---
title: Node Provider Domain Name Guide
slug: node-domain-name-guide
description: How to assign domain names and DNS records to IPv4-enabled node machines, with a walk-through of a typical Cloudflare configuration.
tags:
  - node-provider
  - dns
  - networking
  - ipv4
  - ipv6
  - infrastructure
date: 2026-05-04
related:
  - node-provider-documentation
  - node-networking-guide
  - data-center-and-isp-guide
---

Each IPv4-enabled node machine needs a domain name with matching DNS
records. Providers do not need to register a separate domain per node —
a single domain with per-node subdomains is the conventional pattern.

## Naming convention

The recommended pattern is:

```
nodeX.<dc>.<domain>
```

Where `nodeX` identifies the machine within the rack, `<dc>` is a short
identifier for the data center, and `<domain>` is a domain the provider
controls. For example:

```
node1.aa3.nodeprovider.com
```

## DNS records to create

For each IPv4-enabled node, create two records:

| Type   | Points to     | Purpose            |
| ------ | ------------- | ------------------ |
| `A`    | IPv4 address  | IPv4 connectivity  |
| `AAAA` | IPv6 address  | IPv6 connectivity  |

The IPv4 and IPv6 addresses come from the deployment terminal output
when the node is provisioned with IC-OS.

## Setup steps

1. **Collect the IP addresses** for the node from the IC-OS deployment
   output.
2. **Create the `A` and `AAAA` records** at the DNS provider, using the
   `nodeX.<dc>.<domain>` subdomain pattern above.
3. **Verify the records** propagate and resolve to the intended
   addresses (see Verification, below).

## Cloudflare walkthrough

Cloudflare is one common choice and the upstream guide walks through it
specifically. The flow is:

1. Create a free Cloudflare account.
2. Add the domain to the Cloudflare dashboard.
3. Update the nameservers at the original DNS registrar to the
   Cloudflare nameservers Cloudflare assigns.
4. Wait for nameserver propagation.
5. In the Cloudflare DNS panel, add an `A` record and an `AAAA` record
   for each node, using the `nodeX.<dc>` subdomain and the IPv4 / IPv6
   addresses from deployment.

Other DNS providers follow the same shape — only the dashboard differs.

## Verification

Once the records are in place, confirm them from a machine outside the
data center.

**Resolve the records:**

```bash
dig A nodeX.<dc>.<domain> +short
dig AAAA nodeX.<dc>.<domain> +short
```

**Test reachability:**

```bash
ping  nodeX.<dc>.<domain>
ping6 nodeX.<dc>.<domain>
```

The output of the `dig` commands must match the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
the node was provisioned with. The `ping` and `ping6` commands must
reach the machine.

> [!TIP]
> If the records resolve correctly but the pings fail, the most likely
> cause is upstream packet filtering. Per the
> [Networking Guide](/wiki/node-networking-guide/), node traffic must
> not be filtered upstream of IC-OS.

## Related

- [Node Provider Documentation](/wiki/node-provider-documentation/)
- [Node Provider Networking Guide](/wiki/node-networking-guide/)
- [Data Center and ISP Guide](/wiki/data-center-and-isp-guide/)