By now, you should have completed Step 1 (registering your domain), but if you haven’t, go ahead and complete it before proceeding to this step. I am using NameSilo as my domain registrar.

Step 2: Configure DNS Settings For Your Domain
We now need to configure the DNS settings for your domain, so that anyone accessing your domain from the browser will be able to get to the content stored in your VPS. Be sure to log into your NameSilo account first. On the upper right hand corner of the page, click on Manage My Domains.

You will now see your domain manager along with the domain you have registered. Click on the round blue button in the Options column to configure the DNS settings for your domain.

You should see the existing resource records that NameSilo has created for you. Note that your domain currently directs to a default NameSilo parking page. We need to change that and let it point to your VPS instead.

See the big red crosses for each entry in the Delete column? Yup, click on them!

Now, in the Add/Edit a Resource Record box, click on A to associate your domain name with the IP address of your VPS. Leave the first box blank, and enter your VPS’s IP address in the second box, as shown in the image below. Click the big orange Submit button once you are done.

Next, click on CNAME in the Add/Edit a Resource Record box to associate www.yourdomain.com to yourdomain.com, so that both www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com will both direct to the same home page. Type in www into the first box, and your domain name in the second box, as shown in the image below. Finally, click on the big orange Submit button when you are done.

You should now see two lines in the Existing Resource Records box, reflecting the changes you just made.

Now you are done with the DNS settings! After some time (I would give it 2 hours conservatively, but you may always try to check back earlier), typing in the domain name in your browser will direct to your VPS. In the next step in this series, I will show you how to install WordPress in your VPS and direct your domain to your WordPress site!

Do note that NameSilo will publish the DNS changes every 15 minutes, but you may need to wait longer for these links to work properly due to browser or DNS cache.