What is a CNAME and how do I create one?

What is a CNAME?

A Canonical Name record (CNAME record) is a type of record in the Domain Name System (DNS). It specifies that a domain name is an alias of another domain, called the “canonical” domain. All information, such as subdomains and IP addresses, is defined by the canonical domain.

In other words, a CNAME record lets you point one name to another. For example, your myschool system may normally be reached through the address assigned to it by the myschool team. You may also want it to open at an address on your own domain, such as portal.yourschool.ly. You can do this by adding a CNAME record that points portal.yourschool.ly to the myschool address. Anyone visiting portal.yourschool.ly will then see exactly the same content.

How do I create a CNAME?

Every domain or hosting provider has a slightly different way of creating CNAME records. If you are unsure, contact the support team of the company where you registered your domain name.

The general steps are:

1. Log in to your account on your domain or hosting provider’s website and open the DNS management page.
2. CNAME records are special DNS records, so they may appear in sections such as DNS Management or Name Server Management. You may need to enable advanced settings to create one.
3. Delete any existing CNAME entries for the alias you want to use with myschool. Always delete old entries for the same alias before adding a new one.
4. Add a new CNAME record:
   • Name / Host: enter only the subdomain you want to use, for example portal.
   • Points to / Target / Data: enter the hostname provided by the myschool support team.
   • TTL: enter a value or keep the default (usually 1 hour).
5. Save the record.

Example of a CNAME setting

Screenshot — to be addedpublic/images/articles/faq-cname-custom-domain-1.png

Still having trouble?

Send the following message to the support team of the company where you registered your domain (you can also tell them the same by phone):

I use a school management system called myschool, which can run on my own domain name.
My domain is registered with you, and I need help creating a CNAME record.
myschool is not my domain host, so they cannot create the record for me.

The details I received from myschool are:
- Alias (subdomain): portal
- Destination: <hostname provided by the myschool support team>

There should be a CNAME record for portal.[my_domain] that points to the destination above.
Once the record is created correctly, I will be able to use myschool on my domain.

Note: Replace portal and [my_domain] with your actual subdomain and domain name.