How To Setup Wildcard DNS To View Content of cPanel Accounts

Need to view content and work with your customer account prior to customer updating the DNS?

This simple 7 step tutorial will show you how to do just that!

STEP 1: Register a domain that you do NOT intend to use for anything else. For example, if your domain is mycompany.com, register a brand new domain called:
mycompany.NET or dev-mycompany.com. That way you have a domain that is easy to remember. Domains are very inexpensive now a days! For this example, we are using CloudFlare. You can use any registrar if you like, but you need to use 'their' external DNS and not NameHero dns!

If you have registered your domain name with Cloudflare as in this example, navigate to the DNS settings and add a Wildcard DNS entry like so...

A wildcard A record is an asterisk and then the IP address of your Reseller account.



You only need to do this one time. And just this one wildcard A record for this domain. That's it. You won't need to do anything else in the external dns. The rest is all in cPanel!

STEP 2: Login to your customer's cpanel. Navigate to Domains, then click 'Add A New Domain'.




STEP 3: Now add the 'subdomain' like so... yourcustomer.your-cloud-flare-domain.com. In this example, I am using secureiserver.com. So I have added:
namehero-test.secureiserver.com. Be sure to check the box to 'share' the document root. Then click Submit!


STEP 4: Time to add the Free SSL! In cPanel, navigate to SSL/TLS Status!


STEP 5: Since we are only going to be using the initial A record for this temporary domain, click on exclue on the domains we are not going to be using. In this case, mail.namehero-test.secureiserver.com and www.namehero-test.secureiserver.com.


Once those additional domains are excluded, click on the Run AutoSSL!


STEP 6: Once the green SSL is done you are good! This process can take about 20-30 min depending on the server load and cPanel CA.

STEP 7: You're done! Go visit your website!

Updated on: 21/04/2025