How can I set the CNAME record on network solutions for my heroku app?

5
votes

I bought a domain name on network solutions. I have a working app at blooming-summer-8571.herokuapp.com. I want my domain name on network solutions to point to this app. So in the CNAME records. It has a box for alias, ttl, and a drop down menu for @ (none) or www . Then there is another option you can check (instead of the drop down menu) to fill out an other host name.

So which is the alias? Should I check other host name and put in the heroku app's url? This is all done under my DNS settings for the domain I purchased so I assume that I don't have to fill it out anywhere? The online resources I have found are rather unhelpful.

3
web-servicesherokudns

3 Answers

3
votes

I just went through the same thing.

  1. Log in to Network Solutions (Select manage my domains when you log in)
  2. Click "Manage" on the domain you want to point to Heroku
  3. Click "Edit Advanced DNS Records"
  4. Click "Edit A Records" and clear the IP addresses for "www" and "* (All Others)". Put 205.178.189.129 in for "@ (None)" then click continue
  5. Click "Edit CName Records"
  6. put "www" in for the Alias. And "YOURAPP.herokuapp.com" in for the "Other Host" field. Make sure the radio button for "Other Host" is selected. Then click continue.
  7. IF you get an error claiming you already have an A record for www then log out of Network Solutions, log back in, and try again.

This will point www.YOURDOMAIN.com to YOURAPP.herokuapp.com

To make sure it worked (give it some time before checking) open up a terminal window and type : 

host www.YOURDOMAIN.com

It should respond with something like ..

www.YOURDOMAIN.com is an alias for YOURAPP.herokuapp.com.

Resources:
https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/custom-domains#domain-precedence http://www.networksolutions.com/support/how-to-forward-your-network-solutions-domain-name-to-a-free-blog-service/

0
votes

Just discovered that this page is extremely helpful for this:

http://www.networksolutions.com/support/how-to-forward-your-network-solutions-domain-name-to-a-free-blog-service/

Basically you just need to delete all your A records, and point the @ one to the IP 205.178.189.129. Then, as long as you have a valid CNAME record for 'www' (in the case of Heroku, it'd point to your app's heroku URL), Network Solutions will correctly forward all traffic to your www CNAME.

-1
votes

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is only for domains that you can control and points the canonical name to the correct domain name. What you need to do is point your domain to your Heroku app by following the steps in the following: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/custom-domains

The article does state to use CNAME to point to blooming-summer-8571.herokuapp.com (cedar server)