Point A record to BlueHost

[DaddyShortLegs]

Hello,

I have my DNS hosted elsewhere, and my Email hosted elsewhere too. These are staying put, and are not being moved to BlueHost - only my website.

Therefore, I want to only point my A records to BlueHost - what address am I supposed to use?

Anybody had any luck with doing this before?

Thanks,

DaddyShortLegs

[DaddyShortLegs]

I have had a response from Support - yes you can point the A records to BlueHost - you use the Shared IP address that is listed in your Control Panel.

:-)

[dug]

yep, that's pretty standard.

Where it seems to be a problem is how CPanel is set up in regard to parked domains.

It won't allow you to configure a site until you've made changes in the DNS "A" records at your domain host, and they have propagated. Since you don't know exactly when in the typical 48 hour transfer period this will happen ( might be 2 hours... might be closer to 40 hours ), you have no choice but to wait for your site to drop off the radar at wherever it currently is hosted.

Once that has happened, and only then, can you even start the setup of the transferred site. When you have a lot of content, several databases and apps like CMS's, Shopping carts and Classifieds on your existing site, it spells a major pain in the butt and unneccesary downtime. You have to frantically get all this stuff up and running while your site and all its services are off the air... a situation any right minded hosting reseller would avoid like the bubonic plague.

I'm sure I've seen CPanel set up elsewhere in such a way that you can actually set up a domain and access it via the IP address and username / password for FTP and Database setup. The domain won't be visible on the new host until you change the DNS settings and they propagate out across the interweb, but at least you can get everything set up in advance. Once the DNS changes propagate, the site is relocated almost seemlessly and with minimal downtime.

Does anyone know if there's a way of doing this through Bluehost's configuration of CPanel? The thought of migrating 6 sites here using the previous ( horiffic ) method I described terrifies me...

[DaddyShortLegs]

When you sign up with BlueHost, you receive an email that includes a URL that you can access your website, and CPanel, etc.

It is something like this: box133.bluehost.com/~username

You can then get your site setup, and fully tested BEFORE you redirect the A record.

So, with two sites setup correctly, you will get ZERO downtime whilst the DNS changes propagate 'round the globe.

DaddyShortLegs

[dug]

It is something like this: box133.bluehost.com/~username

So, with two sites setup correctly, you will get ZERO downtime whilst the DNS changes propagate 'round the globe.

DaddyShortLegs


Thanks DaddyShortLegs, unfortunately that solution only works for the one domain you used when you signed up with Bluehost ( or the one free one you got with the package ).

You still cannot get ANY other sites set up in advance, because of the way CPanel is set up. You cannot park any other domains until either DNS or an A record resolves to the Bluehost server. I have added the IP address of the Bluehost server to 2 domains I have hosted elsewhere... but the Cpanel domain parking "Wizard" still doesn't see them ( yes, it's way past 48 hours (.

If I had direct access to the Apache config files and SSH I could sort this in about 30 seconds by adding an entry for a Virtual Host, but that's not gonna happen!

Note I also tried adding Bluehost name servers to the DNS entries... but these don't seem to resolve to the actual server where my virtual hosting has been set up.

As it stands, the package I paid for last week ain't any use to me. :(

[DaddyShortLegs]

What are you talking about? Of course you can setup an addon domain, and view the pages before you change any DNS settings to point to it.

When you addon a domain, it will create a directory within your public_html directory, with the name of the domain.

eg. You add foo.com to your account, which adds the following directory: /home/username/public_html/foo/

Stick your content in there, and access your site via the URL you get provided when you signed up:

eg: box133.bluehost.com/~username/foo

Use that to test out your site, and when you are happy, THEN point your A records to BlueHost. Simple.

Also note, that if you are NOT hosting Email for your addon domains at BlueHost, you have to get one of the Support Techs to move the addon domain from /etc/localdomains to /etc/remotedomains.

DaddyShortLegs

[dug]

Ummm.... that just creates a subdomain from the primary domain name you resgistered with or got free when you resgistered.

If the DNS does not reslove, this happens:


Addon Domain Additions


Bind reload skipped on box136 (nameserver disabled) Bind reload skipped on ns0 (nameserver disabled) The subdomain, smartsite.genx-online.net has been added.

Using nameservers with the following IPs: 69.59.168.221,69.59.168.222
Sorry, the domain is already pointed to an IP address that does not
appear to use DNS servers associated with this server. Please transfer the domain to
this servers nameservers or have your administrator add one of its nameservers to /etc/ip.remotedns and make the proper A entries on that remote nameserver.
/n

Removed Entry from httpd.conf The subdomain, smartsite.genx-online.net has been removed.

smartsite.com.au could not be setup. The subdomain smartsite.genx-online.net was not setup either.

[dug]

Ok,

I just looked in the file manager and it created the folders at least.

Still can't see any content ( stuck an index page in one ) so will have to see why that is.

If I can figure that out I'll point the DNS there and see what happens. I've picked a site with no DB or server side stuff on it, so if it tanks it's no biggie.

Will let you know. :)

[DaddyShortLegs]

Can you see the root of your site when you use the box133.bluehost.com/~username url?

[dug]

Allrighty... sorry for the running commentary and this is sort of drifting off topic and should really be in anotehr thread now...:eek:

The missing piece of info in the setup email from Bluehost is the actual Bluehost subdomain your user public_html/ directory maps to.

To access my site for example sans DNS, I can use

http://70.103.140.136/~genxonli

BUT this will only work for the primary domain, e.g the free one I registered with the new account.

If you go through Addon Domains in CPanel is spits it becasue the DNS isn't point there, however, it still creates the folders for you.

In the midts of doing this, it reveals which box ( physical server I guess ) your site is actually on... in my case, it's mapped to http://box136.bluehost.com. Someone else's may be different, e.g. http://box133.bluehost.com, etc.

So...

to preview the actual Addon Site BEFORE you have pointed DNS at it, you suffix the above address with the folder name you used in the Addon Domain setup.

e.g.

http://box136.bluehost.com/~username/addondomain/

And note... no ~ in front of the add on domain name. ;)

Hope that helps anyone else in future, because it really wasn't that obvious.

[DaddyShortLegs]

That's exactly what I told you.

[dug]

That's exactly what I told you.

yes... except where exactly "box133.bluehost.com" came from ;)

[DaddyShortLegs]

Mere details, my friend! hehe

If you need a hand with anything, let me know.

:)

[dug]

heh heh, where the devil lies... ;)

It's all pretty straightforward from here ( I already have about half a dozen sites scattered about the 'states on servers running CPanel ) and I hope to have most of the sites moved over by next weekend.

Cheers for the tips, and the offer of further assistance. :)