Unlock the Power of Customizable Subdomains
Are you curious about how popular services like Atlassian, GitHub, Slack, and Zoom issue custom subdomains to their customers on the fly? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll take you through the process of building a web app that supports multiple subdomains, demystifying the complex parts along the way.
Before We Begin
Before diving in, let’s outline the journey ahead. We’ll cover the technical requirements, terms and definitions, setting up DNS, Nginx, and our web app, and finally, starting our Nginx server.
Technical Requirements
To follow this tutorial, you’ll need:
- A domain name that you own
- A cloud provider (e.g., AWS EC2, Azure, Google Cloud)
- A public IP address for your server
- A DNS provider (e.g., Amazon Route 53, Cloudflare)
- A database (e.g., MongoDB)
Terms and Definitions
To make our journey easier, let’s define some key terms:
- Domain Name System (DNS): A naming system that maps domain names to IP addresses.
- A-records and Wildcard Domains: A-record maps a domain to an IP address, while a wildcard domain responds to requests for undefined subdomains.
- Time to Live (TTL): The time interval that specifies how long a DNS record should be cached.
- TXT Record: A record that maps a domain to a text value, often used to prove domain ownership.
Setting Up Our DNS
First, we’ll point our domain name to our Nameservers. Then, we’ll add an A-record to our domain name, resolving to the IP address of our cloud provider’s deployed instance. We’ll also add a wildcard domain A-record, responding to requests for undefined subdomains.
Setting Up Nginx
Next, we’ll set up Nginx, a web server that sits on top of the TCP/IP stack. We’ll use Nginx as a reverse proxy to handle multiple Node servers on the same machine for load balancing purposes.
Installing SSL Certificates
We’ll use Certbot to install SSL certificates for both our domain and wildcard domain. This involves running commands in the terminal and adding TXT records to our DNS zone.
Configuring Nginx for SSL Certificates
Once we have our SSL certificates installed, we’ll configure Nginx to use them. We’ll edit the Nginx configuration file, adding lines to specify the SSL certificates and their locations.
Setting Up Our Web App
Now it’s time to set up our web app using the MERN stack (Node.js, Express.js, EJS, and MongoDB). We’ll create a simple CRUD application that allows us to create a user and assign them a unique subdomain.
Starting Our Nginx Server
Finally, we’ll start our Nginx server, and if everything is set up correctly, we should see our web app in action!
Congratulations!
You’ve successfully built a web app that supports multiple customizable subdomains. Pat yourself on the back and get ready to take your web development skills to the next level!