You do not need to transfer a domain to use it with a BearHost server. One DNS record at your current registrar is enough.
What you need
- Your server's IPv4 address, shown on the server page in the dashboard.
- Access to the DNS settings of your domain at the registrar (IONOS, GoDaddy, Namecheap, OVH, Cloudflare, or wherever it lives).
The record to add
Two A records, both pointing at your server's IPv4 address:
- Type A, name/host @ (the bare domain), value your server IP, TTL 300 or "automatic".
- Type A, name/host www, value your server IP, TTL 300.
Add further subdomains the same way (api, app, mail), each as an A record pointing at the IP. Delete any old A or AAAA records for the same names that point elsewhere, otherwise visitors get a random answer.
Where to find DNS at each registrar
- IONOS: Domains & SSL > your domain > DNS. Edit the existing A record for @ and www or add new ones.
- GoDaddy: My Products > Domains > DNS > Manage Zones.
- Namecheap: Domain List > Manage > Advanced DNS. Use "A Record" with host @ and www.
- OVH: Web Cloud > Domain names > your domain > DNS Zone.
- Cloudflare: DNS > Records. See the proxy note below.
Do not change the nameservers unless you want BearHost to host the whole DNS zone; pointing a record is enough.
Cloudflare: proxy on or off?
The orange cloud (proxied) hides your IP and adds Cloudflare's CDN and protection for web traffic only (HTTP/HTTPS). Anything else, such as SSH, RDP, game servers, mail or a custom port, will not work through the proxy. Use DNS only (grey cloud) for those hostnames, for example rdp.yourdomain.com.
Checking it worked
Changes usually take 5 to 30 minutes, occasionally up to a few hours if the old record had a long TTL. Check from a terminal:
nslookup yourdomain.com
or use dnschecker.org to see what resolvers around the world return. When the answer is your server's IP, you are done.
HTTPS
Once the domain resolves, get a free certificate on the server: on Ubuntu with Nginx, certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com; Caddy does it automatically. Our shared cPanel and WordPress plans issue certificates for you.
Reverse DNS and email
We do not offer custom reverse DNS (PTR) records, and outbound port 25 is closed on our network. To send email from a VPS use an authenticated relay on port 587 (your email provider, Mailgun, Postmark or similar), which also gets far better deliverability.