The Nxeon Blog

Guides for people who run their own servers.

Straight-talking tutorials and comparisons on VPS hosting, game servers, Linux and security. No fluff, just what actually works. 346 guides from the team that runs the servers.

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12 guides for “wildcard” · Clear search
Networking · 5 min read ·

How to Point a Subdomain to a Different App or Port

Run several apps on one VPS, each on its own subdomain — api.yourdomain.com, app.yourdomain.com — using a reverse proxy. DNS plus the Nginx and Caddy configs.

Email · 5 min read ·

How to Set Up a Catch-All Email Address

A catch-all captures mail sent to any address at your domain — even ones that don't exist. Here's how to set one up, the real risks, and smarter alternatives.

Domains · 5 min read ·

How to Create a Staging Subdomain for Your Site

Test changes safely on staging.yourdomain.com before they hit production. Here's the DNS, the web-server config, the SSL, and how to keep bots and Google out.

Domains · 5 min read ·

How to Set Up a CAA Record for Your Domain

A CAA record tells certificate authorities which of them are allowed to issue SSL certs for your domain — a simple, powerful guard against mis-issuance.

Domains · 5 min read ·

How to Set Up a Wildcard Subdomain on a VPS

A wildcard subdomain catches every subdomain at once — ideal for multi-tenant apps and dynamic subdomains. Here's the DNS record, the wildcard SSL cert, and the Nginx config.

Domains · 6 min read ·

How to Set Up an A Record for Your Server

The A record is the single most important DNS record for pointing a domain at a server. Here's exactly what it does, how to add one, and how to test it.

Domains · 5 min read ·

How to Set Up DNS on GoDaddy for a VPS

Point a GoDaddy domain at your VPS with the right A and CNAME records. Clear steps through GoDaddy's DNS Management panel, including its @ and Nameserver quirks.

Domains · 6 min read ·

How to Set Up DNS on Namecheap for a VPS

Point a Namecheap-registered domain at your VPS with the correct A and CNAME records, using Namecheap's BasicDNS panel — no jargon, just the exact values.

Security · 4 min read ·

How to Get a Free SSL Certificate with Certbot

Secure any site with a free, auto-renewing Let's Encrypt certificate using Certbot on Ubuntu 24.04 — for Nginx or Apache.

Domains · 3 min read ·

Wildcard DNS and catch-all subdomains explained

One record to handle every subdomain? That's a wildcard. Here's how *.example.com works, when to use it, and the pitfalls to avoid.

Hosting · 3 min read ·

How to get free SSL for a custom domain

The padlock is free and automatic with Let's Encrypt. Here's how HTTPS certificates work and how to secure your custom domain at no cost.

Domains · 3 min read ·

Subdomains explained: what they are and how to use them

blog.example.com, app.example.com, shop.example.com — subdomains let one domain host many things. Here's how they work and when to use one.

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