How to Check Domain’s A Record
Fret not if your website is suddenly not available. One of the most common causes is incorrect DNS records. In this tutorial, we’ll be discussing how to check the A record of your DNS and whether or not they’re correctly pointing to your hosting provider. So, you can get your website back in no time!
Finding Out the Correct A Record Value on Your hPanel
An A record is your domain’s IP address. It is used to resolve your domain name to the host server. Therefore, the browser can retrieve your database and display your website content whenever you visit your domain. So, it’s important to make sure your domain has the same IP address as the one provided by the hosting company.
First thing first, you need to get the correct A record value. In Hostinger, you can do so by accessing your hosting control panel. Then, you’ll see your host IP address on the left sidebar.
Feel free to contact the customer support if you cannot find that on your hPanel.
Checking Your Current A Record Value
See your current domain’s A record value through your domain control panel and computer console.
Using hPanel
Once you’re logged in to Hostinger’s hPanel, head over to the Domains section. Then, access your domain manager by clicking the Manage button on the domain you’re about to check.
Select the DNS Zone tab, and the A record value details of your DNS is displayed under the A (Host) tab.
Using Local Computer Console
Check whether or not the domain is resolving into the correct host IP address by using the ping command in your computer console. It will not only check if the domain is resolving, but it will also show you its current IP address (A record).
You can do this on Windows’s command prompt, Linux’s console terminal, and macOS’s terminal.
Once you’ve opened the terminal window, type the following command:
ping yourdomain.tld
Replace yourdomain.tld with your domain name.
Here’s the output on Windows’s command prompt (cmd):
Linux console will also display a similar output:
If you’re using MacBook, the same information will appear as well:
The highlighted IP address in all of the methods above represents your domain’s IP address or the current A record.
Making Sure if Your Domain is Correctly Pointed
Since you know your domain’s current A record value, you can compare it to the one required by the hosting company. The value of your domain’s A record IP address should be the same as your hosting IP address.
If they are different, you need to replace your current A Record value with the one provided by your host. Once you’ve accessed your domain manager on your hPanel, select the DNS Zone tab. Then, edit your domain’s IP address value under the A (Host) tab.
Once saved, your website will be available again!
If your host specifically asks you to point the domain to certain nameservers, you need to check if your domain’s nameservers are correctly set up using a local computer console or a whois lookup website.
Conclusion
As you can see, A record is simply your domain’s IP address. It should be the same as your host IP address.
If your domain is not pointed correctly, you need to edit your current A record value. If it still yields no result, check whether or not your domain’s nameservers are correctly set up.
Linas started as a customer success agent and is now a full-stack PHP developer and Technical Team Lead at Hostinger. He is passionate about making a positive impact on people by utilizing user-driven development techniques. As much as he enjoys coding and changing the world, he secretly dreams of becoming a rock star.
