Add a domain, a free subdomain and DNS records

A site answers on every domain you list on its Domains tab. SrvYard writes those names into the site's Nginx configuration, so a new domain is served as soon as Nginx accepts the change. DNS is separate: the name only reaches your server once a record at your DNS provider points at it, and SrvYard tells you whether that has happened yet.

This article covers adding, editing, promoting and removing domains, the three www behaviours, wildcards, the DNS records you need, the free srvy.sh subdomain that sites can start with, and what to do about the certificate when the list of names changes.

Before you begin#

• A ready site. Domains can be changed while the site is Ready. Edits are blocked while it is installing or deleting.
• Access to your DNS. SrvYard does not own your domain. You create the records at your registrar or DNS host (or let Cloudflare manage them).
• The server address. The DNS records card on the Domains tab shows it; you do not need to look it up.
• Permission to update the site. The Add domain button and the row menu are hidden from members who cannot.

1. Read the Domains tab#

Open the site and choose Domains.

1. Add domain. Opens the dialog in step 2. It disappears once the site has 25 domains, which is the limit.
2. Primary. One domain is primary. It decides the certificate and the www behaviour. The first domain you created is primary.
3. www. What happens with the www form of the name: No redirect, www to bare domain or Bare domain to www.
4. DNS. Points here means the name resolves to your server. DNS pending means it does not yet, and the row says what SrvYard found, for example "No DNS records found yet" or "Resolves to 198.51.100.7 instead of 203.0.113.10". Failed and Removing are the other two states.
5. Row menu. Verify, edit, promote or remove the domain (step 3).

The tab also shows a Reissue the certificate notice when the active certificate no longer covers every name on the site. See step 6.

2. Add a domain#

1. Domain name. Type the hostname, for example shop.acme-studio.example. It is lower-cased for you. Use letters, digits, hyphens and dots only; an address with a path, port or https:// is refused. A name that another site on the same server already uses is refused with a message naming the conflict.
2. www. The behaviour for the www form (see below).
3. Wildcard subdomains. Also answers on every subdomain of the name. A wildcard needs a wildcard certificate, which uses DNS validation: see Wildcard certificates with DNS validation.
4. Add domain. Saves. The new name is an alias, shown without the Primary badge, and starts as DNS pending.

1. The three choices:
   • No redirect: only the exact name you typed answers.
   • www to bare domain: www.example.com redirects to example.com. The recommended choice for a site that is mainly known without www.
   • Bare domain to www: the reverse.

You cannot change the name of an existing domain. To rename one, add the new name and remove the old one.

3. Work with a domain: verify, edit, promote, remove#

Open the row menu (the three dots at the end of a row).

1. Verify DNS. Checks the name right now and reports "points at this server" or the reason it does not. SrvYard also re-checks pending domains by itself every five minutes for the first day after they are added, so you only need this button when you do not want to wait.
2. Edit. Changes the www behaviour and the wildcard switch. The dialog warns that this updates the Nginx configuration right away.
3. Make primary. Promotes an alias to primary; the previous primary becomes an alias. It is not offered on the primary row.
4. Remove. Takes the name off the site. The primary domain cannot be removed: make another domain primary first.

A domain from the free pool has a fifth item, Change subdomain (see step 5).

1. Remove domain confirms. The name stops being served at once. If it was a free subdomain, it is released and anyone can claim it afterwards.

4. Create the DNS records#

1. The record table. One A record for every name the site answers on, pointing at the server's address. A www redirect adds the www or bare name too, and a wildcard adds *. followed by the name. Create exactly these at your DNS provider. The check compares the addresses the name resolves to with the server's address.
2. Copy. Copies the server address.

A few practical rules:

• Use an A record, not a CNAME, for the bare domain. Most DNS hosts do not allow a CNAME at the apex.
• Lower the TTL before a move. A TTL of 300 seconds (five minutes) means a wrong record is corrected quickly.
• A proxy in front of the server (for example a CDN with orange-cloud proxying) makes the name resolve to the proxy's address, not to the server's. SrvYard then reports DNS pending even though the site works. The status is informational: the domain is served by Nginx either way.

DNS changes can take from a few minutes to a day to spread. Press Verify DNS to re-check without waiting.

5. The free subdomain#

When your platform has free subdomains enabled, each site can start on a name under srvy.sh, such as acme-launch.srvy.sh. SrvYard creates the DNS record for you, so the name works without you touching any DNS. It is the quickest route to a working site while you wait for a real domain. Free domains show a Free subdomain badge in the row.

• Change subdomain. Pick another name: three to forty lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, starting and ending with a letter or digit, no doubled hyphens. SrvYard checks that it is free. If the site has a certificate, the old one covers the old name only; visitors of the new name see a certificate warning until a new certificate is issued, which the dialog explains.
• Add your own domain later and make it primary when you are ready; the free name can stay as an alias or be removed.

6. Reissue the certificate after the names change#

A Let's Encrypt certificate lists the names it covers. After you add a domain, the certificate in use still covers the old list. The DNS records card and the Reissue the certificate notice both say so: "The active certificate does not cover" followed by the missing names.

Open the SSL tab and request a new certificate. The steps are in Get a free Let's Encrypt certificate. Domains with their DNS still pending cannot pass validation, so fix DNS first.

Troubleshooting#

• The domain stays on "DNS pending". Read the message in the row. "No DNS records found yet" means no A record exists, or it has not spread yet. "Resolves to ... instead of ..." means a record points elsewhere, often an old server or a proxy. Fix the record and press Verify DNS.
• "A site can have at most 25 domains." Remove names you no longer use or move some to another site.
• The name works on the server but the browser shows another site. The name is not in this site's list, or DNS still points at the old address. See The wrong site or the default page shows after a DNS change.
• "Enter a valid domain name such as example.com". Remove the https://, the path and any port, and use only letters, digits, hyphens and dots.
• The primary domain cannot be removed. Choose Make primary on another domain first.
• Visitors see a certificate warning on the new name. The certificate does not cover it yet. Reissue it from the SSL tab.
• www shows the wrong page. Set the www option on the primary domain to a redirect and make sure the www record exists.

Related#

• Create a site on your server: choose the first domain, free or your own.
• Get a free Let's Encrypt certificate: cover the new names with HTTPS.
• Wildcard certificates with DNS validation: serve every subdomain.
• Connect Cloudflare for DNS: let SrvYard manage records for you.