Google Cloud DNS setup
If your domain’s DNS is hosted in Google Cloud DNS, connecting it to Redirect Supply means adding a few record sets to your managed zone. Nothing else in Google Cloud needs to change: no load balancer, no certificate. Your domain stays wherever it’s registered, and the setup takes about five minutes.
Before you start
You need two things ready before you open the Cloud console.
Add the domain in Redirect Supply
Add your domain in Redirect Supply first. Its settings page shows the records you’ll need, including a TXT value that’s unique to your domain. Keep that page open in another tab. This guide covers a root domain like brand.com. If you’re connecting a subdomain like go.brand.com, the DNS setup guide explains the differences.
Make sure the zone is the live one
Cloud DNS only answers for your domain when your registrar points to the name servers Cloud DNS assigned to this zone. If the zone was ever recreated, those name servers may have changed. Compare the NS record in the zone with what your registrar shows before you start.
Open your managed zone
All the changes in this guide happen in one zone.
Find the zone
Sign in to the Google Cloud console, open the Cloud DNS zones page, and select your managed zone. The Zone details page lists every record set and has an Add standard button.
Records you’ll see there
Every zone has NS and SOA record sets. Leave those alone. If the domain served something on Google Cloud before, you’ll often find an A record set on the zone apex and a record set for www. Those use the names Redirect Supply needs. Not sure what else counts? The conflict table on your domain’s page in Redirect Supply lists every record that blocks the setup.
Clear the way
Before adding anything, remove what’s already pointing your domain elsewhere.
Export, then delete old record sets
Deletion in Cloud DNS is permanent, so export your records first. Then select the A and AAAA record sets on the apex and any record set on www, and choose Delete record sets.
Remember the one-CNAME rule
Cloud DNS only allows a CNAME when it’s the only record on that name. If anything else sits on www, like an A record, delete it before adding the CNAME.
Leave NS, SOA and email records alone
NS and SOA records keep the zone working, and MX and email TXT records keep your email working. None of them affect redirects, so leave them exactly as they are.
Add the Redirect Supply records
You’ll add three record sets with Add standard. Leave DNS name empty for the zone apex. Typing @ doesn’t work in Cloud DNS. For anything else, enter only the label, and Cloud DNS adds the rest. Keep the default TTL.
Name | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
www | CNAME | proxy.redirect.supply |
(leave empty) | A | 188.114.96.9 |
(leave empty) | A | 188.114.97.9 |
_cf-custom-hostname | TXT | Value from your domain’s settings page |
Note: Enter both IPs in one A record set with “Add item”. Don’t use @.
Add one A record set with two addresses
Select Add standard, leave DNS name empty, and choose A as the resource record type. Enter 188.114.96.9, select Add item, and enter 188.114.97.9. Select Create. Cloud DNS keeps both addresses in one record set.
Add the www CNAME
Add a record set with DNS name www, type CNAME, and the canonical name proxy.redirect.supply. If the console shows a dot at the end, that’s expected.
Add the TXT record
Add a record set with DNS name _cf-custom-hostname, type TXT, and paste the value from your domain’s settings page in Redirect Supply. On some less common domain endings, Redirect Supply also asks for an _acme-challenge TXT record. Add it the same way if you see it.
Check the zone
Each record set is live once it’s created. Look over the zone to make sure there’s one A record set with two addresses on the apex, the www CNAME and the TXT record, and nothing else on those names.
Check the status in Redirect Supply
Once the record sets are created, you’re done in Google Cloud.
Check the conflict table
You don’t have to wait to find out if something’s wrong. Your domain’s page in Redirect Supply shows a conflict table with the records currently on your domain. Anything that blocks the setup, like an old A record set or a leftover www record, is flagged there along with what to do about it. Fix those first, and the rest is just waiting.
How long it takes
New Cloud DNS records are usually picked up within minutes. How quickly the old ones disappear depends on their TTL.
When the domain goes Active
Redirect Supply checks your records automatically. When it finds them, the domain switches to Active and HTTPS is issued on its own, with no Google-managed certificates involved. See Domain statuses for what each status means along the way.
Google Cloud DNS-specific issues
Most problems with Cloud DNS come from the apex name or a zone mix-up.
The root record ended up in the wrong place
You typed @ in DNS name. Cloud DNS doesn’t treat it as the apex. Delete that record set and create it again with DNS name left empty.
Records have no effect
Your registrar points to different name servers than this zone uses, often because there’s a second zone for the same domain. Point the registrar to the name servers shown in this zone’s NS record.
Cloud DNS won’t create the www CNAME
Another record set already exists on www. Delete it first. A CNAME has to be the only record on its name.
The domain is stuck on Pending
Open the conflict table on your domain’s page in Redirect Supply. It shows which record is blocking the setup, usually an old A record set or an old www record. Remove what it flags and wait a few minutes. Record conflicts covers the common cases.