Custom Domain Error Just appeared

[sie602020]

Hi 

We have had our store setup for last 5 years and not made any domain changes since then

Today I have the error on shopify 

"Custom Domain Error-Theres an issue with your stores domain name. View your domain settings for more details"

When I view the error it says " Your domain has a wildcard record pointing to Shopify "

We have not changed anything since setting up the site and now I am concerned about changing anything incase it takes the site down

[Lithin]

Same error message received

[Italia-Straps]

We just had the same exact error message appear also. We haven't made any changes to domain settings for many years.

Note: Our domain is at Network Solutions. Network Solutions was having issues yesterday with their servers going up and down so we were speculating there could be a connection between that and the new error in Shopify Admin.

We're also concerned about jumping to make any changes to domain settings that could take the site down etc.  

[Italia-Straps]

Screen shot of the error...

[Italia-Straps]

After some digging, there's almost no information out there on this issue which makes it seem like its new as it relates to Shopify. 

To the other posters: who is your domain provider?  @sie602020  @Lithin 

Trying to determine if it's isolated to one provider...

Maybe Shopify staff could chime in as to what changes are actually needed, if any?

Thanks

[LewisHogg]

Yeah same message received here. I use 123reg.

[sie602020]

Same were with 123reg

[Kimball_Klatt]

Just got the Same message, I am with GoDaddy

[Bagshag57]

Same message here, I'm with Network Solutions

[Tinyfrockshop]

Same error message received just today. We are on Hover and have been with Shopify for over 8 years! No changes made. Error is out of the blue and we are not changing anything for fear of the shop going down. I hope Shopify chimes in.

[Italia-Straps]

Thanks everyone.

So, it would appear the error is across a variety of domain providers. 

We're basically in the same situation. After 7 years on Shopify, the error came out of the blue. Since there's minimal guidance, we're not moving to change any DNS settings.

Hopefully Shopify can provide some guidance or a tutorial if settings actually need to be changed.

[Emanuelzelcer]

Same error received

Having a wildcard record (*.example.com) pointed to Shopify can interfere with your site and isn't supported.

We are with Shopify over 3 years, hosted by turbify, I won't delete the wildcard until there's clarity from Shopify.

[ausnchan]

Same issue. We use ipower.

[jenia1st]

Same here...

[Fiona26]

Same here, we are with 34SP, No idea what this is...

[sie602020]

Ive just reported it to shopify as I thought they would of jumped on this thread but they havent, seems to have effected lots of users, however no one wants to make any changes to domains as we have working sites and dont want any downtime

[HitKingsSc]

Have no fear!  Shopify's "award winning support" will rescue us all!  

Lmao.  

It's clearly an issue on shopify side.  Some off-shore resource broke something, and the c-levels are too busy on their yachts to care. 

Give it a month or two.  They'll figure out a way to make it worse, before making it better!

These are my experiences with shopify. 

Have a great day!

Canadians! 

[sie602020]

Just spoken to support and it looks the A record in your domain settings has to be changed to a different IP address, not sure why after all this time this has changed

[HitKingsSc]

But that's not actually the case. 

All of us were not doing The wrong thing fir years....

Don't mess with your domain until you have sense made out of this. 

[HitKingsSc]

Also, a wide spread issue like this, should be communicated directly from shopify.  

Getting advice from a volunteer helper is not an equitable response regarding all of the concern.  

[sie602020]

Ive just finished a support call with shopify, they wanted the IP address changing slightly and the * record removing and then said its ok.

[HitKingsSc]

That doesn't explain why all of us suddenly suffer from this error.  

Perhaps shopify broke something and wants us to make changes to remediate it for them.  

I gave you fair warning.  Best of luck.

[Italia-Straps]

Interesting...so an IP change and removing the record? 

Sounds like official instructions from Shopify are needed so store owners are not just guessing.

Has anyone out there actually made the DNS changes?

Thanks

[CarA2021]

Same here!  

[TT41]

Same issue this morning however the error says your domain has too many a records? Anyone else having this issue and do we know what to do to fix it? I’m concerned about making any changes and potential downtime to my online store 

[sjt]

Same issue.  We use Hover.  The alert notification appeared first at 6 AM and again 15 mins ago. 

[sal56]

I've got the same issue on a few sites that haven't had any issues for years. We're on Hover. 

[shadi1]

I have been with shopify for over 10 years now, my domain was purchased thru godaddy and a DNS shopify template was applied to my domain DNS setttings on go daddy many years ago.

Now out of the blue my i m getting :

Your domain's CNAME record doesn't point to Shopify

This error is not for my main domain , its for my www. domain thats being redirected to my main domain, it wants me to change my cname www to shops.myshopify.com.

But that option is pointing to my main site, so now all the sudden they want me to change it to shops.myshopify.com?

Nothing was changed from my end and now i see that a lot of ppl are having issues too?

[Sophia · Accepted solution]

Hi, everyone! 

I understand that it may have been alarming to see an error message like this pop up, especially for established domains. Thank you for taking the time to ask about this.

I want to clarify that this is not an indication that changes were made to your domains, nor that anyone has done anything wrong. The notes you're seeing in the admin have been posted because it has come to our attention that not all domains are following DNS best practices, and we want to ensure that both your information and our platform are as secure as possible. As such, we recommend to follow best practices by completing the steps listed below:

1. Identify which specific fully qualified domain names you would like to have pointed at Shopify.
2. Review your DNS settings to ensure that each domain has a specific and appropriate DNS entry.
3. Remove any wildcard DNS records.

Please contact your third party domain provider if you need assistance adjusting your DNS records, as they will be best suited to help you make these changes.

[SoNashville]

I made the requested changes but they're not being acknowledged by Shopify. I'm using CloudFlare's DNS.

[Sophia]

Hey, @SoNashville!

It can take up to 48 hours for DNS setting changes to take effect. Hopefully you see an update within that time frame, but please keep me posted.

[HitKingsSc]

Having spent 20+ years managing IT departments in large companies, I'm a bit confused as to why the alert describes an "error", yet you are now stating it's not am error at all, and is simply a best practice recommendation.

I run in the top 1% of domain traffic,  have never had any issues with customers finding or accessing our site.  

You are now going to bombard us with error notifications until we make an unnecessary change, that fixes an error that doesn't exist.  

Can you please provide the name and source of the industry standard that specifically calls out this "best practice"?

[Sophia]

Hi, @HitKingsSc.

I appreciate your feedback regarding the wording of the admin notice.

As noted in my previous response in this thread, the recommendation to remove the wildcard record is to ensure that both our merchant's information and our platform are as secure as possible, so there is no concern that a domain won't be found or accessed. Customers should have no problem finding a store with the A record and CNAME record noted in our guide to setting up a third-party domain.

I don't believe our developers are referencing a single source of information to determine best practices for this platform. If you're curious to learn more about wildcard certificates, I found a few third-party resources that may answer your questions: 

• digicert: What are the pros and cons of a wildcard certificate?
• Keyfactor: 3 Common Wildcard Certificate Risks You Should Know About
• Venafi: Wildcard Certificates: What Are They, and Are They Safe?

Ultimately, I recommend asking your domain provider why they included a wildcard record and whether they can remove it for you, as all you need to point a domain to a Shopify store is the A record and CNAME record noted in our Help Center.

[Italia-Straps]

We are still looking into this issue with the Shopify developer that originally set-up our store.

Sophia --  Can you expand on what type of access issues customers might have "finding" a store with the wildcard.

In our case, we can see the wildcard record in the list of DNS records delineated by the " * " (asterisk) . Is it Shopify's guidance that this record simply be deleted?

Thanks!

PS -- also checking in to see is anyone has successfully cleared the warning by making the changes to their DNS records...

PREVIEW

[Sophia]

Hi, @Italia-Straps.

My apologies for any confusion about this. To clarify, there is no concern regarding access issues. The request to remove wildcard records is in the interest of security both for your information and our platform.

The only records you need to connect your domain to Shopify are the A record and CNAME record outlined in this guide: Connect your third-party domain to Shopify manually.

[Italia-Straps]

We are now seeing this revised warning:

Has anyone been able to successfully clear the DNS warning by changing their DNS records yet?

Thanks!

[shadi1]

HI Sophia

My issue is a little different , here is a screen shot

Now i clicked on the link for shopify DNS settings you provided and compared it to my godaddy setup and its different my A record is pointing to 23.227.38.32 and my www cname record is pointing to xtremedigitalgraphix.com not shops.myshopify.com.

These settings on my godaddy were like this for long long time , i can't even change them since they were applied using a shopify template. 

Did shopify change there ip and cname settings ?

I think i would have to remove the shopify template from godaddy setup to change those settings .

Please let me know.

[Sophia]

Hi, @shadi1!

There have been no recent changes to Shopify's IP address and CNAME record. 

Is the template you're referring to a result of connecting your domain to Shopify automatically? If you're unable to edit the records, I recommend contacting GoDaddy for assistance with this.

[shadi1]

Yes @Sophia  the template i m referencing was a result of connecting my domain to shopify years ago , its been very long i don't remember the details. But the bottom line now is i have to change my settings to match the currant shopify settings right?

[Sophia]

That's right, it's important to make sure that your DNS settings match the A record and CNAME record outlined in our Help Center. If you can't update the records on your own, please ask your domain provider for assistance.

[chandbooth]

Same - is this a real thing or a Shopify goof-up?

[Crittle]

Same error for me.

I have Shopify as a subdomain and Wordpress as my main domain. I have an @ A record that’s points to my Wordpress site,  an A record named “shop” that points to 23.227.38.65 and a CNAME “www.shop” that points to shops.myshopify.com  This has been my DNS for over a year without issue and we will continue to run it this way until Shopify can provide documented reasoning as to why we need to change it.

[RJoseph]

Same for me, but I have my domain through Wordpress. I cannot remove the wildcard (*) because Wordpress manages that CNAME. All the other settings seem to be correct.

[Sophia]

Hi, @RJoseph!

When you click Learn more, is there an option to contact WordPress regarding the DNS settings? I recommend asking them if you can remove the * record since you only need the A record and shops.myshopify.com CNAME record to point the domain to your Shopify store.

[vintageworld]

Hi Sophia,  When I go to add a new CNAME it asks for "other host"  am I supposed enter 'shops.myshopify.com' into both "other host" and into "points to".  I've attached a photo of part of the DNS record 

 

[Sophia]

Hi! 

Are you able to set the host name for the CNAME record to www? If not, please contact your domain provider and feel free to share this guide with them: Connect your third-party domain to Shopify manually.

[JLamoureux]

I don't think that will work with Wordpress. 

[JLamoureux]

I'm in the same boat as you. Did you contact WordPress and have it changed?

[dorotheush]

@HitKingsSc and all, I believe the best practices refer to issues that can arise from using a wildcard domain. For example, if a wildcard is used any user could put a website under that domain i.e realshopnotfake.example.com for *.example.com