How to point your domain to NBT Host

What you'll get

• the domain uses NBT Host DNS, with the zone Enhance created together with the website: the records for the website and for email (MX, SPF, DMARC), plus the DKIM signature, which we enable on the primary domain of each website. The SSL certificate is issued automatically after the change;
• any later DNS change is made in Enhance, under “Domains” » the domain » “DNS records” (see The DNS zone editor: A, CNAME, MX and TXT).

Before you start

• Your hosting is active. You have received the welcome email with your Enhance login details. Only change the nameservers after that: the domain's DNS zone is created together with the website in Enhance, and until then the domain would have nowhere to “point”.
• The website is already with us. If you are moving a website that currently runs somewhere else, let us copy it first (migration is free, under these conditions). Otherwise, after the change, visitors would find an empty website.
• You know where your email is. If you use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another provider's email, write down your current MX and TXT records or tell us beforehand. After the change, DNS is with us and those records have to be recreated, or you will stop receiving email.
• You have access to your registrar account. Not sure who your domain is registered with? Look it up on lookup.icann.org (for .com and the other international extensions) or in the WHOIS on rotld.ro (for .ro). The registrar is shown in the result.
• DNSSEC. If DNSSEC is active on the domain, disable it first (see “If something doesn't work”).
• Enhance names are given below exactly as they appear on screen in English. If the panel opens in another language (based on your browser language), switch it to English from the account menu, top right: “My account” » “Language”.

Values to enter

Enter them exactly like this: no http://, no trailing dot, no spaces. You don't need IP addresses for them.

General steps (any registrar)

1. Log in to your registrar account and open the domain's page.
2. Look for the Nameservers, DNS servers or Custom DNS section (it may also be called Nameservers or Custom DNS).
3. Choose the option for your own or custom nameservers, not the registrar's default ones.
4. Enter ns1.nbt-host.ro and ns2.nbt-host.ro and save.
5. If the registrar sends you a confirmation email, open it and confirm.
6. Wait for propagation: usually a few hours, sometimes up to 48 hours. During this time, some visitors still see the old server and others the new one — that's normal.

At Romarg

1. Log in to the Romarg client area.
2. From the top menu: Domains » Active Domains, then Details next to the domain.
3. In the Available tools section, choose Change nameservers.
4. Replace the current nameservers with ns1.nbt-host.ro and ns2.nbt-host.ro and leave the other fields empty.
5. Click Save changes.

Directly at ROTLD (.ro domains only)

Any .ro domain can get new nameservers directly from the registry's panel, whichever registrar it is with:

1. Open rotld.ro/domadmin (on the website: .ro Domains » On-Line Administration).
2. Log in with the domain name and its password. If you no longer have it, ROTLD lets you reset it via the registrant's email.
3. Open the nameservers section (name servers).
4. Enter NS1 = ns1.nbt-host.ro and NS2 = ns2.nbt-host.ro, then click the update button.
5. ROTLD emails you a confirmation link. Click it — without it, the change is not made.

The exact names in the ROTLD panel may change slightly from one version to the next.

At GoDaddy

1. Go to Domain Portfolio and select the domain.
2. On the Domain Settings page, open DNS » Nameservers and click Change Nameservers.
3. Choose I'll use my own nameservers.
4. Enter ns1.nbt-host.ro and ns2.nbt-host.ro and click Save.
5. If a confirmation window appears, tick the box and click Continue.

At Cloudflare

Here it matters where the domain was bought:

• Domain bought at Cloudflare (Cloudflare Registrar). Cloudflare doesn't allow other nameservers for domains registered with them. You keep DNS at Cloudflare and add the records from the next section, or you transfer the domain (see How to transfer your domain to NBT Host).
• Domain bought elsewhere, with DNS at Cloudflare. You have two options:
  • change the nameservers at the registrar (not in Cloudflare), following the general steps above. Before that, disable DNSSEC in Cloudflare (DNS » Settings, the DNSSEC card, Disable DNSSEC) and wait 24–48 hours;
  • stay on Cloudflare and add the records below.

Without changing the nameservers

If you want to keep DNS where it is (at Cloudflare or at your registrar), add the records below there. Instead of domeniul-tau.ro, use your own domain.

• You can also find the server IP in Enhance: “Websites” » the website, on its page (“Overview”), under “IPv4 address”.
• SPF. If the domain already has a TXT record starting with v=spf1, don't create another one: add a mx to the existing one, before ~all.
• You copy DKIM from Enhance: “Websites” » the website » “Domains” » click the domain » the “Email authentication” section. If the toggle next to “DKIM” is off, turn it on. As long as DNS is elsewhere, Enhance shows you “Record name:” (hostingcp._domainkey) and “Record value:”, which you copy exactly. Once it finds them in DNS, “Validated” appears next to DKIM.
• At Cloudflare, set the A and CNAME records to DNS only (the gray cloud), not Proxied: through the proxy, issuing and renewing the Let's Encrypt certificate can fail.
• Delete any old AAAA record for @, www or mail. Our zone has no AAAA (IPv6) records, and an AAAA record left over from your old provider sends some visitors elsewhere and blocks the SSL certificate.
• What you give up with this option: you make DNS changes by hand, at your DNS provider — what you change in Enhance, under “DNS records”, has no effect. For every subdomain or domain you add later in Enhance, you also add the A record there yourself (see Subdomains and additional domains in Enhance).
• .de domains currently work only with this option.

How to check

1. Open Google Admin Toolbox – Dig.
2. Enter the domain and choose NS.
3. When ns1.nbt-host.ro and ns2.nbt-host.ro appear, the change has reached the internet.
4. In Enhance, on the website's page (“Overview”), the “To connect your domains(s)” warning disappears, and under “Domains”, the “DNS status” column shows “DNS ok”.
5. Open the website. The SSL certificate is issued automatically, usually within a few minutes after the domain has reached us (see The free SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt)).

You can open the panel anytime at https://server.nbt-host.com.

If something doesn't work

• The registrar rejects the nameservers. Check the spelling: exactly ns1.nbt-host.ro, with no trailing dot. Some panels ask you to choose the “custom nameservers” option first. If it still doesn't work, send us a screenshot of the message.
• The domain stops responding entirely after the change. Most often DNSSEC is still active: the old keys no longer match the new servers. Disable it at your registrar (or at Cloudflare) and wait. If it isn't DNSSEC, write to us: we will check that the domain's zone exists on the server.
• You still see the old website. That's propagation: up to 48 hours. Try from another network (for example, mobile data) or in a private window.
• You no longer receive email. If your email is with Google, Microsoft or another provider, recreate their MX and TXT records in Enhance, under “DNS records”, and choose “Remote mail” under “Mail routing settings”, on the same domain page (see The DNS zone editor: A, CNAME, MX and TXT). If your email is with us and DNS is elsewhere, check the MX record and the A record for mail.
• Romarg shows the old nameservers after you changed them at ROTLD. That's normal; don't save anything there.