How to redirect a custom domain to github pages
Because I do not have a dedicated webspace to host my website, but do have a custom domain, I decided to simply redirect it to github pages.
That also has the benefit of using automatic deployment via github actions.
So the goal is to serve the website under bpampel.github.io but let it also be accessible via bpampel.de.
To get the redirect working, you need to do two steps:
- set the correct A records for your domain
- tell github the domain it should serve the content for
Generally, changes to DNS records might take a while to have effect, so be patient.
Setting A records
To set the A records, you need to access the DNS settings of your domain (often a web interface). Then, you need to add the four A records given on this website
In my case, I had no A records set previously. It might be a bit more complicated if you want to redirect only some subdomain.
I also set a CNAME record for www.bpampel.de to bpampel.github.io.
Github settings
On github.com, go to the repository hosting the website and access the Settings.
Under Pages you can set a custom domain, simply enter it here and click save (in my case bpampel.de).
It will take a bit until github has checked that your domain indeed links to github pages and it will then generate a SSL certificate, so your website can be served securely via HTTPS. This might take a bit.
Due to caching, the changes might not be live directly. But after some time you should hopefully have a working redirect.