How to Connect Your VPS to Cloudflare (#5 Easy Steps) (2025)

You are running a website on a VPS.

It is fast, it is yours, but something’s off.

Maybe it is loading slower than you’d like.

Or you are sweating about hackers and DDoS attacks.

You’ve heard Cloudflare can help—speed things up, lock it down.

But how do you actually connect your VPS to Cloudflare?

And how do you make it work without screwing it up?

I’m gonna walk you through it.

Why Truehost is Your VPS Go-To

Before we talk about this, let’s talk about where your VPS lives.

You need a solid foundation—something fast, reliable, and cheap.

That’s where Truehost comes in.

They are the best and cheapest VPS hosting provider out there.

I’m not just saying that—they’ve got Intel Xeon and AMD Ryzen processors, 512 GB RAM, and NVMe SSDs that scream speed.

Plus, 100MB/s unthrottled bandwidth and 99.999% uptime.

It’s like renting a Ferrari for the price of a bike.

Why does this matter?

Because a great VPS + Cloudflare is a combo that makes your site untouchable.

Truehost sets you up to win, and Cloudflare takes it to the next level.

Why Connect Your VPS to Cloudflare?

Let’s get real.

Your VPS is powerful, but it’s not bulletproof.

Cloudflare’s like hiring a security guard and a delivery guy in one.

It protects your site from attacks, speeds up load times, and saves you bandwidth.

Here’s what you’re solving:

Slow load times: Nobody waits for a sluggish site. Cloudflare’s CDN caches your content globally.
Hackers and DDoS attacks: They’re out there, trying to ruin your day. Cloudflare blocks them.
High server costs: Offloading traffic to Cloudflare means your VPS works less, saving you cash.

I once helped a buddy with an e-commerce site.

His VPS was chugging under traffic spikes.

Customers bounced, sales tanked.

We hooked up Cloudflare, and his site loaded in under two seconds.

Sales doubled. True story.

Step-by-Step: Connecting Your VPS to Cloudflare

Alright, let’s get your VPS and Cloudflare talking.

This is the exact process.

Follow it, and you’re golden.

Step 1: Sign Up for Cloudflare

Head to Cloudflare.com.
Create an account. It’s free.
Add your domain name (e.g., yoursite.com).
Pick the free plan unless you need fancy features.
Cloudflare will scan your DNS records. Review them. Make sure they’re correct.

Pro tip: If you’re unsure about DNS, don’t sweat it.

Cloudflare’s dashboard is dummy-proof.

When I set this up for a client’s blog, it took 10 minutes.

No tech degree needed.

Step 2: Point Your Domain to Cloudflare

Your domain’s nameservers need to point to Cloudflare.

This tells the internet, “Hey, Cloudflare’s handling my traffic.”

Log in to your domain registrar (e.g., Namecheap, GoDaddy).
Find the DNS settings or nameserver section.
Replace the existing nameservers with Cloudflare’s (they’ll give you two, like ns1.cloudflare.com and ns2.cloudflare.com).
Save the changes.

This can take 24-48 hours to propagate.

Grab a coffee, it is out of your hands.

My buddy’s site took 12 hours to switch over.

He checked it obsessively, but it worked fine.

Step 3: Update Your DNS Records

Now, you need to tell Cloudflare where your VPS lives.

This is done with an A record.

In Cloudflare’s dashboard, go to the DNS section.
Add an A record:
- Type: A
- Name: Your domain (e.g., yoursite.com or @ for root).
- IPv4 Address: Your VPS’s IP address (check your Truehost dashboard).
- Proxy Status: Turn on the orange cloud (this enables Cloudflare’s protection).
If you use subdomains (e.g., www.yoursite.com), add a CNAME record:
- Type: CNAME
- Name: www
- Target: yoursite.com
Save everything.

I messed this up once.

Forgot to turn on the proxy.

The site was still fast, but no security.

Don’t skip the orange cloud.

Step 4: Secure Your Connection with SSL/TLS

Cloudflare makes your site HTTPS, which is non-negotiable.

Nobody trusts a site without that padlock.

Go to Cloudflare’s SSL/TLS section.
Set it to Full (Strict).
This encrypts traffic from your users to Cloudflare and Cloudflare to your VPS.
If your VPS doesn’t have an SSL certificate, Cloudflare can issue one for free.

A client of mine skipped this.

Google flagged his site as “not secure.”

Traffic dropped 30% overnight.

Don’t be that guy.

Step 5: Install Cloudflared (Optional for Private Networks)

Want to lock down your VPS even more? Use Cloudflare Tunnel to create a private connection.

Install cloudflared on your VPS. Run: wget https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i cloudflared-linux-amd64.deb
Authenticate it with: cloudflared tunnel login
Create a tunnel: cloudflared tunnel create <tunnel-name>
Configure the tunnel to point to your VPS’s private IP range.
Start the tunnel: cloudflared tunnel run <tunnel-name>

This is like giving your VPS a secret handshake.

Only Cloudflare gets in.

I set this up for a fintech startup.

Their security guy slept better at night.

Strategies to Max Out Your VPS + Cloudflare Combo

Connecting is just the start.

Here’s how to make it sing.

These are the strategies that separate the pros from the amateurs.

Optimize Performance

Cloudflare’s CDN is your speed booster. But you gotta set it up right.

Enable caching: In Cloudflare’s Caching tab, set the caching level to Standard.
Purge cache when updating: New content? Clear the cache so users see it.
Use Page Rules: Set rules to cache static files (images, CSS, JS) for longer.
Minimize redirects: Too many redirects slow things down. Check your DNS records.

I worked with a photographer whose site was crawling.

Huge images, no caching.

We set up Cloudflare’s caching, and load times dropped from 8 seconds to 2.

Her clients stopped complaining.

Beef Up Security

Hackers don’t sleep. Cloudflare’s your first line of defense.

Turn on DDoS protection: It’s automatic with Cloudflare. Just double-check it’s active.
Enable WAF (Web Application Firewall): Blocks sketchy requests. Free plan has basic rules.
Limit VPS access: In your Truehost firewall, only allow Cloudflare IPs.
- Get the IP list from Cloudflare’s docs.
- Example: iptables -A INPUT -s <Cloudflare-IP-range> -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT.
Rate limiting: Stop bots from hammering your site. Set it in Cloudflare’s Security tab.

A small business I helped got hit by a bot attack.

Their VPS was choking.

Cloudflare’s WAF stopped it cold.

No downtime, no drama.

Save Bandwidth (and Money)

Your VPS isn’t a bottomless pit. Cloudflare offloads traffic to keep costs down.

Cache everything you can: Static files like images and scripts should live on Cloudflare’s edge servers.
Use Argo Smart Routing: Paid feature, but it routes traffic faster. Worth it for high-traffic sites.
Monitor bandwidth: Truehost’s dashboard shows your usage. Keep an eye on it.

A blogger I know cut his bandwidth bill by 40% with Cloudflare.

He used the savings to buy better hosting.

Smart move.

Handle Overlapping IPs (For Advanced Users)

Got multiple VPSs with the same IP range?

Cloudflare’s virtual networks save the day.

Create separate virtual networks for each VPS (e.g., staging-vnet, production-vnet).
Assign tunnels to each network.
Use the WARP client to switch between them.

This saved a dev team I worked with from IP conflicts.

They had two VPSs for testing and production.

Cloudflare kept it clean.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

I’ve seen people mess this up.

Don’t be them.

Forgetting to update nameservers: Your domain won’t work with Cloudflare if you skip this.
Leaving proxy off: That orange cloud is your friend. Turn it on.
Ignoring SSL: HTTP sites are dead in 2025. Use Full (Strict).
Not checking DNS propagation: Be patient. It takes time.
Skipping firewall rules: If your VPS is wide open, hackers will find it.

One guy I helped forgot the proxy.

His site was fast but got hit by a DDoS attack.

Took him offline for a day.

Lesson learned.

Wrapping It Up

Connecting your VPS to Cloudflare isn’t rocket science.

It’s a few steps, some clicks, and a bit of patience.

Do it right, and your site’s faster, safer, and cheaper to run.

Start with a killer VPS from Truehost.

Their speed and uptime make Cloudflare’s job easier.

Then follow the steps: sign up, point your domain, update DNS, secure it, and optimize.

How to Connect Your VPS to Cloudflare (#5 Easy Steps)