Cloudflare can act as your DNS provider and (optionally) a reverse proxy for your website. This article explains the most common and safe setup when your website is hosted on GARMTECH, but DNS is managed in Cloudflare.
Two valid approaches
- Use GARMTECH DNS: set your domain’s nameservers to
ns1.garmtech.com, ns2.garmtech.com, ns3.garmtech.com and manage DNS records in Plesk.
- Use Cloudflare DNS: set nameservers to the Cloudflare ones and manage DNS records in Cloudflare (Plesk DNS will not be used).
Step 1 — Point the website to your GARMTECH hosting (Cloudflare DNS)
- Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard and open the domain.
- Go to DNS and create/verify these records:
- A record for
@ → your hosting server IP
- CNAME record for
www → @
- Where to find the IP:
- Open your hosting service in My.GARMTECH and check the server details, or
- In Plesk, open Websites & Domains → Hosting Settings (IP address).
Step 2 — Set the correct Cloudflare proxy mode
- For website records (
@, www) you can use Proxied (orange cloud) to enable Cloudflare caching and protection.
- Do not proxy email records. Records used for mail (MX, mail subdomains, autodiscover, etc.) must be DNS only (grey cloud).
Step 3 — Cloudflare SSL/TLS mode (very important)
- Make sure the domain has an active SSL certificate in Plesk (for example, Let’s Encrypt).
- In Cloudflare → SSL/TLS, set mode to Full (strict).
Avoid: SSL mode Flexible. It often causes redirect loops and “Not secure” warnings when the server is configured for HTTPS.
Step 4 — Prevent redirect loops (ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS)
- Choose one main place to force HTTPS:
- Recommended: enable HTTP→HTTPS redirection in Plesk, and keep Cloudflare “Always Use HTTPS” disabled, or
- Force HTTPS in Cloudflare, and keep Plesk redirection disabled.
- After changes, clear Cloudflare cache (Caching → Purge Everything) and test again.
Related articles
- Manage DNS records (A, CNAME, TXT, MX) in Plesk
- Enable free Let’s Encrypt SSL in Plesk
- Redirect HTTP to HTTPS in Plesk (HTTP→HTTPS)
