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amazon-route53netlify

How to use Netlify DNS for domains managed by AWS Route 53?

I have a domain registered at Route 53, but I want to have Netlify manage the DNS for this domain (the entire domain, unlike other questions about subdomains). I set the NS record for the domain to point to Netlify's name servers, but Netlify's custom domain configuration tool still claims that DNS is not configured correctly.

Below is a screenshot showing my current Route53 hosted zone configuration, with the NS records clearly pointed at Netlify's DNS servers. I waited for DNS propagation timeouts, flushed Google's DNS cache, and tried other suggestions and nothing worked.

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Solution

  • The problem turned out to be that setting the NS records in the hosted zone doesn't actually let Netlify manage the DNS for the domain. Instead, you need to change the nameservers in the Registered Domains section of the Route 53 console. (NOT the Hosted Zones section.)

    enter image description here

    On that page, remove the AWS nameservers and add Netlify's nameservers. It will look like this when it's done: (Note that your nameserver hostnames may be different; copy them from Netlify's Custom Domain page)

    enter image description here

    Kudos to Netlify's support team for writing a doc that explains how to do this. It was admittedly hard to find this doc in Google because there are so many different Netlify docs about various DNS intricacies. But eventually Googling helped me find it.

    In retrospect, it's now obvious to me that adding DNS records to a zone (even NS records!) can't change the nameservers used by the domain. But it would have been nice if the AWS console included this info when I edited the NS records so I didn't waste a few hours.

    Leaving this answer here for the next victim. 😁