I spent about an hour in support chat after a trouble ticket last weekend didn't answer my question... Simply, I have an account at smugmug.com that allows a custom domain. I need to set a DNS CNAME that takes both WWW and non-WWW traffic from my domain and sends it to domains.smugmug.com
I could set up a redirect to justinkaiser.smugmug.com however I don't want the viewer to see that address... Here is the transcript from my chat session.
Did I not describe this properly or with enough detail for support to not understand or is it simply not possible when other hosts like GoDaddy and Network Solutions will allow me to do this as described in their help section
Any insight would be helpful!
Justin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin Kaiser: I am using a CNAME for LatterDayPhoto.com to redirect www.latterdayphoto.com to a different server...
Justin Kaiser: If I don't use the WWW it doesn't work.
Justin Kaiser: I was told to set a Redirect in the Control Panel and it would work for both the WWW and non WWW...
Justin Kaiser: It didn't work
arijeet: Plesae update your ticket we will chcek it
Justin Kaiser: I don't see the ticket inside the Cerberus Helpdesk for my login... all of the tickets are very old...
Justin Kaiser: Do you have anything I can try to get this working?
arijeet: ok
arijeet: I am chceking
arijeet: let m know the domain name
arijeet: got it
Justin Kaiser: I just need them to both point to the same place... again, I'm using a CNAME to redirect to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: This is for LatterDayPhoto.com
arijeet: can i remove the CName record
arijeet: ?
Justin Kaiser: It is working fine for the WWW... why would we need to remove it?
Justin Kaiser: Yes, if it will fix it?
arijeet: just need to chcek
arijeet: will add it again
Justin Kaiser: OK
Justin Kaiser: They gave me an IP to use if the CNAME didn't work out, however, they said that if their IP changes it will break the link... that's why they prefer to use the CNAME...
arijeet: what is the index page of latterdayphoto.com?
Justin Kaiser: http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/
Justin Kaiser: It's not hosted on the Jodohost servers...
arijeet: you want to rediarect to justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: Yes, however, I don't want them to see the justinkaiser.smugmug.com address... I want them to see latterdayphoto.com in the browser bar...
Justin Kaiser: Thus the reason for the CNAME
Justin Kaiser: Support from SmugMug.com says... CNAME record for my domain to point to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: or
Justin Kaiser: Some registrars don't allow CNAMEs with @ symbols. They force you to use an A record instead. Our current IP address is 208.79.45.23 Gotcha: Our IP address might change in the future, causing an A record to break. This is why we recommend using a CNAME instead.
arijeet: IPlesae wait
arijeet: Just i need to confirm to want to rediarct LatterDayPhoto.com and www. LatterDayPhoto.com to http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/ right?
arijeet: and the url should show LatterDayPhoto.com
Justin Kaiser: Yes, correct.
Justin Kaiser: It was working fine for WWW. when I entered the CNAME for WWW as domains.smugmug.com but it was NOT working for non-WWW
arijeet: Sorry, i am confused
arijeet: you want to rediarct to domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: or
arijeet: http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/
Justin Kaiser: These are the directions from SmugMug...
Justin Kaiser: You will need to edit your existing setup so that your domains CNAME points to domains.smugmug.com instead of to www.smugmug.com. It must be exactly domains.smugmug.com do not put anything else in. DO NOT point your domain at yournickname.smugmug.com no matter how tempted you may be. It will not work.
Justin Kaiser: I want to be able to type in latterdayphoto.com AND www.latterdayphoto.com and have it go to the SmugMug hosted site but still say LatterDayphoto.com in the address bar
Justin Kaiser: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/CNAME+Custom+Domain+Name+Help
arijeet: I just want the domain name you want to redirect to ?
arijeet: i should be one domain name
arijeet: is it domains.smugmug.com or justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: It says the CNAME should be pointed to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: If it's set up properly their server will know to point it to justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: So, we either need to set an A Record to 208.79.45.23 or a CNAME to domains.smugmug.com to make it work... but when I do the CNAME I can't get the non-WWW to work
arijeet: is this subdomain "domains.smugmug.com" on dedicated ip
Justin Kaiser: I don't know... not dedicated to me... but apparently if I use the 208.79.45.23 address in an A record it will recognize that it comes from my domain and point it to the right page. I would prefer the CNAME route in case their IP changes in the future
arijeet: It is possible
arijeet: But you just need to confirm that domains.smugmug.com is on dedicated IP
arijeet: YOu can just add a A record in your domain latterdayphoto.com pointing to the IP of
arijeet: domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: Dedicated to my site alone? This is the address they give everyone for CNAME.
Justin Kaiser: How can I do it via CNAME?
arijeet: Why you want to do it with CNAME?
arijeet: When it can be done by A record
arijeet: it will take extra lookup by CNAME
Justin Kaiser: So that if their IP address changes in the future I don't have to change my DNS... it's taken care of automatically
arijeet: i any case if any time the IP of domains.smugmug.com changes to shared
Justin Kaiser: Simply, How do I use CNAME with wildcards since it doesn't accept *
arijeet: it will not work in any case
Justin Kaiser: I've got directions to make it work with hosting on GoDaddy, Joker, Network Solutions, Register.com, and Yahoo... you're telling me I can't do it with Jodohost/Hsphere?
arijeet: ok
Justin Kaiser: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/GoDaddy+CNAME+Setup
arijeet: Fine
arijeet: Just do this
arijeet: Deleted the A record of LatterDayphoto.com
arijeet: and add CNAME
arijeet: latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: both www.latterdayphoto.com and latterdayphoto.com will point to domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: but it will work if domains.smugmug.com in on dedicated IP
Justin Kaiser: There are 2 A records listed... do I delete both of them? there is *.latterdayphoto.com and latterdayphoto.com
arijeet: yes
Justin Kaiser: Are there any additional steps I need to take?
arijeet: NO
arijeet: just make sure domains.smugmug.com is on dedicated IP
Justin Kaiser: OK, also
arijeet: if is moved to shared ..it wont work
Justin Kaiser: When I go to add the CNAME, it needs something in the NAME box... that is where I typed WWW earlier and it worked... so do I type in LatterDayPhoto.com into that box... i.e. latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: If I do that it comes up as latterdayphoto.com.latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: It won't let me not type anything there and I can't put a * wildcard there.
arijeet: leave it balnk
arijeet: blank
Justin Kaiser: It doesn't allow me to do that... Error... NAMEL a correct CNAME Record Name...
arijeet: Yes
arijeet: i guess HSPhere dont allow to add CNAME that way
Justin Kaiser: It won't allow me to NOT TYPE ANYTHING in the box... The error checker in the page when I submit says that something needs to be typed in that box otherwise it won't accept it.
Justin Kaiser: OK, thanks. I'll take it to the forum... I appreciate the help and time.
arijeet: I think te only option is to chnage the A record
Justin Kaiser: OK, thank you...
arijeet: Pleasure to help you..
I could set up a redirect to justinkaiser.smugmug.com however I don't want the viewer to see that address... Here is the transcript from my chat session.
Did I not describe this properly or with enough detail for support to not understand or is it simply not possible when other hosts like GoDaddy and Network Solutions will allow me to do this as described in their help section
Any insight would be helpful!
Justin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin Kaiser: I am using a CNAME for LatterDayPhoto.com to redirect www.latterdayphoto.com to a different server...
Justin Kaiser: If I don't use the WWW it doesn't work.
Justin Kaiser: I was told to set a Redirect in the Control Panel and it would work for both the WWW and non WWW...
Justin Kaiser: It didn't work
arijeet: Plesae update your ticket we will chcek it
Justin Kaiser: I don't see the ticket inside the Cerberus Helpdesk for my login... all of the tickets are very old...
Justin Kaiser: Do you have anything I can try to get this working?
arijeet: ok
arijeet: I am chceking
arijeet: let m know the domain name
arijeet: got it
Justin Kaiser: I just need them to both point to the same place... again, I'm using a CNAME to redirect to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: This is for LatterDayPhoto.com
arijeet: can i remove the CName record
arijeet: ?
Justin Kaiser: It is working fine for the WWW... why would we need to remove it?
Justin Kaiser: Yes, if it will fix it?
arijeet: just need to chcek
arijeet: will add it again
Justin Kaiser: OK
Justin Kaiser: They gave me an IP to use if the CNAME didn't work out, however, they said that if their IP changes it will break the link... that's why they prefer to use the CNAME...
arijeet: what is the index page of latterdayphoto.com?
Justin Kaiser: http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/
Justin Kaiser: It's not hosted on the Jodohost servers...
arijeet: you want to rediarect to justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: Yes, however, I don't want them to see the justinkaiser.smugmug.com address... I want them to see latterdayphoto.com in the browser bar...
Justin Kaiser: Thus the reason for the CNAME
Justin Kaiser: Support from SmugMug.com says... CNAME record for my domain to point to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: or
Justin Kaiser: Some registrars don't allow CNAMEs with @ symbols. They force you to use an A record instead. Our current IP address is 208.79.45.23 Gotcha: Our IP address might change in the future, causing an A record to break. This is why we recommend using a CNAME instead.
arijeet: IPlesae wait
arijeet: Just i need to confirm to want to rediarct LatterDayPhoto.com and www. LatterDayPhoto.com to http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/ right?
arijeet: and the url should show LatterDayPhoto.com
Justin Kaiser: Yes, correct.
Justin Kaiser: It was working fine for WWW. when I entered the CNAME for WWW as domains.smugmug.com but it was NOT working for non-WWW
arijeet: Sorry, i am confused
arijeet: you want to rediarct to domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: or
arijeet: http://justinkaiser.smugmug.com/
Justin Kaiser: These are the directions from SmugMug...
Justin Kaiser: You will need to edit your existing setup so that your domains CNAME points to domains.smugmug.com instead of to www.smugmug.com. It must be exactly domains.smugmug.com do not put anything else in. DO NOT point your domain at yournickname.smugmug.com no matter how tempted you may be. It will not work.
Justin Kaiser: I want to be able to type in latterdayphoto.com AND www.latterdayphoto.com and have it go to the SmugMug hosted site but still say LatterDayphoto.com in the address bar
Justin Kaiser: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/CNAME+Custom+Domain+Name+Help
arijeet: I just want the domain name you want to redirect to ?
arijeet: i should be one domain name
arijeet: is it domains.smugmug.com or justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: It says the CNAME should be pointed to domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: If it's set up properly their server will know to point it to justinkaiser.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: So, we either need to set an A Record to 208.79.45.23 or a CNAME to domains.smugmug.com to make it work... but when I do the CNAME I can't get the non-WWW to work
arijeet: is this subdomain "domains.smugmug.com" on dedicated ip
Justin Kaiser: I don't know... not dedicated to me... but apparently if I use the 208.79.45.23 address in an A record it will recognize that it comes from my domain and point it to the right page. I would prefer the CNAME route in case their IP changes in the future
arijeet: It is possible
arijeet: But you just need to confirm that domains.smugmug.com is on dedicated IP
arijeet: YOu can just add a A record in your domain latterdayphoto.com pointing to the IP of
arijeet: domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: Dedicated to my site alone? This is the address they give everyone for CNAME.
Justin Kaiser: How can I do it via CNAME?
arijeet: Why you want to do it with CNAME?
arijeet: When it can be done by A record
arijeet: it will take extra lookup by CNAME
Justin Kaiser: So that if their IP address changes in the future I don't have to change my DNS... it's taken care of automatically
arijeet: i any case if any time the IP of domains.smugmug.com changes to shared
Justin Kaiser: Simply, How do I use CNAME with wildcards since it doesn't accept *
arijeet: it will not work in any case
Justin Kaiser: I've got directions to make it work with hosting on GoDaddy, Joker, Network Solutions, Register.com, and Yahoo... you're telling me I can't do it with Jodohost/Hsphere?
arijeet: ok
Justin Kaiser: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/GoDaddy+CNAME+Setup
arijeet: Fine
arijeet: Just do this
arijeet: Deleted the A record of LatterDayphoto.com
arijeet: and add CNAME
arijeet: latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: both www.latterdayphoto.com and latterdayphoto.com will point to domains.smugmug.com
arijeet: but it will work if domains.smugmug.com in on dedicated IP
Justin Kaiser: There are 2 A records listed... do I delete both of them? there is *.latterdayphoto.com and latterdayphoto.com
arijeet: yes
Justin Kaiser: Are there any additional steps I need to take?
arijeet: NO
arijeet: just make sure domains.smugmug.com is on dedicated IP
Justin Kaiser: OK, also
arijeet: if is moved to shared ..it wont work
Justin Kaiser: When I go to add the CNAME, it needs something in the NAME box... that is where I typed WWW earlier and it worked... so do I type in LatterDayPhoto.com into that box... i.e. latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: If I do that it comes up as latterdayphoto.com.latterdayphoto.com 86400 IN CNAME domains.smugmug.com
Justin Kaiser: It won't let me not type anything there and I can't put a * wildcard there.
arijeet: leave it balnk
arijeet: blank
Justin Kaiser: It doesn't allow me to do that... Error... NAMEL a correct CNAME Record Name...
arijeet: Yes
arijeet: i guess HSPhere dont allow to add CNAME that way
Justin Kaiser: It won't allow me to NOT TYPE ANYTHING in the box... The error checker in the page when I submit says that something needs to be typed in that box otherwise it won't accept it.
Justin Kaiser: OK, thanks. I'll take it to the forum... I appreciate the help and time.
arijeet: I think te only option is to chnage the A record
Justin Kaiser: OK, thank you...
arijeet: Pleasure to help you..
