How do you get an existing domain you own to point to Azure's servers? - azure

By default, the naming conventions of Azure websites/webapps are somesubdomain.cloudapp.net and somesubdomain.azurewebsites.net. If I have an existing website that I have currently hosted through, say GoDaddy, and the website is www.mysite.com, how can I tell the registrar (DNS) to look at Azure's servers for the website content (I have experience in changing the nameservers to point to a particular web hosting company's nameservers, but it appears that there isn't a such thing with Azure).
Ultimately what I want to do is go to www.mysite.com and have the content hosted on Azure, running on Azure's VMs. Is the only way to mess with the CNAME, A, etc. properties of the DNS?
I have a VM on Azure that I want to use to host my websites. This is the platform that I will be using. I'm not using an Azure "website" or a "cloud service".

Yes, the only way to get this working as you describe it is to fiddle with the DNS, with a CNAME and A records.
A good description of how this is done can be found here:
http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/common-tasks/custom-dns/

There is an official documentation, relatively easy to find with a simple internet search:
How to use custom domain with Cloud Service and Storage Account
How to use custom domain with Azure Web Sites
EDIT
One thing good to remember is that a Windows Azure Virtual Machine (IaaS) runs in a Cloud Service. Meaning that for each VM, or set of VMs you have a cloud service created (i.e. mywhateverVM.cloudapp.net). This cloud service is implicitly created when you use the portal wizard to create the VM. Or explicitly (you create it) when you create VMs with PowerShell.
So the "How to use custom domain with Cloud Service" applies also for the Azure VMs with no change at all.

Related

How to configure a custom domain for a containerized web app?

I'd like to consider this Azure feature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxXs9_ggBfg
But it won't be of much use to me if I'm unable to configure a custom domain for it. I'm having no problem with custom domains for standard App Service websites, but this is for containers.
I've tried searching for documentation, but I'm coming up empty.
--EDIT--
The technology I'm interested in is Web Apps for Containers; thanks to #sam-cogan for pointing this out to me.
I believe the video is talking about Azure Web Apps for Containers (I would really recommend not asking people to watch a 30-minute video to understand your question). Assuming that is the case, then adding a custom domain name is the same as setting one up for a normal app service, you can do so through the custom domain name settings in the portal. The process is documented here.
If you're looking to use a different service in Azure for hosting containers then please state which one and I will update. All of these can have custom domain names.
Azure Container Instances usually provide a public IP address, so pointing a domain name to it should not be a problem.
You could map either an A record or a CNAME to your instance.
There is no difference between configuring custom domain for normal web apps and web for container. I have tried below document and it is worked well.
http://www.ayushrathi.com/configuring-a-custom-domain-name-for-web-app-azure-portal/

Host 2 separate sites, one domain, on one Azure site

I have a wordpress site hosted on Azure. Call it, mysite.com. I'd also like to develop a separate .net app and host it at subsite.mysite.com. How can I do this without having to pay for 2 separate Azure sites?
There are ways to achieve what you require. However, key point here is to understand the Azure App Service. Because, in Azure app service, you never pay (your concern is having to pay, not having to maintain) for a single site!
If you take a closer look at the App Service Pricing model, you will see that even with the free (like in Free lunch) tier, you get to host 10 applications in your hosting plan. But you need custom domain, then you go to Shared plan, you already can host 100 web sites within it, all with your custom domain/s.
Next you will have to learn a bit about what is Top Level Domain, what is Domain, what is Sub Domain, what is A DNS Record and what is C-Name DNS record, because these are all thing you need to understand in order to properly configure your sites.
And finally read the article on how to configure custom domain for Azure App Service.
Remember. With Azure App Service, you are paying for a hosting environment (or service plan), not for a single web site!

Hosting with Windows Azure?

Can someone please direct me to a tutorial or explain the process of hosting (if possible) with Windows Azure? I have my own domain name and I would like to know how I can host my website with windows azure. It gives you the option of creating and publishing a xxx.azurewebsites.net but I would like to use my own personal domain.
Read Azure Websites and Apps. Then you can review Configure a custom domain name in Azure App Service.

Allowing Users to Enter a Custom cname on Azure Websites

I have a multi-site application running on Azure Websites. When a user signs up, they pick a name for their application and they end up with "appname.coolapplication.com". Everything so far is working great within our own domain.
Our application needs to allow users to enter their own custom domain. For example, they want to view their application from "elsewhere.com" rather than "appname.coolapplication.com". How do I go about configuring Azure Websites to allow me to do this?
You don't. Per these instructions you instruct the customer to enter a CNAME record on their domain registrar for the Azure domain, and then it begins to work.
EDIT:
The CNAME only "just works" for Azure Cloud Apps. For Azure Websites, it turns out you must add the domain in the portal as well. I'd thus recommend switching your Azure Websites to Azure Cloud Apps to simplify the issue.
You can use the powershell api to add custom hostnames.
See this question for details: Add many domains to an azure web site

Map custom domain (and wildcard sub-domains) to Azure Website

I've looked at all related posts in MSDN and stack overflow but still having difficulty finding a solution.
I am looking to map a domain and all sub-domains to my windows azure website. It is a reserved website instance. I am using Amazon Route 53 DNS manager and have mapped a wildcard CNAME to my azure sub domain, and created a redirect on the naked domain to the www. subdomain.
When I navigate to the naked root, the redirect kicks in and I'm brought to www..com, where I receive a 404 error from azure.
I know the wildcard CNAME is working. I've verified using MXToolbox. If I go to "Manage Domains" in the Azure web UI admin system, I can manually add "www..com" or any other subdomain (e.g. "helloworld..com"). Azure verifies it fine and after saving, I can pull up the website fine by navigating to that subdomain and my azure website loads.
Is there any way to add wild card subdomains without having to verify each one manually through the azure ui interface? My application is a SaaS that relies on custom user sub-domains to serve up their branded website and gain access to their account so I need any and all subdomains to map to my application.
Currently, wildcard domains are not supported as far as I know. At least on Windows Azure Web Sites. They are on the roadmap, but currently you'll have to rely on adding every domain manually.
See wildcard comment on "Configuring a custom domain name for a Windows Azure web site".
Another feature not yet available on Azure Web Sites is SSL using a vanity (your own) domain name. If you want full control of your site(s) you can use Azure Cloud Services instead of Web Sites. With Cloud Services you can provision certificates, domain names, and run multiple sites on the same instances using host header routing.
Anything you can do with IIS Management you can do with a cloud service.
You're a little closer to the metal compared to Azure Web Sites (but not as close as with a VM) and you get load balancing, scaling, caching, and other goodness. Visual Studio 2010/2012 has excellent deployment tooling. You will need to study up on Azure deployment projects from VS, bit it's not bad.

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