Site domain & migration / SSL question

[johnnboy1]

Hi there, I’m taking over an existing site here at Netlify.

I’ve created my own Netlify account, cloned the Repo and deployed it.

The current site is at: https://puro-co-nz.netlify.app/

How can I get SSL setup before I transfer the domain to my account?

If I can’t set this up beforehand, how long does it take for this process to happen? I’m coming from cPanel and the auto SSL on those accounts can take up to 24 hours…which is less than ideal.

I don’t want to have any downtime / time where browsers are complaining about SSL.

Any help appreciated :).

[perry]

hiya! Is this relevant at all:

[Support Guide] How do I migrate a domain to Netlify Managed DNS with zero downtime?

What is this topic about? This topic covers copying your existing DNS records from your current DNS service to Netlify. Netlify offers a Managed DNS service which allows you to manage DNS records for domains using our web UI (even for domains registered elsewhere). IMPORTANT: You must copy any/all required DNS records to the Managed DNS service before changing the domain’s name servers to the Managed DNS server to avoid possible interruption of services. For this reason, we recommend you chec…

[johnnboy1]

No I’m just wanting to change my a record over, not have Netlify manage the DNS. Thanks all the same though

[jonsully]

@johnnboy1

how long does it take for this process to happen?

Personally, I’ve been shocked at how fast Netlify’s domain pickup and SSL issuance happens. It can be just a couple of minutes from the time you issue the DNS change – but understand that DNS propagation isn’t absolute and every layer has its own caching, so just because Netlify picks up the change and gets your cert squared away doesn’t mean that other providers, browsers, ISPs, etc. aren’t caching the older DNS record.

Now, you can get SSL setup before you change the DNS record for your domain, you would just need to upload your own valid cert instead of relying on Netlify to generate one for you. If you do that correctly, DNS propagation is still a thing, but folks looking at the site from the old record and the new record should effectively see the same thing and not have SSL errors. If you decide to go this route, I strongly recommend going ahead with Netlify’s cert issuance process after a couple of days so that the auto re-issue works in 3 months. Managing your own certs and updating them periodically is no fun

–
Jon

[luke]

Hi, @johnnboy1, this other community topic talks about live DNS migrations with external DNS (not Netlify DNS):

[Support Guide] Minimal downtime for a live site DNS migration

The trick with migrating a live site is all in DNS timing . Specifically, we can't get a new SSL certificate for your site until the Time To Live (TTL) value has expired from your old DNS values. The new DNS values for Netlify must first be in place and correct, and then issuing the certificate is a breeze! Below are the steps to follow for a successful migration with minimal downtime. There are quite a few steps in this process, not gonna lie. But no worries, you got this. Take a read throu…

It covers changing the DNS and getting the SSL certificate provisioned quickly.

You can also purchase an SSL certificate from a third-party and upload that beforehand. That will allow SSL to work while we are provisioning the Let’s Encrypt certificate.

If there other questions, please let us know.

[johnnboy1]

Thanks Luke, I really appreciate it!