Connect your domain without breaking email Afdrukken

You can move a website to ArkHost while keeping email with your current provider. Change only what the website needs. A domain transfer, a DNS move and an email migration are separate tasks.

Find where your DNS is managed

Your registrar manages the domain registration and its nameserver delegation. Your authoritative DNS provider publishes the records used by visitors and mail servers. These may be different companies. Check the domain's current nameservers before editing anything. Changes in an inactive DNS zone have no effect.

Export the complete current DNS zone or save a record-by-record copy, including names, types, values, priorities and TTLs. Confirm who hosts your mailboxes. Keep the existing hosting and email services active while you test.

If only the website is moving

Keeping your current nameservers and updating the website records is usually the smaller change:

1. Check the website on ArkHost before switching DNS. Use the assigned hosting IP in your current service details or activation information, not an example in a guide.
2. At the authoritative DNS provider, update the website's A record for IPv4. Update AAAA only to an IPv6 address confirmed for your service. Do not leave an old AAAA record pointing visitors to the previous host. Ask support what to do if the new service has no IPv6 address.
3. Check how www is configured. Update its address record or follow the supplied CNAME instructions. Do not add a CNAME alongside other records at the same name.

Before changing an address, check whether mail depends on it. An MX target, a mail-app hostname or an SPF mechanism may use the domain's existing A or AAAA records. If so, agree a separate mail hostname or configuration with the email provider first. Changing only a website address can still affect mail in this situation.

If the nameservers must change

Prepare and verify the complete zone at the new DNS provider before changing the delegation at your registrar. Use only the nameservers supplied for your service. Copy all required records, not just the website and MX records.

• Preserve every required MX target and priority, plus address records for mail hosts.
• Preserve SPF, every DKIM selector, DMARC, provider-verification records, autodiscover/autoconfig, SRV records and any mail-security records such as MTA-STS or TLS reporting.
• Keep other active sending services in the SPF policy. Do not create a second SPF policy at the same name.

Check DNSSEC with both DNS providers and your registrar before switching. A stale DS record at the registrar can make the entire domain fail validation. Follow their coordinated migration procedure; do not copy old signing records blindly or remove DNSSEC records without an agreed sequence.

Verify website and mail separately

Check the published A, AAAA and MX records, then test the website with and without www. Send mail to an external mailbox and send a reply back. Cached DNS can remain until its previous TTL expires. Keep the old DNS service available during the transition.

See A records, MX records and the website migration scope. For Hosted Email, use the records in your service's Setup tab. If anything is unclear, contact support before changing DNS.