You can now specify your own custom Domain Name for your Volt app. Your app can have a friendly URL such as
https://myapp.mycompany.com
instead of the name Volt assigns it. You’ll need a Volt membership to do this.
Notice the “https”? It even takes care of making sure there is a certificate in place, so your site is secure. The app is still served from the Volt server, so all the files and MIME types are in the right place.
Here’s how to set this up.
1. Set up your DNS service. This will differ depending on who you are using for DNS. Add this to the domain you want to use in the URL – “mycompany.com” in the above example.
You will need to set up an ‘A’ (for ‘Apex’) record if you want the domain to point directly to your app. Example: https://mycompany.com. The numerical IP address to use (if needed) is 45.79.167.164.
Otherwise, you will need to set up a CNAME record if you have a subdomain pointing to your app. Example: https://myapp.mycompany.com.
Here’s how it looks on EasyDNS, the DNS provider NS BASIC uses:
This specifies the hostname will be myvoltapp.nsbasic.com, which points to volt.live. The following period (“.”) is important.
It will look different on your DNS provider. If you have difficulties figuring out what to do, check with your provider. It usually takes a few minutes for the change to update through the web.
2. Tell the Dashboard about the new Domain. There’s a new button in the Actions section of App page in the Dashboard:
Select the Add Domain button. It will add a line to the list of Domains. Enter the name you set in to the CNAME record:
3. The Dashboard will take care of the rest. You can now type “https://myvoltapp.nsbasic.com” (or whatever you defined) and your app will open. Your users won’t notice you are running on Volt.
Notes
Right now, you can only have one Custom Domain name. We will be increasing that. One of them needs to be designated as your main (or “canonical”) domain.
The site you use in step 1 needs to have an SSL certificate. Dashboard creates a secure link. The site it links to therefore also has to be secure. You can get free certificates at https://letsencrypt.org/.