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Custom Domains

You can point your own domain at your exe.dev VM. TLS certificates are issued automatically.

Check Your DNS

Enter your domain name and the VM name it should point to. We'll check that the records resolve to that VM.

Setting Up DNS

To point your domain at an exe.dev VM, edit the records in your domain's DNS provider. (If you have not setup a DNS provider, your domain registrar usually provides one.)

Which records you need to edit depend on whether it is a subdomain e.g. app.example.com or an apex domain, e.g. example.com:

Subdomains (CNAME)

For non-apex domains like app.example.com, create a CNAME record:

app.example.com  CNAME  vmname.exe.xyz

Apex Domains (ALIAS + CNAME)

For apex domains like example.com, you need two DNS records.

CNAME record on www pointing to your VM:
```
www.example.com  CNAME  vmname.exe.xyz
```

An A record on the apex pointing to the IP of vmname.exe.xyz. However, many providers offer a convenient way to maintain this IP address dynamically, calling these types of records ALIAS or ANAME or flattened CNAME.

# Lowest Common Denominator
example.com  A  52.35.87.134
# Cloudflare
example.com  CNAME vmname.exe.xyz
# Many others
example.com  ALIAS vmname.exe.xyz

The table below points you to the documentation for many common DNS providers.

Provider	Mechanism	Documentation
Cloudflare	CNAME	docs
AWS Route 53	ALIAS	docs
DNSimple	ALIAS	docs
Azure DNS	ALIAS	docs
Google Cloud DNS	ALIAS	docs
Namecheap DNS	ALIAS	docs
Porkbun DNS	ALIAS	docs
DigitalOcean DNS	A	docs

Cloudflare: Disable Proxy Mode or Configure Snippets

If you use Cloudflare for DNS, they tend to default you to Proxied (orange cloud) rather than DNS Only (grey cloud). Cloudflare's proxy replaces your desired CNAME/ALIAS targets with Cloudflare IP addresses, and therefore breaks exe.dev's custom domain support. To fix this, either disable their proxy, or use Cloudflare Snippets (or Workers) to re-write the request to point to vmname.exe.xyz. Snippets are a paid feature.

Wildcard domains

exe.dev is unable to generate TLS certificates for wildcard domains. You must add an explicit CNAME entry for each custom name you want to support. If you need an arbitrary list of custom names that point to a single exe.dev VM, please contact support.

You can point your own domain at your exe.dev VM.
TLS certificates are issued automatically.

## Check Your DNS

Enter your domain name and the VM name it should point to. We'll check
that the records resolve to that VM.

## Setting Up DNS

To point your domain at an exe.dev VM, edit the records in your domain's
DNS provider. (If you have not setup a DNS provider, your domain registrar
usually provides one.)

Which records you need to edit depend on whether it is a subdomain
e.g. `app.example.com` or an apex domain, e.g. `example.com`:

## Subdomains (CNAME)

For non-apex domains like `app.example.com`, create a CNAME record:

```
app.example.com  CNAME  vmname.exe.xyz
```

## Apex Domains (ALIAS + CNAME)

For apex domains like `example.com`, you need two DNS records.

1. **CNAME** record on `www` pointing to your VM:
   ```
   www.example.com  CNAME  vmname.exe.xyz
   ```

2. An **A** record on the apex pointing to the **IP** of `vmname.exe.xyz`. 
   However, many providers offer a convenient way to maintain this
   IP address dynamically, calling these types of records **ALIAS** or **ANAME**
   or **flattened CNAME**.
   ```
   # Lowest Common Denominator
   example.com  A  52.35.87.134
   # Cloudflare
   example.com  CNAME vmname.exe.xyz
   # Many others
   example.com  ALIAS vmname.exe.xyz
   ```

The table below points you to the documentation for many common
   DNS providers.

| Provider         | Mechanism | Documentation |
   | ---------------- | --------- | ------------- |
   | Cloudflare       | CNAME     | [docs](https://developers.cloudflare.com/dns/cname-flattening/) |
   | AWS Route 53     | ALIAS     | [docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/resource-record-sets-choosing-alias-non-alias.html) |
   | DNSimple         | ALIAS     | [docs](https://support.dnsimple.com/articles/alias-record/) |
   | Azure DNS        | ALIAS     | [docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/dns/dns-alias) |
   | Google Cloud DNS | ALIAS     | [docs](https://cloud.google.com/dns/docs/records) |
   | Namecheap DNS    | ALIAS     | [docs](https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10128/2237/how-to-create-an-alias-record/) |
   | Porkbun DNS      | ALIAS     | [docs](https://kb.porkbun.com/article/68-how-to-edit-dns-records) |
   | DigitalOcean DNS | A         | [docs](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/networking/dns/) |

## Cloudflare: Disable Proxy Mode or Configure Snippets

If you use Cloudflare for DNS, they tend to default you
to **Proxied** (orange cloud) rather than **DNS Only** (grey cloud).
Cloudflare's proxy replaces your desired CNAME/ALIAS targets
with Cloudflare IP addresses, and therefore breaks exe.dev's
custom domain support. To fix this, either disable their
proxy, or use Cloudflare Snippets (or Workers) to re-write
the request to point to `vmname.exe.xyz`. Snippets are a paid
feature.

## Wildcard domains

exe.dev is unable to generate TLS certificates for wildcard domains.
You must add an explicit CNAME entry for each custom name you want to support.
If you need an arbitrary list of custom names that point to a single
exe.dev VM, please [contact support](./getting-help).