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I have searched for this problem numerous times but I can't quite apply the solution to my problem. The usual solution I find is that I need to add an A-record to my dns, currently I only have a C-name record for host 'www' to my DNS.

The problem is, I'm having trouble understanding what goes in the 'host' section of the record when trying to create an A-record. Here is a screenshot to my domain registrar where I am trying to create the record.

I have tried creating an A-record with the 'host' field set to *, but that is not a valid entry, nor is leaving it blank.

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I have tried creating an A-record with the 'host' field set to *, but that is not a valid entry, nor is leaving it blank.

An A record points directly to the IP address of your server.

However, this might be a restriction with your host (Amazon AWS?) since your site might not be served from any one server, so there is no one IP address that you can point to. In which case you could perhaps use a service such as wwwizer.com that provides the one IP address and performs the redirect for you.

Just to note, your site should only be accessible from one or the other (www or none-www), not both. It should redirect from one to the other - which is what you would need to do if you setup an A record.

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In my case I am using AWS and Godaddy, so I updated my www CNAME to xxx.aws.amazon.com and deleted the A record. After that I used a forwarding 301 (permanent redirect) and pointed it to www.mysite.com.

So in short use forwarding and point it to www.yoursite.com

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  • Ok, but when people first visit mysite.com without the www, aren't they're just going to get an empty page?
    – Alexander Kleinhans
    Sep 20, 2017 at 3:02
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my domain registration is at hostway but my website is at squarespace. In managing the DNS I put a CNAME record for just my domain without the www under the source and put the website as the destination with a TTL of 14400 so it looks like this:

14400 example.com my-squarespace.example

no @ or www for the host just the domain name.

Now when I go to example.com or www.example.com it goes to https:www.example.com

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    Using a CNAME at the domain root (apex) is not allowed by DNS spec. Even though some DNS servers will let you do so, it may not work for all client. It has unexpected side effects such as causing your MX to be ignored and email to that domain will stop working.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Nov 25, 2019 at 19:35

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