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SSL & Custom Domain

You can make Appsmith available on a custom domain by updating your domain's DNS records to point to the instance running Appsmith. Most domain registrars / DNS providers have documentation on how you can do this yourself.

How To Self-Host Appsmith With A Custom Domain

Setting up SSL​

SSL automatically set up for your instance once you configure a custom domain for your instance. All SSL certificates Appsmith creates are generated and kept up to date through Let's Encrypt.

Custom SSL certificate​

The container supports generating a free SSL certificate. If you have your own certificate, please follow these steps to use it inside the container.

  • Firstly, please rename your certificate file as fullchain.pem and key file as privkey.pem
  • Copy these files into the sub-directory <mounting-directory>/ssl/ (Note: Please change <mounting-directory> by the mounting volume directory in the docker-compose.yml. Default is ./stacks)
  • Restart the container using docker restart appsmith

The container checks the certificate files in the folder <mounting-directory>/ssl and use them if they exist.

note

In case the certificate files have a different name from fullchain.pem and privkey.pem, it will fail to find the custom certificate and auto-provisions the certificate by Let's Encrypt

Docker​

After configuring your custom domain, getting HTTPS support is super easy. Just tell Appsmith about the custom domain and you are on.

Configure the APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN field in your instance configuration with your custom domain

# Example Docker Configuration
APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN=appsmith.mydomain.com

Restart the appsmith container.

info

Please ensure port 80 on your server is open and accessible from the Internet for the HTTPS certificate to be provisioned.

Kubernetes​

The APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN environment variable is not used for configuring TLS for a Kubernetes installation of Appsmith. For more information, see how to configure TLS for Appsmith Kubernetes installation.

AWS AMI​

  • Once your instance is ready, connect to that instance (via SSH) using your key pair (Create in step 2) and the public IP of your instance (Created in step 4) via the terminal or any SSH Client that you have

  • Move to /home/ubuntu/appsmith/stacks/configuration folder

  • Edit the docker.env file here and change the value of APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN variable to your custom domain. For example:

    APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN=appsmith.mydomain.com

  • Now restart your instance using docker-compose restart appsmith. This provisions the SSL certificate automatically before starting the server.

At this point, you should be able to browse to cloud server by entering your custom domain directly into your browser's address bar with HTTPS.

info

Please ensure port 80 on your server is open and accessible from the Internet for the HTTPS certificate to be provisioned.

Heroku​

  1. Go to the Settings tab in your Heroku app
  2. Click the Add domain button in the Domains section
  3. Input your domain name & click Next. Heroku provides you with a DNS target that you can map your domain with.
  4. Go to your DNS provider and make sure that your custom DNS Record (Ex. appsmith.yourcompany.com) is updated to map to the DNS Target
note
  • Once you use a custom domain, You might want to set up SSL for your dyno. Please check the official document of Heroku how to configure SSL
  • The dyno needs to be upgraded to at least "Hobby" type to use this feature of Heroku

DigitalOcean​

To host the Appsmith DigitalOcean droplet on a custom domain, you'll need to select the Add a domain option from the dashboard.

It redirects you to a new page. Add your domain name there. Once that's done, it'll give you records of the name servers. Copy the details of the NS (name servers). Use the custom name server's configuration on your domain provider. Sometimes, it might take up to 24 or 48 hours for this to go live.

tip

Your Appsmith instance should be available at https://appsmith.mydomain.com with automatic certificate provisioning and renewals.