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## Map domain hostnames (required)

[Environments in DXP](🔗) are accessed using a set of _dxcloud_-URLs that are set up and verified according to platform requirements. Examples:


Before going live, you need to apply and verify the same DNS settings for the domains that you intend to use with your DXP. This includes creating an \_asuid_record used by Azure, and a CDN-verify record to confirm that you own the domain.
Usually these DNS records are modified:
  • **CNAME** – Creates an alias for a host name.
  • **A-record** – Maps a host name to an IP address.
The following instructions show how to modify the DNS settings. You can use Microsoft DNS Manager if you host your own name servers, or the web interface of your DNS service provider. Or, contact your DNS service provider if you are unsure how to change these settings.
### Modify the DNS settings
Important
The following steps must be done for each domain with which your application should be associated.
**Before going live**
  1. Configure your Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) to respond to the incoming hostnames you plan to use, such as _www.domain.com_. Also configure some default URLs like hostname using "\*" (preferred), or alternatively:
    
       The _appname123**-slot**.dxcloud.episerver.net_ address validates the site during [deployments](🔗).
       To map hostnames and URLs, go to **CMS > Admin > Configuration > Manage Sites**.
       
  2. After you map the hostnames, inform [customer support](🔗) about which URLs you will use.
  3. Optimizely sends you an email containing:
a.  Verification information for CDN and Azure (_cloudflare-verify_ and _awverify,_ these are standard TXT DNS records).
b.  The A-record pointer to be used later when going live.
  4. Do the following to verify your ownership of the domain and/or subdomain for the CDN and in Azure:
a.  **CDN**. Create a record in your DNS using this format:
    `cloudflare-verify.DOMAIN.COM IN TXT XXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX`
(the unique numeric value for the TXT record provided by Optimizely).
    b.  **Azure**. Create a record in your DNS using this format:
    `awverify.SUBDOMAIN.DOMAIN.com IN TXT appname123.azurewebsites.net`
    Example: `_awverify.www.episerver.net IN TXT dxcwebapp.azurewebsites.net_`
    Note
    Verify the settings for Azure and CDN for each domain and/or subdomain to which you want your DXC environment to respond.
  5. When done with the DNS updates, contact [customer support](🔗) again to finalize the verification procedure, and have your verified domains added to the production environment.
**When going live**
To send traffic from your custom URL to the DXP, you need to create CNAME records in your DNS, pointing to the corresponding DXP endpoint.
  1. Update the A-record at _domain.com_ so that it points to the IP number you received in the Optimizely email (see step 3 in the previous procedure).
  2. Add **dxcloud.episerver.net** to the URL you want to target with CNAME. When this is done, the site is live. Examples:
    • www.DOMAIN.com IN CNAME www.DOMAIN.com.dxcloud.episerver.net
    • www.customer.com IN CNAME www.customer.com.dxcloud.episerver.net
    • beta.client.net IN CNAME beta.client.net.dxcloud.episerver.net
    • prod.company.com IN CNAME prod.company.com.dxcloud.episerver.net
    • country.charity.org IN CNAME country.charity.org.dxcloud.episerver.net
## Redirect to secure URLs
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, adding encryption to the communication between the browser and the editing environment. Redirect in DXP follows industry standard best practices, letting you redirect from a _non-secure_ www URL to a _secure_ www URL through configuration (see below).
The service supports:
  • Redirect of non-secure www URL "<http://www.domain.com>" to a secure www URL "<https://www.domain.com>"
  • Redirect of non-secure root domain "<http://domain.com>" to www URL "<http://www.domain.com>"
You can add a redirect rule by modifying _web.config_ in your Optimizely solution.
**Example:** HTTP to HTTPS redirect rule.

The service **does not support** the following **by default**:
  • Using the root domain "domain.com" as the default domain for the site.
  • Redirect of TLS/SSL secured root domain "<https://domain.com>" to another URL.  
Note
In many cases, this is not needed because it is seldom that a site visitor would manually enter _<https://domain.com>_ and start by typing _https_. Rather they would enter _domain.com_, which redirects to the secure URL at _<https://www.domain.com>_ as expected.
## Restrict log in access (optional)
To ensure that editing environment is only accessed from approved locations, you can restrict the login to only apply to specified IP addresses on the allow list. See [Restricting Environment Access](🔗).
## Single Page Application considerations
You should correctly set up usage tracking parameters to ensure that the website traffic volume monitoring is correct. For websites using the Single Page Application (SPA) concept, specifically configure the page view tracking, because pages on these websites will not reload during usage. See [Consumption Metrics](🔗) for information about configuring page view tracking for single page applications.
## Related topics
  • [Managing DNS records (Microsoft)](🔗)
  • [Creating Rewrite Rules for the URL Rewrite Module (Microsoft)](🔗)
  • Blog post: [Using routing rules to validate a site before go live/swap (DXP)](🔗)