Skip to main content

How to Point site via pointdns on heroku





Pointing site via PointDNS



Why PointDNS ?


By Default Heroku supports CNAME records only. CNAME record does not require hard-coded IP addresses and allows Heroku to manage the set of IPs associated with your domain. However, CNAME records are not available at the zone apex and can’t be used to configure root domains


Heroku doesn’t support DNS A-records and does not provide hard-coded IP addresses which are required for A-records DNS. This prevents your infrastructure provider from assigning your app a new IP address on your behalf when adverse conditions arise and can have a serious impact on your app’s uptime.


PointDNS add-on provide us the facility to add A-records DNS on Heroku app



Step 1


Export Zone records from DNS panel (just for reference) : In Godaddy we have the option to export Zone records for unix / windows , export in either way so that we can save it for case if we need to revert those records.


Step 2


Add domain to be pointed to production app via CLI


run heroku login


add heroku details


run `heroku domains:add sitename -a productionappname`


run `heroku domains -a productionappname` to verify


Step 3


Add ‘PointDNS’ add on heroku in production APP, when you click on pointDNS this will automatically start showing sitename added on step 2(c).


Step 4


Add all the records from domain name registrar to pointDNS , there are some record which needs be entered in different format , so read the placeholder test carefully in pointdns.


Step 5


Just to make sure ,compare the added records on pointdns with exported file in step 1.


Step 6


Update the NS on domain name registrar , replace originals NS by pointDNS NS.


PS: there are generally 3-4 NS provided by pointdns , as some service only accept 2 so make sure to add top records like


dns12.pointhq.com*

dns15.pointhq.com*

dns14.pointhq.com(optional in case only 2 are required)

dns8.pointhq.com(optional in case only 2 are required)


Step 7



When a domain is newly registered, or the nameservers are changed, or DNS changes are made, you can expect a propagation time up to 24 hours. This is because it takes time for the DNS to take effect across the internet. The actual time of propagation may vary in some locations based on your network setup. Generally it would take 2-3 hours.


Step 8


Verify on visiting pointDNS addons & clicking a dot next to domain name, this will recheck the NS and if the status becomes green then everything went well while pointing , but remember this will test the NS not all the records so that we have to verify from client.


Step 9


Check the status on DNS checker , this will provide all the latest zone records except CNAME.


Step 10


If the above url is showing pointDNS NS , then you have successfully updated the NS & rest records like MX can be confirmed from client as there email should work in same as was working before.


If this doesn't succeed we can revert the NS on domain name registrar just by importing the records that were exported in step 1 & look into the possible error that we may have made during the process.so the possible issues can be :


Adding wrong Zone records


Services may be down on heroku end


Taking more time than expected while updating NS records


PS:While making changes in NS , please check domain forwarding , masking or SSL ,If SSL is already implemented on domain , then it must be uploaded & verified on the app or site where we are pointing the website to.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sending Emails in Laravel with Gmail SMTP

This post will help you to fix issue like  Error : Swift_TransportException in StreamBuffer . php line 268 : Connection could not be established with host smtp . gmail . com [ Connection refused #111] Sending emails is crucial for any web application. Usually, an email is sent to notify the user of some kind of activity.Here are the steps to send email in laravel using Gmail SMTP. Generally Gmail is not recommended to send emails on live server, but if you just using it for testing purpose then follow these steps: 1. Visit   https://myaccount.google.com/security   make sure you have allowed  less secure app  to YES. 2. Unlock captcha on  https://accounts.google.com/b/0/DisplayUnlockCaptcha . 3. Generate APP password  Turn on 2-Step Verification for your account  https://myaccount.google.com/security. Your app might not support the latest security standards. Try changing a few settings to allow less secure apps access to your account. After enabling 2-Step V

Securing Your Emails: A Simple Guide to Email Authentication and Best Practices

Email security is crucial in today's digital landscape, and implementing authentication measures like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM can go a long way in safeguarding your domain. Here's an easy-to-follow guide to ensure your emails are authenticated and delivered securely: 1. Implement DMARC, SPF, and DKIM: Follow these steps for popular email services: Postmark Refer to the instructions provided in this link SendGrid Check the relevant information on their platform. Mailchimp Follow the recommended steps on their platform. 2. Validate Forward and Reverse DNS Records: Make sure your sending domains or IPs have valid forward and reverse DNS records (PTR records). Check resources for each service: Postmark Provides coverage for this aspect. SendGrid  Find the necessary information here Mailchimp Follow the guidelines specified by Mailchimp. 3. Maintain Low Spam Rates: Keep spam rates below 0.3% in Postmaster Tools and consider configuring Google Postmaster for additional insights into

NGROK for Laravel

Share Your Local PHP/Laravel  using Ngrok This post shows how to share your Laravel Framework Installation on Ubuntu but you can perform the same with other operating systems as well. What is Ngrok ngrok is a simplified API-first ingress-as-a-service that adds connectivity,security, and observability to your apps in one line.It allows you to create a tunnel very fast for free and Laravel has an internal webserver that can be used without configuration. Why Ngrok Ngrok allows developers to expose their locally hosted applications to the internet, which is useful for testing and debugging purposes. It eliminates the need to deploy the application to a remote server for testing, saving time and effort.Mostly Ngrok is used where we need to test webhook locally.Ngrok enables developers to receive these webhooks on their local machine, facilitating the development and testing of webhook-based functionality. How to use Ngrok Assuming you have Laravel installed correctly, you can follow