0

I have a client who has an old domain and their new branded domain. They want to redirect the old domain to their new branded domain. Since they are using AWS Route 53, I thought this would be a good place to do this. I've searched online and it looks like Route 53 doesn't support redirects. Not without doing something unusual like using a S3 static web page.

Do other DNS services support redirects such as Network Solutions, GoDaddy, etc?

Or is this something that a DNS service can't handle for some reason I'm unaware?

Edward_178118
  • 955
  • 4
  • 15
  • 33
  • What do you mean by "redirect"? – Michael Hampton Jun 20 '20 at 05:58
  • 1
    If you are looking for HTTP(S) redirect, it isn't part of DNS core operation. Some DNS operators provide HTTP redirects for convenience, but they don't provide HTTPS redirects because certificate handling is too complex. If your client uses HTTPS, then you need your own setup for redirect. – Tero Kilkanen Jun 20 '20 at 08:23

2 Answers2

4

Redirection is a feature of the HTTP protocol (RFC 7231, 6.4 & 7.1.2). As such, it can't be provided by any DNS solution, as DNS doesn't have such a feature. That said, some services providing DNS may also provide HTTP redirection services,as well a email forwarding services etc. This means they first add the A/AAAA records towards their web servers and perform the redirection there.

Such web forwarding services might be HTTP only, or otherwise limited. This might be a problem, if you e.g. have previously used HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) for the domain: the browser first does an internal redirection to HTTPS, but there's nothing to answer the request. Therefore, arranging the HTTP redirection on your own web server is recommendable. It also gives you more flexibilily, like using more complex redirections for different paths or providing services other than web sites on the hostname.

Community
  • 1
Esa Jokinen
  • 46,944
  • 3
  • 83
  • 129
-1

Maybe the link below can help you out?

https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/redirect-domain-route-53/

Yves D.
  • 19
  • 2
  • Thanks for the link. I've seen that page before, it is having the user use something external to AWS Route 53 to accomplish this. Do all DNS services work this way, that they can't handle redirecting a domain? – Edward_178118 Jun 20 '20 at 06:05