Pointing a subdomain at your cloud VICIdial box

Once your cloud VICIdial server is running, you need a hostname agents and admins can type into a browser. Using a raw IP address works for a quick test, but it prevents you from getting a valid TLS certificate, and it means your agents are memorizing a string of numbers. A subdomain A record fixes both problems and takes about five minutes to configure.

This guide covers the DNS side. For the broader context of running VICIdial on a cloud server, start with running VICIdial in the cloud.

What you need before touching DNS

You need three things: the public IP address of your VPS (a Virtual Private Server VPS, the cloud server running your VICIdial install), access to the DNS management panel for a domain you control, and a chosen subdomain name. Something like dialer.yourcompany.com or calls.yourcompany.com is typical. Avoid subdomains that are hard to type on a phone keyboard — agents use this URL every shift.

Creating the A record

flowchart TD
  A[Get server public IP] --> B[Open DNS panel for your domain]
  B --> C[Add A record: subdomain points to IP]
  C --> D[Set TTL to 300 seconds]
  D --> E[Save and wait for propagation]
  E --> F{dig subdomain returns correct IP?}
  F -->|Yes| G[Proceed to TLS certificate]
  F -->|No| H[Wait a few more minutes and re-check]

In your DNS panel, create an A record with the subdomain as the host field and your server's IPv4 address as the value. Set the TTL (time-to-live) to 300 seconds (5 minutes) while you are setting things up. A short TTL means you can correct mistakes quickly without waiting an hour for caches to expire. Once the setup is stable, you can raise it to 3600 or higher.

# Verify propagation from your server or workstation
dig A dialer.yourcompany.com +short
# Should return your server's public IP

Do not proxy the subdomain through a CDN

If your DNS is managed through a service that offers a proxy or CDN mode — orange cloud, Cloudflare's term — turn it off for this subdomain. A CDN proxy is designed for HTTP traffic and terminates the connection at an edge node. SIP and RTP RTP traffic needs to reach your server directly. A CDN in front of a VICIdial box will mangle the SIP signaling and block the UDP media ports that carry audio. Use DNS-only mode: a plain A record pointing straight at your server IP.

Branded subdomains on managed hosting

If you are on a managed VICIdial platform, your provider may give you a branded subdomain Branded subdomain — a hostname under the provider's domain, like yourteam.vicifast.com. This is provisioned automatically and already has a valid TLS certificate. You can optionally point your own custom subdomain at the server as well, though you then need to handle certificate issuance yourself. The automatic branded subdomain is the faster path to a usable HTTPS URL.

Static IPs and what happens when the server restarts

Most cloud providers assign IP addresses that persist as long as the server exists but may change if you delete and rebuild the instance. Check whether your provider offers a static (reserved) IP that you can re-assign to a new instance if you ever need to rebuild the box. If you are self-managing VICIdial, reserving a static IP and pointing your DNS A record at that — rather than at the instance's default address — means a rebuild does not require a DNS change and another round of propagation waiting.

Your carrier's SIP trunk is also IP-authenticated IP authentication in most cases: the carrier only accepts SIP from a known source IP. If the server IP changes, you will need to update the allowed IP on the carrier's portal. Having a reserved static IP avoids this extra step. Keep a note of the IP in your operations runbook alongside the carrier credential details.

After DNS is working

Once your subdomain resolves to the correct IP, the next step is issuing a TLS certificate so agents reach the admin panel over HTTPS. Read free TLS certificates for a cloud VICIdial box for that process. If you would rather skip the DNS and certificate work entirely, VICIfast plans handle both automatically when the server is provisioned.