Configure external DNS for a custom domain mixup

[amedpal]

Hello, guys!

I’m currently kind of confused on what do I need to do for setting up my custom domain, which was registered externally an dusing an external DNS (AWS’ Route 53).

According to the official documentation, if the domain is already registered (which is the case) and I want to continue using my DNS provider (also the case) I should go to the external DNS configuration page.

In that section it tells me that I should only make a CNAME record from my DNS provider pointing to Netlify’s domain. In my case this being www.amedpal.com pointing to amedpal.netlify.app.

But my confusion arises when at the top of this same support page it says (with a screenshot) that I must check my DNS configuration and add to my current DNS the Netlify servers in my NS record. But isn’t this the same step for the delegating your domain to Netlify and it contradicts the statement that I don’t want to change my DNS provider?

Sorry if this is kind of silly, I’m new to DNS and this has been confusing me. Is there a way I can keep my NS records like Route 53 provides it and still point my domain to my website hosted on Netlify? I tried resetting everything and just pointing via CNAME my domain to Netlify’s but, I never got the SSL. Is delegating my site to Netlify’s DNS mandatory for getting the SSL certificate? I don’t think I got that.

I have also tried setting my NS record to point to Netlify’s servers but I still could not get my SSL certificate. So I’m at a loss because nothing I have tried seems to be working and I have tried several configurations wit the records (including an A record for the apex domain and waiting 48hrs between changes) and no luck.

Right now my last attempt was setting NS records for both my apex domain (amedpal.com) and my www subdomain (www.amedpal.com) to point to Netlify’s servers (an no extra records like CNAMEs or As) and I’m waiting confirmation on the UI’s that the change has been made for the apex domain (image below). If this does work, would I need to put my records other records (other CNAMEs for other projects, MX, SOA, TXT) on Netlify’s UI?

Sorry if this is somewhat dumb, I have tried reading the docs several times and watching YT videos but I still can’t get my head around this.

[coelmay]

Hi @amedpal

@amedpal

Is there a way I can keep my NS records like Route 53 provides it and still point my domain to my website hosted on Netlify?

Yes. This is outlined in the external DNS configuration documentation you have linked to.

Currenly amedpal.com is set to use Netlify DNS.

% dig amedpal.com NS
amedpal.com.		172751	IN	NS	dns2.p01.nsone.net.
amedpal.com.		172751	IN	NS	dns3.p01.nsone.net.
amedpal.com.		172751	IN	NS	dns4.p01.nsone.net.
amedpal.com.		172751	IN	NS	dns1.p01.nsone.net.

If you want to use external DNS, change the nameservers back to AWS, then, as per the external DNS documentation, add a CNAME and A record to AWS, and add the custom domain to your site. You also need to remove the domian from Netlify DNS under the Domains menu item at the top of the dashboard.

Check out

[Support Guide] DNS Quick Start - How to set up DNS

Last reviewed: August 2023 Note: All options discussed in this guide assume you have already added your custom domain to your Netlify site. Hi there! Need to get your site up and running with DNS? Start here with either Newly purchased domain or Existing domain that you’ve already used. Newly purchased domain If you have a brand new domain purchased from a registrar such as Namecheap or GoDaddy, and you want to quickly get your DNS set up, you have two options: External DNS - Create these …

You’ll also find this support guide will have further relevant information

[Support Guide] I changed my name servers / DNS on AWS Route53 but I’m still having issues

Last reviewed by Netlify Support in Aug 2023 When you want to use our managed DNS hosting, you must make changes to your domain’s name server settings at your registrar to activate our DNS hosting. Changing name servers if you are using AWS’ Route53 service isn’t quite as obvious as with other domain registrars. Our staff has seen a number of instances where an NS record was created for a domain - instead of changing the actual name servers for your whole domain. Simply adding NS records won’…

Further supports guides also found in

[Support Guide] Compiled resources for production domains on Netlify and DNS settings -- start here!

Hi there! We know that using your own production domain (Example: http://somecooldomain.com) on a Netlify site can be a bit confusing at times. The good news is that our team has written an abundance of guides covering various questions regarding domains. This listing has all of our “best practice” guides about configuring and using Netlify DNS and production domains on our service, grouped by topic area. We have a few guides that cover multiple topic areas, so we have listed them under …

[hillary]

Thanks for all the helpful links, @coelmay!

@amedpal, no such thing as a silly question-- DNS is a complex topic! Let us know if the resources Coel shared get you on the right track.

[amedpal]

Hey, @coelmay !

Thank you for your response and the links. I swear I had that same configuration before but it didn’t work, maybe I didn’t wait the 48hrs or now that I think about it, maybe I didn’t remove the domain for the Domains menu .

I’ll give it another try, thanks!