Connect an IONOS domain (CNAME, A record and DNS conflicts)

Did you buy your domain at IONOS, or does IONOS manage its DNS? This guide shows, step by step, where to create in IONOS the records Acatudy asks for.

Before you start

• In Acatudy, go to My academy → General → Details & domain, type your address in Your own domain (for example www.brightpathtutoring.com) and click Add domain. A custom domain is included in Basic and Professional (1 domain) and Institutional (3 domains).
• Open How do I link my domain? on that card and keep it at hand: it shows your CNAME target (like brightpath.acatudy.com) and the IP address for a root domain.
• IONOS's help says that its nameservers must be in use for DNS changes made in IONOS to take effect. If the domain uses other nameservers (for example Cloudflare), create the records there.

Step 1. Open your DNS records at IONOS

1. Open Domains & SSL

   Sign in to IONOS and open Domains & SSL.

2. Open the DNS settings

   Next to your domain, under Actions, click the menu icon (IONOS's articles show it as a gear or a three-dots menu) and select DNS.

3. Add a record

   Click Add record, choose the record type and fill in the fields. Finish with Save.

Step 2. Point www to your academy (CNAME)

Add this record (or edit the existing www record if there is one):

Choose CNAME, type www as the Host name (never the full domain) and your academy address in Points to. IONOS shows a warning if the new record conflicts with an existing one: a CNAME can't coexist with A, AAAA, MX, TXT or another CNAME on the same name.

Using another subdomain, such as learn? Use it as the name instead of www, and add that same address in Acatudy. With this CNAME no TXT record is needed.

Step 3. Remove records that get in the way

• IONOS's help: if an A record already exists (for example one pointing to the IONOS parked domain page), edit or delete it; only one A record may be active for the main domain. If that A record belongs to an IONOS service, deactivate the service first.
• IONOS automatically assigns an AAAA (IPv6) address to your domain. Delete it with the trash icon on the name you point to Acatudy.
• If the domain or www uses IONOS forwarding, remove it from that name.

Don't touch MX, SPF or DKIM records: they run your email.

Step 4 (optional). The root domain

brightpathtutoring.com (without www) and www.brightpathtutoring.com are one domain: if the root also points to Acatudy, it works on its own, redirects (301) to the address you added keeping the path, shares its HTTPS certificate and doesn't count as an extra domain. So you no longer need to forward the root to www from IONOS.

Create the A record on the root

If you set up Domain Forwarding on the domain (Adjust Destination), remove it first, together with the DNS entries IONOS created for it: they conflict with the A record. Since www already has the CNAME, the root doesn't need the TXT. Create this record, replacing any existing A record on the root:

IONOS's help: for the main domain, never enter the full domain name; type @ or leave the field empty. IONOS advises against a CNAME on the root and doesn't document ALIAS records, so use the A record.

Prefer the root as your main address? Add brightpathtutoring.com in Acatudy instead of www, create the same A record and the TXT record (see below). If you also create the CNAME on www, www redirects to the root and the TXT isn't needed.

Step 5. Verify in Acatudy and get HTTPS

1. Wait for propagation

   IONOS's help says DNS changes usually take effect within an hour (its Spanish CNAME article mentions up to 48 hours). The TTL field is optional: leave the default.

2. Verification is automatic

   Acatudy checks pending domains every 10 minutes for 14 days. To check right away, click Verify on the Your own domain card: the badge changes from pending to verified.

3. HTTPS is automatic too

   Once verified, we issue a free Let's Encrypt certificate and renew it for you, usually within minutes (we retry every hour if the DNS isn't ready). There's nothing to install at IONOS.

4. Check it yourself (optional)

   Run nslookup -type=CNAME www.brightpathtutoring.com in a terminal, or use Google's Admin Toolbox Dig: the answer should be your academy address.

The TXT record (required with an A record on the root)

If you use an A record on the root, Acatudy requires a TXT record to prove the domain is yours (the IP address is shared by all academies). With the CNAME on www you don't need it, not even for the root. The card shows its Host (e.g. _acatudy-verify.brightpathtutoring.com) and Value (acatudy-verify=…).

Choose TXT and paste the value. Don't type the full domain in Host name (remove .yourdomain.com), and don't use @ here: in IONOS's TXT article, @ works as a wildcard for all subdomains.

Common problems at IONOS

Still not verified after 24 hours, or verified without HTTPS? Open a ticket in Support from your panel with the domain and a screenshot of your DNS records at IONOS (see Support and response times).

Official documentation and related guides

IONOS official documentation consulted for this guide:

• Configuring a CNAME record for a subdomain
• Changing a domain's IPv4/IPv6 address (A/AAAA record)
• Managing TXT records
• Avoiding DNS conflicts
• DNS settings (all articles)
• Forwarding a domain to a different domain

In Acatudy: Connect your domain: guides by provider (www vs root, nameservers, TTL and troubleshooting) and Connect your own domain.