Configuring Custom Domains and SSL

When you first create a Portal Experience, it is assigned a random domain with the format of <site-slug>.bcvp0rtal.com . For example, http://site-148393.bcvp0rtal.com . When the site is published, viewers will be able to access the site at this domain. Gallery provides the ability to publish video sites at a Brightcove provided domain or at your own custom domain.

Gallery Portal Experiences can also be assigned to multiple URLs allowing publishers to use the same site for different functions without having to duplicate the site. For example, if you have a video site you want to use in a campaign and as your main video portal, you can brand different URLs and assign them all to the same site. No site duplication is needed and you can easily delete URLs when they are no longer needed.

Using a Brightcove provided domain

Brightcove provided domains allow you to quickly and easily create a domain for your site without having to work with your IT department to create a custom CNAME or register a new domain name with a registrar. They’re available "out of the box" and can be implemented with a click of a button. There are three Brightcove provided domains:

• brightcovegallery.com
• gallery.video
• bcvp0rtal.com (which is assigned to sites by default)

All of them support SSL. To access the SSL site, just add https to the URL. For example, https://marquee.brightcovegallery.com

Using a custom domain (publisher registered)

Video sites can also be hosted on your own custom domain that you have registered. This allows you to brand the URL and keep it consistent with your current website/URL naming construct. This requires you to register the domain name, verify domain ownership using a TXT record and then configuring a custom CNAME record with your hosting provider. See the section below for more information on how to configure a CNAME record.

Creating a custom domain

To create a custom domain, follow these steps:

1. Open the Gallery module.
2. Click the settings icon () on the home page.
3. In the left navigation, click the Custom Domains and SSL link.
4. Click Create Custom Domain.
5. Select a domain option to use:
   • brightcovegallery.com - The site domain will have the format <your domain>.brightcovegallery.com.
   • gallery.video - The site domain will have the format <your domain>.gallery.video.
   • Custom - Select to host the site on your own custom domain. When selecting this option, you will also have to verify domain ownership and configure a CNAME record with your hosting provider.
6. Enter the domain name.
7. If a Brightcove provided domain option was selected, a message will be displayed to indicate if the domain is valid or invalid. If the domain name is invalid, enter a new domain name.

   

8. If a Custom domain option was selected, a RECORD NAME and VALUE will be displayed.

   You must deploy a DNS TXT record in your hosting account to validate ownership of the domain. After the TXT record has been added, click Validate and confirm that a message appears saying the domain is valid.

   
9. If you are publishing the site using a Brightcove provided domain, there is an option to Enforce SSL on this domain. Check Enforce SSL on this domain (recommended) to enable a redirect from the non-SSL version of the site if a viewer goes to it.
10. If you are publishing the site to your own custom domain, you have the option of securing the site using SSL. Check the Use SSL checkbox to secure the site using SSL. For information on using SSL, see Securing a Portal Experience with SSL.
11. Check Enable Redirect to redirect this URL to another URL. Typically this would only be checked after this domain has been used for a while. When this option is selected, enter the Redirect URL this existing URL should be redirected to.

    

    Check Use a permanent redirect (HTTP status code 301) to indicate that the redirect is permanent. When a search engine spider finds a 301 status code in the response header of a web page, it understands that this web page no longer exists and replaces the indexed URL with the new one. This option will retain your old web page traffic and page rank.
12. Click Save. A list of configured domains will be displayed.

    

13. Create additional domains as needed.

To edit or delete a domain, click the edit () or delete () buttons.

Once custom domains have been created, they can be assigned to a site as part of the site properties. For information, see Assigning a Custom Domain to a Portal Experience.

Configuring CNAME records with your hosting provider

The steps to configure a CNAME (Canonical Name) record will differ based upon your hosting provider. You need to configure a CNAME record for each custom domain you will be using. If your site is configured to use SSL, the CNAME record should point to the CloudFront URL. See Securing a Portal Experience with SSL for information. Note that custom domains must include a subdomain in order to be configured as a CNAME ex: video must be placed before brightcovelearning.com so I can configure my CNAME.

The CNAME values are displayed as part of the Custom Domains & SSL settings.

In this example, for the custom domain of video.brightcovelearning.com , I would add a CNAME record and add a host of video and point it to d3mkhzp6k6x3hl.cloudfront.net.

Note that browsing directly to a Cloudfront URL will return a "page not found" error (404). A curl command can be used to verify the domain configuration. For this example:

curl -H "Host: video.brightcovelearning.com" https://d3mkhzp6k6x3hl.cloudfront.net

The curl statement should return the contents of the site home page.

You may need to contact your network administrator or web hosting provider for help with this step. Remember that it can take up to 48 hours for DNS changes to take effect.

Securing sites with SSL

There are two options for securing a Portal Experience with SSL:

1. For sites that are being published using the assigned site slug (i.e. <site-slug>.bcvp0rtal.com ) or are using a Brightcove supplied domain, no configuration is needed to support https. Adding https:// to the beginning of the URL will secure the data transmission between your browser and the Gallery site. You can also select Enforce SSL on this domain (recommended) to enable a redirect from the non-SSL version of the site if a viewer goes to it.
2. For sites that are hosted using your own custom domain, check the Use SSL option when entering your domain name. You will then be prompted to enter your certificate information. For more information, see Securing a Portal Experience with SSL.