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DNS Cutover Checklist

DNS cutover is the moment your domain stops pointing at the old host and starts pointing at us. Done well, downtime is zero. Done poorly, you can lose email or have visitors hitting an old server for two days. This checklist keeps it boring.

The Two Ways to Cut Over

There are two patterns. Pick the one that matches your setup:

One Day Before: Lower TTLs

TTL (Time-To-Live) is how long DNS resolvers cache a record. The default is often 24 hours, which means changes propagate slowly. Lower TTLs on your current DNS records 24 to 48 hours before the cutover so the change takes effect in minutes instead of days.

  1. Log into your current DNS provider (the place currently serving the A and MX records).
  2. Edit each record you plan to change and set TTL to 300 seconds (5 minutes), or the lowest your provider allows.
  3. Save and wait at least the current TTL (often 24 hours) before doing the cutover.
Tip Cloudflare is a special case: when "Proxied" is on, Cloudflare ignores TTL and propagates instantly. You can skip the TTL prep if your DNS lives at Cloudflare and the records you are changing are proxied.

Pre-Cutover Checklist

Before you change anything, confirm:

Method 1: Nameserver Change

  1. Log into your domain registrar (where you bought the domain, e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare Registrar).
  2. Find the Nameservers setting for your domain.
  3. Switch from Default or your current nameservers to Custom Nameservers.
  4. Enter the Ultra Web Hosting nameservers from your welcome email (typically dns1.ultrawebhosting.com and dns2.ultrawebhosting.com).
  5. Save.

Propagation typically takes 5 to 30 minutes when TTLs were lowered ahead of time, sometimes a few hours at most.

Method 2: Record-by-Record Change

  1. Log into your current DNS provider's zone editor.
  2. Update the A record for the root domain (@) to your new shared IP.
  3. Update the A record for www to the same IP (or leave it as a CNAME to @ if it already is).
  4. If migrating email, update the MX records. The new values are shown in cPanel under Email Routing or your welcome email.
  5. Update or add your SPF record (a TXT record). See DKIM & SPF Records for the new value.
  6. Update or add your DKIM record (also a TXT). cPanel publishes one automatically; copy it from Email Deliverability.
  7. Save all changes.

While Cutover Is In Progress

For 5 to 30 minutes (or longer if TTLs were not lowered), some visitors will hit the old server and some will hit the new one. This is normal and expected. Keep both servers running.

Verification After Cutover

  1. Check that your domain resolves to the new IP from your machine: nslookup yourdomain.com or dig yourdomain.com.
  2. Check from outside your network: use dnschecker.org to confirm the new IP is showing globally.
  3. Load the site in your browser. Hard-refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) if needed.
  4. Send a test email to a migrated mailbox from outside (Gmail or your phone). Confirm it arrives at the new server.
  5. Send a test email from the migrated mailbox to an outside address. Confirm it arrives and is not in spam.
  6. Run one final IMAP sync if you migrated mail (see Email Migration) to catch anything that arrived at the old host during the switchover.
  7. If AutoSSL has not issued a certificate yet, force a run: in cPanel, open SSL/TLS Status and click Run AutoSSL.

Things People Forget

If Something Goes Wrong

The cutover is reversible. You can change DNS back to the old host's IPs (or old nameservers) at any time. Because you lowered TTLs in advance, the revert will also propagate in minutes.

If the site is up but acting weird, open a support ticket with the exact symptoms and which URL you are seeing them at. We can usually diagnose within minutes.

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