How to add CNAME entry using Google Apps

The Domain Name System (DNS) distributes the responsibility of assigning domain names and mapping those names to IP addresses by designating authoritative name servers for each domain. Authoritative name servers are assigned to be responsible for their particular domains, and in turn can assign other authoritative name servers for their sub-domains. This mechanism has made the DNS distributed and fault tolerant and has helped avoid the need for a single central register to be continually consulted and updated.

CNAME record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) that specifies that the domain name is an alias of another, canonical domain name. This helps when running multiple services (like an FTP and a webserver; each running on different ports) from a single IP address.

In this article you could find How to add CNAME entry using Google Apps, I am using Bluehost as my hosting provider. I don’t know really how this will work with other hosting companies, but I guess it would be almost same.

In Bluehost’s cpanel you can create cnames, but it just doesn’t call the whole process by its real names. See the step by step method to use Google Apps. If you don’t have an Google App already then create one,

1) http://google.com/a/ to set up your account. (Standard Account is free)

2) To verify , Google gives you a code and you can either make an html file or make a CNAME entry. Copy the code Google gives you.

3) Go to Bluehost’s cpanel

4) Under the Domains subheading click subdomains

5) paste that code into the subdomain field

6) Create a directory name, click “Create”

7) “googlefffffffffspla4s.yourdomain.com has been created, Click back

8)  Click on “Manage Redirection”

9)  On the left is your subdomain. In more standard BIND parlance, this is the “Record-Key” part of your CNAME. The “Value” part, where you want to redirect to, is um, where, you, want, to, redirect, to. In the google apps verification example, you would type in google.com.

Once you’re verified, to set up gmail for your domain, you would set up a subdomain “mail”, pointing to some random, made up directory name, then “Manage Redirection” to point to google.com/a/yourdomain.com

Happy Google App !