Locaweb: pointing a domain to us

This article is deliberately short. We hold no Locaweb account and we are not going to describe screens we have not seen. What we give you is what we know to be true without logging into their panel, and that is enough to get the job done.

If the domain is a .br, it stays where it is. We do not register or transfer .br domains: no Brazilian extension is on our list. What changes is where the domain points, and the hosting becomes ours; the domain goes on being managed and paid for there. If the domain you hold at Locaweb is not a .br, then it can come here: see how to transfer a domain to us.
Before you touch anything: your e-mail moves too. Changing nameservers does not just change where the site points. It moves the whole zone, and mail is part of the zone. If your mailboxes live where the domain lives, or with any other service, they stop receiving a minute later. If the e-mail is to stay where it is, do not touch the nameservers: edit the zone instead and change only the record for the website. The difference between the two is right below.

What is particular to this one

Particular What it means for you
Sells domain, hosting and e-mail in one place It is easy to change the wrong product. Before you save, confirm whether you are in the domain or in the hosting: they are separate contracts, and cancelling one does not touch the other.
Their nameservers carry their own name We measured it: dig NS locaweb.com.br returns names ending in locaweb.com.br. If dig NS on your domain returns that, the zone is being read there.
If the domain is .br, the registry is what publishes There is no intermediate registrar in .br: the delegation lives at the national registry, and a provider only acts on your behalf. If a change made in their panel does not show up from outside, the place to make it is the registry. See pointing a .br domain to us.
If the e-mail is theirs, the e-mail is the fragile part Switching nameservers leaves those mailboxes with no MX a minute later. If the mail stays there, the nameservers stay too.

Start by asking from outside

Before you look for anything in their panel, run dig NS yourcompany.com (or nslookup -type=ns yourcompany.com on Windows). The answer tells you where the work is done, and saves you half an hour of searching in the wrong place.

The words to look for

To Look for
Change the nameservers DNS servers, Nameservers, external DNS, change servers. Type ours in and delete the ones that were there.
Edit the zone without changing nameservers DNS zone, Zone editor, Records, DNS entries. It is the list of A, CNAME, MX and TXT.
Work out where you are The account’s product or domain list, and the manage button next to the right domain.

Our nameservers are: dns1.mozout.com dns2.mozout.com dns3.mozout.com dns4.mozout.com

If their panel offers an option to point to another provider or to use third-party DNS, that is the one. While their own DNS is selected, the fields for outside names are usually hidden.

If only the site moves and the e-mail stays

Leave the nameservers alone. Open the zone wherever it is being read and change two records only: the A record for the bare domain (written @) and the www. MX and TXT are not touched. We give you the IP address to type, or you read it in cPanel.

Before any change, save the current zone. Run dig MX yourcompany.com, dig TXT yourcompany.com and dig A yourcompany.com and keep the answers in a file. If something goes wrong, that file is what lets you go back in minutes instead of days.

Checking

The panel showing the new value proves nothing. Run dig NS yourcompany.com and dig A yourcompany.com again. To see what we answer straight away, with no waiting on caches: dig @dns1.mozout.com A yourcompany.com. The rest is in how to check a domain DNS.

And if none of this matches what is on your screen? Tell us. This article is honest about what it does not know, and would rather be short than send you hunting for a button that may no longer exist. Send us a photograph of the screen and we will tell you where to type.

Send us the domain and a photograph of the screen you are stuck on. We will tell you exactly what to type.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Domain transfer

Hosting migration

Contact

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Register your .com domain

Secure your company name before someone else registers it. from R306.00/yr

Search a domain
  • 0 Users Found This Useful
Was this answer helpful?

Related Articles

How to check a domain DNS Checking a domain’s DNS means finding out where it currently points. It is the first step whenever a site will not open,...
How to find the hosting DNS Whenever you need to point a domain at your MozOut hosting, you will be asked for the nameservers - also called DNS serv...
How to configure a domain DNS Configuring DNS means telling the world where your domain should point. There are two levels, and it is worth separating...
How to migrate a site without downtime Changing hosting provider does not have to take your site offline. The trick is simple: set everything up here before po...
How to change the DNS of a domain already in use Changing the DNS of a domain that already works takes more care than setting up a new one. Here you are not starting fro...
Other registrars: the words to look for in any panel There are hundreds of registrars and no two panels look alike. Underneath the design, though, it is always the same mach...