How can I access my domain name before DNS propagation is complete?

DNS propagation can take up to 24-48 hours. Until it is complete, you may not be able to put your domain name into your browser or SCP client and have it find the new server properly. To bypass DNS, you can edit the local "hosts" file on your computer. The host's file contains manual IP address to domain name mappings, replicating the function of a DNS server.

When you first open the host's file, you should see an entry that looks like this:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

Add a new line in the same format for your domain:

ip.ad.re.ss www.example.com example.com

where "ip.ad.re.ss" is the new IP address on our server for your domain, and "example.com" is your actual domain name. (You can find the IP address in cPanel, which you log into using the host.a2hosting.com/cpanel URL sent to you in your welcome email).

On Windows computers, the host's file is located at C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
On Mac and Linux computers, the file is located at /etc/hosts

This file is a "plain text" file, so use a text editor and not a word processor like Word to edit it.

Remember to remove this entry after a few days, once DNS propagation is complete.