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Custom Domains

Connect your own domain name to a Vivreal-deployed site

intermediate8 min readFor portal users

Custom Domains

Every Vivreal site gets a default URL when deployed. If you want your site to be accessible at your own domain (e.g., www.yourcompany.com), you can connect a custom domain through the portal.

How Custom Domains Work

When you associate a custom domain with your Vivreal site, the platform:

  1. Configures the domain in AWS Amplify hosting
  2. Initiates DNS verification to prove you own the domain
  3. Provisions an SSL certificate automatically (via AWS Certificate Manager)
  4. Routes traffic from your domain to your deployed site

Once verified, visitors who go to your custom domain see your Vivreal site with full HTTPS encryption.

Prerequisites

Before connecting a domain, you need:

  • A deployed site in your group (status: Live)
  • A registered domain name from any domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Route53, etc.)
  • Access to your domain's DNS settings at your registrar

Connect a Custom Domain

Open site settings

Navigate to Sites, click on the site you want to configure, and open its Settings panel.

Add your domain

In the Custom Domain section, enter your domain name (e.g., yourcompany.com or www.yourcompany.com) and click Connect Domain.

Update your DNS records

Vivreal provides DNS records that you need to add at your domain registrar. Typically, you'll need to create:

  • A CNAME record pointing your domain to the Amplify-provided endpoint
  • A verification record to prove domain ownership

The exact records are displayed in the portal after you initiate the connection.

Record TypeHostValue
CNAMEwww(provided by Vivreal)
CNAME_verify(provided by Vivreal)

If you're connecting a root domain (e.g., yourcompany.com without www), you may need to use an ALIAS or ANAME record instead of a CNAME, depending on your registrar. Not all registrars support this — check your registrar's documentation.

Wait for DNS propagation

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate globally, though most updates complete within 1-2 hours.

Vivreal periodically checks whether your DNS records are correctly configured. The domain status in the portal updates automatically.

SSL certificate provisioning

Once DNS verification succeeds, Vivreal automatically provisions a free SSL certificate for your domain. This typically completes within 15-30 minutes. After provisioning, your site is accessible via https:// at your custom domain.

Domain Status

The portal shows the current state of your domain connection:

StatusMeaning
Pending VerificationDNS records have been requested but not yet detected.
VerifyingDNS records found, verification in progress.
ActiveDomain is fully connected with SSL. Your site is live at this domain.
FailedVerification failed. Check your DNS records and retry.

Troubleshooting

  • Domain stuck in Pending — double-check that you added the exact CNAME records shown in the portal. Ensure there are no typos in the record value. Some registrars add the domain automatically (e.g., www.yourcompany.com.yourcompany.com) — check for duplication.
  • SSL not provisioning — SSL requires successful DNS verification first. Ensure the verification CNAME is correctly configured.
  • Root domain not working — not all registrars support CNAME-equivalent records at the root. Consider using the www subdomain as your primary domain and setting up a redirect from the root.

Removing a custom domain disconnects it immediately. Your site remains accessible at its default Vivreal URL, but the custom domain will stop working.

Next Steps

With your domain connected, review Site Settings for additional configuration options like branding and environment variables.