Resolving to www of root domain

This guide provides an overview of how to set up a custom domain on a Production Instance using platformOS's DNS web service, as well as create and provision an AWS SSL certificate for your Instance.

Follow along in text form below.

Requirements

To be able to set up a production domain on the Partner Portal, you have to have access to the Partner Portal, have a production Instance, and you should be familiar with the recommended development workflow.

• Register on the Partner Portal
• Create an Instance
• Development Workflow

There are a couple things to consider before you add a custom domain to your platformOS production Instance:

1. A domain can only be added on a production data center. This means that you cannot set up an additional domain on a staging data center Instance.
2. PlatformOS Instances require the ability to apply a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to a DNS record. If your DNS management service does not allow for that, you will need to change providers or opt to use the free fully integrated hosted zone that is provided to you as a benefit of hosting with platformOS. When setting up your custom domain, this is the first decision you must make.
3. We automatically provision and deploy AWS SSL certificates when you add a domain to a platformOS Instance. To apply custom SSL certificates, please contact [email protected] and we will assist further.

Let's begin.

platformOS DNS and resolving to www of root domain (example: https://www.example.com)

1. Sign into your domain registrar and export your zone file, or save your current DNS records (if any) off to the side so you can add them to the platformOS hosted zone in a later step.
2. Go to the Instance detail page in the platformOS Partner Portal: https://partners.platformos.com
3. Click Domains.
4. Click Add new domain to your Instance.
5. Click DNS Zone.
6. Add your root domain name (do not add www), check the box if this will be your default domain, and finally click Create DNS Zone.
7. From the Domains page, you'll want to refresh the page every few minutes until the status of the new domain changes to reparking_domain. Once it does, click view.
8. Now, add all your DNS records (if any) to the newly created DNS Zone by clicking add additional record to add each new record. This is all done offline so this won't impact your current live settings if your domain is currently in use. When done, click Commit DNS Changes.

When you are ready to "Go Live", please continue.

9. Update the nameservers in your domain registrar and click Save.
10. Once the nameservers are recognized in your domain registrar, click I have changed Name Servers on the DNS Zone page in your partner portal.
11. Depending on how quickly the nameserver changes propagate, (from a few minutes, to a few hours), you may have to click I have changed Name Servers a few times and refresh the page a few times. Do not be concerned if some of the records you created in the hosted zone appear and dissappear in the first few minutes after you update the nameservers. Once the Hosted Zone recognizes the change in nameservers, the stats for all your records should be OK and you should be all set.

Congratulations! An SSL certificate has been created and applied to your Instance and your domain is now LIVE!

The importance of adding DKIM and SPF to your "Go Live"

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) are two crucial email authentication methods that play a pivotal role in ensuring the deliverability and security of email messages. DKIM adds a digital signature to outbound emails, verifying that the message was sent from an authorized domain and has not been tampered with during transit. SPF, on the other hand, specifies which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of a domain. Together, these authentication mechanisms help prevent email spoofing, phishing attacks, and ensure that legitimate emails are more likely to reach their intended recipients' inboxes. In a world rife with email-based threats and spam, DKIM and SPF are essential tools for organizations and email providers to maintain trust, protect their brand reputation, and improve the chances of their messages reaching recipients' mailboxes instead of being flagged as potential threats or spam.