Create zone apex record
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When you add a domain to Cloudflare, you may also need to create or review the DNS record on your zone apex. Zone apex refers to the domain (example.com) or subdomain (blog.example.com) that you are adding to Cloudflare.
Usually, the zone apex record makes your domain accessible by visitors. In this case, the necessary record type (A, AAAA, or CNAME) and its content will depend on the provider that hosts your website or application. If you are using Cloudflare Pages, refer to Custom domains. If you are using other providers, look for their guidance on how to connect domains managed on external DNS services.
ANAME or ALIAS
ANAME or ALIAS are DNS records used by specific DNS providers. If your previous provider was using ANAME or ALIAS, you can recreate these records on Cloudflare as CNAME records. Cloudflare's CNAME flattening1 allows you to create CNAME records at your zone apex, removing the need for those other record types.
Zone apex record
To create a zone apex record, use @ for the record Name, as in the following example.
Type Name IPv4 address Proxy status
A @ 192.0.2.1 Proxied
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API
Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard ↗ and select your account and zone.
Go to DNS > Records and select Add record.
Select A, AAAA, or CNAME as the record Type, according to your needs:
To point to an IPv4 address, select A, use your zone apex (@) for the record Name, and insert the IPv4 address in the respective field.
To point to an IPv6 address, select AAAA, use your zone apex (@) for the record Name, and insert the IPv6 address in the respective field.
To point to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) ↗ (such as your-site.host.example.com), select CNAME, use your zone apex (@) for the record Name, and insert the fully qualified domain name in the Target field.
Specify the Proxy status and TTL according to your needs.
Select Save to confirm.
Domain redirects
Once you create a domain, you may want to route that traffic to other places.
For more guidance, refer to Redirect domain to subdomain or Redirect one domain to another.
Get free SSL certificates
While DNS is what communicates where your website or application can be reached, SSL/TLS is what enables websites and applications to establish connections in a secure way.
If your domain is not correctly covered by an SSL/TLS certificate, your visitors will find a warning on their browser stating that your website or application is not secure.
Cloudflare offers free, unshared, publicy trusted Universal SSL certificates to all Cloudflare domains.
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