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Custom Domain Setup ​

If you want a professional URL for your Crow blog or gateway (e.g., blog.yourdomain.com instead of crow.your-tailnet.ts.net), you need to point a DNS record at your server's public IP address. This guide covers the DNS setup for common providers and how Caddy handles HTTPS automatically.

Prerequisites ​

  • A running Crow server with a public IP address (see Oracle Cloud Free Tier or another cloud provider)
  • A domain name you own
  • Port 443 open in your server's firewall (covered in the Oracle Cloud guide's security hardening step)

What Is an A Record? ​

An A record maps a domain name (like blog.yourdomain.com) to an IPv4 address. When someone visits your domain, their browser uses this record to find your server. You need one A record pointing your chosen domain or subdomain to your Crow server's public IP.

Step 1: Find Your Server's Public IP ​

bash
# On your server
curl -4 ifconfig.me

Note this IP address — you'll enter it in your DNS provider's dashboard.

Step 2: Create the DNS Record ​

Choose your DNS provider below and follow the instructions. In each case, you're creating an A record that points your domain or subdomain to your server's IP.

Cloudflare ​

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard
  2. Select your domain
  3. Go to DNS in the left sidebar
  4. Click Add Record
  5. Set the fields:
    • Type: A
    • Name: your subdomain (e.g., blog) or @ for the root domain
    • IPv4 address: your server's public IP
    • Proxy status: Toggle to DNS only (gray cloud). Caddy needs a direct connection to provision certificates. You can enable the orange-cloud proxy later if desired, but start with DNS only.
    • TTL: Auto
  6. Click Save

Namecheap ​

  1. Log in to Namecheap and go to Domain List
  2. Click Manage next to your domain
  3. Go to the Advanced DNS tab
  4. Click Add New Record
  5. Set the fields:
    • Type: A Record
    • Host: your subdomain (e.g., blog) or @ for the root domain
    • Value: your server's public IP
    • TTL: Automatic
  6. Click the checkmark to save

GoDaddy ​

  1. Log in to GoDaddy and go to My Products
  2. Find your domain and click DNS (or Manage DNS)
  3. Click Add in the Records section
  4. Set the fields:
    • Type: A
    • Name: your subdomain (e.g., blog) or @ for the root domain
    • Value: your server's public IP
    • TTL: 600 seconds (or the lowest available)
  5. Click Save

DigitalOcean ​

  1. Log in to the DigitalOcean Control Panel
  2. Go to Networking in the left sidebar
  3. If your domain isn't listed, enter it under "Add a Domain" and click Add Domain
  4. In the domain's DNS records, click Create new record
  5. Set the fields:
    • Type: A (selected by default)
    • Hostname: your subdomain (e.g., blog) or @ for the root domain
    • Will Direct To: your server's public IP
    • TTL: 3600 (default)
  6. Click Create Record

Other providers

The process is the same everywhere: find the DNS management page, add an A record, enter your subdomain and server IP. If your provider isn't listed here, search their help docs for "add A record."

Step 3: Install and Configure Caddy ​

Crow's Docker setup uses Caddy as a reverse proxy. Caddy automatically provisions and renews Let's Encrypt TLS certificates when DNS is pointed at your server — no manual certificate management required.

If you followed the Oracle Cloud guide, you may already have Caddy installed. If not:

bash
# Install Caddy
sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

Configure the reverse proxy:

bash
sudo tee /etc/caddy/Caddyfile > /dev/null << 'EOF'
blog.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3001
}
EOF

sudo systemctl restart caddy

Replace blog.yourdomain.com with your actual domain. Caddy will detect the domain, contact Let's Encrypt, and provision a certificate automatically. This typically takes under a minute.

Step 4: Set the Public URL ​

Tell Crow its public address so it generates correct links in blog feeds, share URLs, and the Crow's Nest:

bash
# If using the installer layout
echo 'CROW_GATEWAY_URL=https://blog.yourdomain.com' >> ~/.crow/app/.env
sudo systemctl restart crow-gateway

# If using Docker
# Add CROW_GATEWAY_URL=https://blog.yourdomain.com to your .env file
# then: docker compose --profile cloud up --build -d

Step 5: Verify ​

Open https://blog.yourdomain.com/health in your browser. You should see a JSON response confirming the gateway is running, served over HTTPS with a valid certificate.

Troubleshooting ​

DNS propagation delay ​

After creating or changing a DNS record, it can take up to 48 hours to propagate worldwide, though most changes take effect within 30 minutes. You can check propagation status with:

bash
# Check if DNS has updated
dig +short blog.yourdomain.com

# Or use an online tool like https://dnschecker.org

If the command returns your server's IP, propagation is complete.

HTTPS not working ​

If you see certificate errors or Caddy fails to provision a certificate:

  1. Confirm DNS is pointing to the correct IP: dig +short blog.yourdomain.com
  2. Confirm port 443 is open on your server and any cloud firewall (Oracle Security Lists, AWS Security Groups, etc.)
  3. Check Caddy's logs for specific errors:
bash
sudo journalctl -u caddy --no-pager -n 50

Common causes:

  • DNS not propagated yet — wait and retry. Caddy retries automatically.
  • Port 443 blocked — Let's Encrypt needs to reach port 443 for the HTTP challenge. Check both your OS firewall (sudo ufw status) and your cloud provider's firewall rules.
  • Cloudflare proxy enabled — if you're using Cloudflare with the orange cloud (proxy) on, Caddy can't complete the ACME challenge. Switch to DNS only (gray cloud) for initial setup.

Wrong IP address ​

If your domain loads someone else's site or times out:

  1. Verify your server's current public IP: curl -4 ifconfig.me
  2. Compare with what DNS returns: dig +short blog.yourdomain.com
  3. If they don't match, update the A record in your DNS provider and wait for propagation

Cloud providers sometimes change your public IP if you stop and restart an instance. If this happens, update your A record with the new IP. Consider reserving a static IP (called "Reserved Public IP" on Oracle Cloud, "Elastic IP" on AWS) to prevent this.

Released under the MIT License.