had the Primary label and the temporary address remained as an alias.
The [Application URL] and [Admin Panel] addresses in [Access Details] also change to the new domain, and the connection is complete once the site appears when you open the new domain in a browser. The SSL certificate is issued for the new domain from the [SSL Certificate] menu.
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