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Every app is reachable at a free *.symplax.app subdomain with HTTPS. You can add your own domain on top of it, and Symplax gets a Let’s Encrypt certificate for it once your DNS points at your server.

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The free subdomain

When you deploy an app, Symplax gives it an address made from the app name, such as billing-api.symplax.app. If that name is taken, it adds a short suffix, such as billing-api-3f9c.symplax.app.
  • HTTPS works straight away, with a certificate Symplax provides for *.symplax.app.
  • Plain HTTP requests are redirected to HTTPS.
  • The subdomain is kept for the life of the app, even after you add a custom domain. Both names keep working.
You never need to edit DNS for the subdomain.

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Add a custom domain

Symplax does not manage your DNS. You create the record at your domain registrar or DNS provider, such as Cloudflare, Namecheap or Route 53.
1

Enter the domain

Open your app, go to Settings, type your domain under Domain, for example app.example.com, and click Save. You can also set it in the Domain field when you first deploy.
2

Create an A record

Under DNS record, Symplax shows the record to create. It is an A record whose value is your server’s IP address.For the root of a domain, such as example.com, most DNS providers use @ as the name.
3

Wait for the certificate

Click Re-check to see whether the domain points at your server. Once it does, Symplax requests a Let’s Encrypt certificate for you, usually within about ten minutes. The domain then shows as working over HTTPS.
Use an A record, not a CNAME. The certificate is issued on your server, so the domain has to reach your server directly. If you use Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (grey cloud) so traffic is not proxied through Cloudflare.

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How SSL works

Certificates for custom domains come from Let’s Encrypt, issued by certbot on your server and installed into nginx.
  • When you save a domain, Symplax updates nginx and requests a certificate straight away.
  • If DNS was not ready, which is common when a domain still points at your old host, Symplax checks every ten minutes whether the domain now resolves to your server. When it does, it requests the certificate for you, with no redeploy needed. After a failed attempt it waits an hour before trying the same app again, to stay within Let’s Encrypt’s rate limits.
  • Renewal is handled by certbot’s scheduled renewal on your server.
The DNS record panel tells you what the domain resolves to today:
  • It points at this server: the certificate is on its way, or already working.
  • It points somewhere else: Symplax shows the address it found. Change the record to the one shown.
  • It does not resolve yet: add the record, then allow a few minutes for it to spread.

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Your app must accept its domain

Some frameworks reject requests for hostnames they do not know: Django’s ALLOWED_HOSTS, Rails’ config.hosts, Sinatra’s host authorization. Before going live, Symplax sends one request with your domain as the Host header. If your app accepted the health check but rejects its own domain, the deploy fails with a message telling you which setting to change, instead of going live and blocking every visitor. Add both your custom domain and your *.symplax.app subdomain to that allow-list.

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Limits

  • An app has one custom domain, plus its free subdomain.
  • Traffic reaches your app through nginx on your server, which listens on ports 80 and 443. Let’s Encrypt validates your domain over port 80.