How to Set Up CNAME Records for photoSentinel Servers
How to Set Up CNAME Records for photoSentinel Servers
When using your own domain name with the photoSentinel gallery, a critical element is the CNAME record; this points visitors who enter your domain name into their browser to the photoSentinel servers that host your gallery.
A CNAME record is part of a service called ‘Domain Name Services’, or ‘DNS’. It is often hosted with a provider such as your domain name host, or website host.
If you aren’t sure where your DNS is hosted, please check with your IT department, or web hosting provider.
Most providers will allow you to change the settings via a web interface, others with a command-line, while some providers may require you to contact them to make the changes on your behalf.
Creating Your CNAME Record for photoSentinel Servers
To forward requests from your address to the photoSentinel servers, you will need a CNAME entry that points to: webfrontend.prd.ps0.co.
There are other DNS record types, but we only support CNAME entries (DNS A records are not supported).
You will need the relevant DNS CNAME records for each desired subdomain – that is, each URL that you wish to have a Project Homepage for viewing photoSentinel Galleries. See the table below for example entries:
URL (the subdomain of your domain to use) | Record Type | Target URL (the photoSentinel address to point to) | TTL (Time to Live) |
| project1.example.com | CNAME | webfrontend.prd.ps0.co | 3600 |
| project2.example.com | CNAME | webfrontend.prd.ps0.co | 3600 |
| clientportal.example.com | CNAME | webfrontend.prd.ps0.co | 3600 |
In these examples, visitors who enter one of the URLs into their web browser will be taken to the photoSentinel system and connected to the appropriate Project Homepage (the Project Homepage must be configured with the matching URL name in Control Hub).
How you add CNAME record entries will depend on where your DNS is hosted and which tool you use to make the changes.
Since there is so much variance in how to create these entries, you will need to follow the guides provided by your DNS host. Here are some links to how to add CNAME records for popular hosting providers:
Bluehost: https://my.bluehost.com/hosting/help/714
Amazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/route-53-create-alias-records/
GoDaddy: https://godaddy.com/help/add-a-cname-record-19236
Cloudflare: https://community.cloudflare.com/t/how-do-i-add-a-cname-record/59
HostGator: https://www.hostgator.com/help/article/how-to-change-dns-zones-mx-cname-and-a-records
Squarespace: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002101888-Adding-custom-DNS-records-to-your-Squarespace-Domain#toc-cname-records
Time to Live
The TTL (Time to Live) value determines how much time is between a change to your CNAME record, and the rest of the world receiving that change.
We recommend a value of 3600 (1 hour); this will balance the frequency your server will be asked for the CNAME information, while ensuring updates will be available in a reasonable time if you make changes.
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