A domain alias makes an additional domain name serve exactly the same content as your main domain. Visitors to example.net see the same site as example.com — same files, same server, no separate document root.
When to Use an Alias
- You own
example.comandexample.netand want both to reach the same site - You're rebranding and want to keep the old domain working during the transition
- You have country-specific variants (
example.co.uk,example.fr) pointing at a single site
If you want one domain to redirect to another (sending visitors to a different URL), use a redirect instead. Aliases serve identical content without changing the URL in the browser.
Adding an Alias
- In Hosting Mode, go to Domains → Aliases
- Click Add Alias
- Enter the alias domain (e.g.,
example.net) - Click Save
The Agent adds the alias domain to your main domain's Nginx vhost as an additional server_name. It also creates a DNS A record for the alias domain pointing to the server IP.
[!NOTE] The alias domain's DNS must be managed by this server (it must be in PowerDNS), or you need to manually point the alias domain's A record to this server at your domain's registrar.
SSL for Aliases
After adding the alias, issue an SSL certificate that covers both domains. Options:
- Issue a separate Let's Encrypt certificate for the alias domain — go to SSL and issue for
example.net - Use a custom certificate that covers both with a SAN (Subject Alternative Name)
Removing an Alias
Go to Domains → Aliases, find the alias, and click Remove. The Nginx vhost is updated and the DNS record is deleted.