Can't get custom domain working.

[ArsenFidan]

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Hi!

I can't get my custom domain working with https.

my domain is afidan.nl. I want both typing afidan.nl and www.afidan.nl bringing you to www.afidan.nl (this works as of now).
However to get it https is not working. And I do get an error. I can't enable enforce https which says Unavailable for your site because a certificate has not yet been issued for your domain

I tried putting in afidan.nl as my custom domain as well as www.afidan.nl, both give the same error with obviously the error saying afidan.nl when I just put in afidan.nl:
Both www.afidan.nl and its alternate name are improperly configured Domain's DNS record could not be retrieved. For more information, see [documentation](https://docs.github.com/articles/setting-up-a-custom-domain-with-github-pages/) (InvalidDNSError).

my current dns settings
Name | Type | Content | TTL
@ | A | 185.199.108.153 | 5 min
@ | A | 185.199.111.153 | 5 min
@ | A | 185.199.110.153 | 5 min
@ | A | 185.199.109.153 | 5 min
@ | AAAA | 2606:50c0:8003::153 | 5 min
@ | AAAA | 2606:50c0:8002::153 | 5 min
@ | AAAA | 2606:50c0:8001::153 | 5 min
@ | AAAA | 2606:50c0:8000::153 | 5 min
www | CNAME | arsenfidan.github.io. | 5 min

My repo of the pages is:
https://github.com/ArsenFidan/ArsenFidan

The CNAME file in my repo contains this:
www.afidan.nl
Thanks in advance!

[samarth3282]

Hey! I took a look at your setup, and you're very close—just a few tweaks should get HTTPS working for www.afidan.nl.

What’s Already Correct:
Your GitHub repo is set up correctly.

You have a CNAME file in your repo with www.afidan.nl.

Your www subdomain is pointed to GitHub via a CNAME to arsenfidan.github.io.

All required A and AAAA records for the root domain (afidan.nl) are correctly pointing to GitHub Pages servers.

So the issue is likely related to DNS propagation or missing ALIAS/ANAME records.

What’s Still Missing or Can Be Improved:

1. Root Domain Needs an ALIAS/ANAME/CNAME-Like Behavior
   GitHub expects the root domain (afidan.nl) to either:

Be redirected to www.afidan.nl, or

Be set using an ALIAS or ANAME record (not always supported by DNS providers)

But since you want afidan.nl → www.afidan.nl and enforce HTTPS on www.afidan.nl, your current A/AAAA records are not enough on their own for HTTPS to be issued for the root domain.

Fix Steps:
Option 1: Use Your DNS Provider’s Redirection Feature (Recommended)
Most DNS providers offer a URL forwarding / redirection feature. You can use that to redirect:

afidan.nl → https://www.afidan.nl
Make sure the redirect is 301 (permanent) and not masked. This way GitHub only needs to issue a certificate for www.afidan.nl — which already works.

Then:

Keep only www.afidan.nl in your GitHub Pages custom domain setting.

Don’t enter afidan.nl — GitHub will otherwise try to issue a cert for both.

Option 2: Use an ALIAS/ANAME record at @ (if your DNS provider supports it)
Replace the A and AAAA records with an ALIAS or ANAME at @ pointing to arsenfidan.github.io.

Not all providers support this, so check your DNS docs.

Wait for Propagation
After fixing:

Wait a few hours (up to 24h max).

Then go to your GitHub repo → Settings → Pages, and enable Enforce HTTPS once the certificate is issued.

[ArsenFidan]

Hey! I took a look at your setup, and you're very close—just a few tweaks should get HTTPS working for www.afidan.nl.

What’s Already Correct: Your GitHub repo is set up correctly.

You have a CNAME file in your repo with www.afidan.nl.

Your www subdomain is pointed to GitHub via a CNAME to arsenfidan.github.io.

All required A and AAAA records for the root domain (afidan.nl) are correctly pointing to GitHub Pages servers.

So the issue is likely related to DNS propagation or missing ALIAS/ANAME records.

What’s Still Missing or Can Be Improved:

1. Root Domain Needs an ALIAS/ANAME/CNAME-Like Behavior
   GitHub expects the root domain (afidan.nl) to either:

Be redirected to www.afidan.nl, or

Be set using an ALIAS or ANAME record (not always supported by DNS providers)

But since you want afidan.nl → www.afidan.nl and enforce HTTPS on www.afidan.nl, your current A/AAAA records are not enough on their own for HTTPS to be issued for the root domain.

Fix Steps: Option 1: Use Your DNS Provider’s Redirection Feature (Recommended) Most DNS providers offer a URL forwarding / redirection feature. You can use that to redirect:

afidan.nl → https://www.afidan.nl Make sure the redirect is 301 (permanent) and not masked. This way GitHub only needs to issue a certificate for www.afidan.nl — which already works.

Then:

Keep only www.afidan.nl in your GitHub Pages custom domain setting.

Don’t enter afidan.nl — GitHub will otherwise try to issue a cert for both.

Option 2: Use an ALIAS/ANAME record at @ (if your DNS provider supports it) Replace the A and AAAA records with an ALIAS or ANAME at @ pointing to arsenfidan.github.io.

Not all providers support this, so check your DNS docs.

Wait for Propagation After fixing:

Wait a few hours (up to 24h max).

Then go to your GitHub repo → Settings → Pages, and enable Enforce HTTPS once the certificate is issued.

Thank you for your response!

I checked my provider, however I think my provider is just not fit for this. I can not add an ALIAS or ANAME record. And redirecting to itself doesnt work I can only to other domains (I tried).

So if I understand correctly, at this point I think I have 2 options.
afidan.nl → www.afidan.nl but no https
or
www.afidan.nl → afidan.nl and https.

I prefer https above having www in front of it, if I must choose. To achieve that, would changing the custom domain to afidan.nl be enough or would I need to do something else too?

[samarth3282]

Thanks for the follow-up!

You're absolutely right about the tradeoff, and since your DNS provider doesn’t support ALIAS/ANAME or root-to-www redirection, choosing HTTPS on the root domain (afidan.nl) is the better path for security and professionalism.

Here’s exactly what you need to do to switch from www.afidan.nl → afidan.nl and get HTTPS working:

Step-by-Step Fix for HTTPS on afidan.nl:

1. Update Your GitHub Settings
   Go to your repo → Settings → Pages

In the Custom domain field, enter:
afidan.nl
Save it. GitHub will now generate a certificate for afidan.nl.

2. Update the CNAME File in Your Repo
   In your repo, open the CNAME file (currently has www.afidan.nl)

Change it to:
afidan.nl

3. Remove the www CNAME Record from DNS
   Delete the www CNAME record from your DNS settings.

That subdomain won’t be used anymore, so it’s cleaner to remove it.

4. Keep the A and AAAA Records As-Is
   Your root domain is already pointing to GitHub’s servers with the correct IPs:

A records:
185.199.108.153
185.199.109.153
185.199.110.153
185.199.111.153

AAAA records:
2606:50c0:8000::153
2606:50c0:8001::153
2606:50c0:8002::153
2606:50c0:8003::153
Perfect — no changes needed here.

5. Wait for GitHub to Issue the HTTPS Certificate
   This can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours (rarely more than 24h).

Once it’s ready, you’ll be able to enable "Enforce HTTPS" under GitHub Pages.

Bonus: Optional Redirect From www.afidan.nl → afidan.nl
If you want to be extra neat and avoid 404s for users typing www.afidan.nl, you can:

Add a simple index.html file on a different GitHub Pages repo under www.afidan.nl that redirects using JS or meta-refresh.

Or ignore it entirely — most traffic today is to the root domain or comes via search engines.

[ArsenFidan]

It seems to work thank you!
I did keep the cname record however without it I got an error.

Both www.afidan.nl and afidan.nl result in going to https://afidan.nl.

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[shamshuddinlakhani-cloud]

Check your domain provider's DNS settings to ensure the CNAME record for www points correctly to arsenfidan.github.io. You can review a guide on proper DNS configuration such as register.domains to help resolve the HTTPS certificate error.