Using Custom URLs

“Using Custom URLs for Files by Adding Alternate Domain Names (CNAMEs)”

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/CNAMEs.html

In CloudFront, an alternate domain name, also known as a CNAME, lets you use your own domain name (for example, ‘www.example.com’) for links to your files instead of using the domain name that CloudFront assigns to your distribution. Both web and RTMP distributions support alternate domain names.

When you create a distribution, CloudFront returns a domain name for the distribution, for example:

d111111abcdef8.cloudfront.net

When you use the CloudFront domain name for your files, the URL for a file called /images/image.jpg is:

http://d111111abcdef8.cloudfront.net/images/image.jpg

If you want to use your own domain name, such as ‘www.example.com’, instead of the cloudfront.net domain name, you can add an alternate domain name to your distribution, like ‘www.example.com’. You can then use the following URL to view /images/image.jpg:

http://www.example.com/images/image.jpg

• Adding an Alternate Domain Name

  The following task list describes how to use the CloudFront console to add an alternate domain name to your distribution so that you can use your own domain name in your links instead of the CloudFront domain name.

  For information about updating your distribution using the CloudFront API:

  • see Working with Distributions.

  If you want viewers to use HTTPS with your alternate domain name:

  • see Using Alternate Domain Names and HTTPS.

  Before You Begin

  Make sure that you do the following before you update your distribution to add an alternate domain name:

  • Register the domain name with Route 53 or another domain provider.
  • Add a certificate from an authorized certificate authority (CA) to CloudFront that covers the domain name you plan to use with the distribution, to validate that you are authorized to use the domain.

  Adding an Alternate Domain Name

  Update the following values:

  Alternate Domain Names (CNAMEs)

  Add your alternate domain names. Separate domain names with commas, or type each domain name on a new line.

  SSL Certificate (Web Distributions Only)

  Choose the following setting:

  Use HTTPS; choose Custom SSL Certificate, and then choose a certificate from the list.

  Clients Supported (Web Distributions Only)

  Choose an option:

  Only Clients that Support Server Name Indication (SNI) (Recommended)

  Older browsers or other clients that don’t support SNI must use another method to access your content.

  All Clients

  CloudFront serves your HTTPS content using dedicated IP addresses. If you select this option, you incur additional charges when you associate your SSL/TLS certificate with a distribution that is enabled.

  Confige the DNS Service

  Configure the DNS service for the domain to route traffic for the domain, such as example.com, to the CloudFront domain name for your distribution, such as d111111abcdef8.cloudfront.net.

  Route 53

  Create an alias resource record set. With an alias resource record set, you don’t pay for Route 53 queries. In addition, you can create an alias resource record set for the root domain name (example.com), which DNS doesn’t allow for =CNAME=s.

  For more information, see Routing Queries to an Amazon CloudFront Distribution in the Amazon Route 53 Developer Guide.

  Using dig or a similar tool, confirm that the resource record set that you created in step 7 points to the domain name for your distribution. For more information about dig, go to http://www.kloth.net/services/dig.php.

• Moving an Alternate Domain Name to a Different CloudFront Distribution
• Removing an Alternate Domain Name
• Using Wildcards in Alternate Domain Names That You Add to CloudFront
• Requirements for Using Alternate Domain Names
• Restrictions on Using Alternate Domain Names