Problem Setting up DNS Settings

[b4u]

Hi,

I'm creating a webpage using Google Sites, for ease of use and maintainability.

Let's say for instance that the Google Site address is:

http://sites.google.com/site/mywebsite/

Now setting the Web Address I have:

1. http://sites.google.com/site/mywebsite/ (Default)
2. www.fakedomain.com
3. www.xpto.fakedomain.com

I own the fakedomain.com domain, and I want to access my site through http://www.fakedomain.com/ and also http://www.xpto.fakedomain.com/, so I added those last 2 entries.

Now from google help, I can read:

This site can be displayed on a custom domain (e.g. www.example.com, wiki.example.com, support.example.com). You must own the domain and have access to change the CNAME records.
Learn more

Clicking "Learn more":

http://sites.google.com/suppor...swer=99450&topic=15219

Changing the site URL for sites created under sites.google.com/site

Sites created under sites.google.com/site can be mapped to a custom domain using the Site Settings area.

Note that you must own the domain and have access to change CNAME records.

1. 1. Click on the "Site Settings" link at the top of the screen

1. 2. Click on the "Web Address" tab

1. 3. Enter the Domain address you wish to re-map your site to

1. 4. Click the Add button.

Some things to keep in mind about changing your site URL:

• - Mappings are restricted to sub domain level only like www.example.com, wiki.example.com, or support.example.com. We don't support naked domain mapping like example.com.

• - You can map up to 5 sub-domains to a given site

• - This only takes effect for public sites private sites will redirect to the standard URL

Once you have completed the steps above, you will need to be sure to follow the next steps:

1. 1. Sign in to your domain registrar.

1. 2. Navigate to your DNS Management page. The location and name of this page will vary by host, but can generally be found in Domain Management or Advanced Settings.

1. 3. Find the CNAME settings and enter the following as the CNAME value or alias: (sub domain)

1. 4. Set the CNAME destination to the following address: ghs.google.com

1. 5. Save changes with your domain host

So I believe the first 2 parts are done correctly, but the last part, the one that has something to do with the domain registrar must be failing.

On my domain registrar, I have the fakedomain.com registered and have setup the following:

1. I only have "root domain" setup, so no www or anything, just the naked domain.
2. "A" records - nothing
3. "CNAME" records - Hostname: ghs.google.com. / TTL: 3600
4. "MX" records - nothing
5. "TX" records - nothing
6. "AAAA IP version 6" records - nothing
7. "NS" records - nothing

So as far as I know, CNAME is the only setting I must setup and it's set to "ghs.google.com." (ends with . because the registrar advised me to, or it would resolve to "ghs.google.com.fakedomain.com".

Now I don't understand what google says on step 3 ... "Find the CNAME settings and enter the following as the CNAME value or alias: (sub domain)" do I have to write "(sub domain)" somewhere? I haven't found a place to do it ... when I add a CNAME, my registrar only asks for "Host Name or FQDN" (one field) and "TTL" (another field). I assumed point 3 was indeed referring to steps 4 and 5.

So 1 day have passed, and that should have been enough to update the DNS servers ... but still clicking on http://www.fakedomain.com/ doesn't resolve to anything (gives me a DNS error).

Do I need to setup "ghs.google.com." CNAME on "www.fakedomain.com" host name? Currently I only setup the naked domain "fakedomain.com" with that CNAME. I thought it would delegate the entire domain redirection to google servers. Am I correct?


Update:

On command prompt, "fakedomain.com" pings correctly, but not "www.fakedomain.com", it fails with message:

"Ping request could not find host www.fakedomain.com. Please check the name and try again."


Any help appreciated.

Thanks

 

[spidey07]

You'll need a CNAME to ghs.google.com for www.fakeddomain.com. It even says they don't support naked domains and good for them that they don't.

It's not directing domain redirection at all, DNS is just to provide an IP address for a host name. A web server or global site selector (gee, GHS sound familiar?) will then take the URL and modify it if needed or send to the appropriate load balancers.

If you want to see how things are working use "nslookup"

 

[b4u]

Nice! Got it working!

Thanks