## Getting Started with Domain Access

Using a domain name is a straightforward way to assign meaningful names to your clusters, making them easier to identify and access.

This guide will help you set up and access your cluster through a domain.

## Load Balancer and DNS

If you don't already have a domain name, you will need to purchase one.

Access the [Hetzner console](https://console.hetzner.cloud) and create a Load Balancer in your project, removing the default service and giving it a meaningful name. Copy the IPv4 that was assigned to it.

{% youtube id="U6kyFbvPcwc" background="/images/thumbnails/creating-a-load-balancer.avif" /%}

The three available Load Balancer types are `lb11`, `lb21` and `lb31`:

| Type | Max concurrent connections | Services | Targets | Certificates |
| ---- | -------------------------- | -------- | ------- | ------------ |
| lb11 | 10000                      | 5        | 25      | 10           |
| lb21 | 20000                      | 15       | 75      | 25           |
| lb31 | 40000                      | 30       | 150     | 50           |

Possible values are `least_connections` and `round_robin`. If this variable is omitted, the default is `round_robin`.

{% callout type="note" %}
Syself Autopilot does not manage the lifecycle of this Load Balancer, only the addition/removal of targets.

If you delete the cluster, the Load Balancer will remain active on Hetzner.
{% /callout %}

Next, access your domain name registrar's dashboard and create an A record pointing to the Load Balancer IPv4. There is no need to create an AAAA record pointing to the LB's IPv6 since we are only using IPv4 in the cluster.

The DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours. If you want to check, you can use dig:

{% terminal height="5rem" steps="[\"dig your.domain.your-company.com\"]" /%}

The last step is to add the domain and Load Balancer name and type to the `Cluster` resource. Add the following items in `spec.topology.variables`:

```yaml {% persistBlur=true %}
/// cluster.yaml
apiVersion: cluster.x-k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: mycluster
spec:
  topology:
    class: hetzner-apalla-1-34-v6
    version: 1.34
    controlPlane:
      replicas: 3
    workers:
      machineDeployments:
        - class: workeramd64hcloud
          name: md-0
          replicas: 1
          failureDomain: nbg1
          variables:
            overrides:
              - name: workerMachineTypeHcloud
                value: cpx42
    variables:
      - name: region
        value: nbg1
      - name: controlPlaneMachineTypeHcloud
        value: cpx42
      - name: clusterEndpointHost // [!code focus]
        value: 'your.domain.your-company.com' // [!code focus]
      - name: clusterLoadBalancerType // [!code focus]
        value: 'lb11' // [!code focus]
      - name: clusterLoadBalancerName // [!code focus]
        value: 'tutorial-lb' // [!code focus]
```

{% callout type="info" %}
It is not possible to change the domain name of a provisioned cluster.
{% /callout %}