Setting Up Domain Forwarding

Domain forwarding redirects visitors from your domain to a different web address. OpenSRS forwarding works over HTTP only it does not support HTTPS access to the forwarded (source) domain itself. This article explains what forwarding does and does not cover, and walks you through enabling and configuring it in the Reseller Control Panel.

How OpenSRS domain forwarding works

When forwarding is active, OpenSRS hosts a lightweight redirect service on the forwarding name servers. Visitors typing http://yourdomain.com are sent to the destination URL you specify. Forwarding is an alternative to pointing a domain at a real web server, and it does not affect email or other DNS records you set on the domain.

Note: OpenSRS does not issue or manage a TLS/SSL certificate for the forwarded domain. If a visitor types https://yourdomain.com directly, their browser will show a certificate warning (or fail to connect) before the redirect ever happens, because there is no valid certificate for that domain on OpenSRS's forwarding service. This is expected behavior, not a bug.

The destination URL you forward to can still be http:// or https:// — that part of the redirect is unaffected, since the visitor's browser only needs a valid certificate for the destination site, not for your domain. Forwarding itself is just not reachable over https://.

Tip: If your customer needs their domain to load securely at https://yourdomain.com, forwarding is not the right tool — point the domain at a host that can terminate TLS for it (their own web host, or a provider offering domain-level HTTPS), rather than using OpenSRS forwarding.

<div data-type="panel-info"><p><strong>Note:</strong> Domain forwarding requires that the domain use the OpenSRS forwarding name servers. Custom name servers will override forwarding.</p></div>

Before you begin

• An active OpenSRS Reseller Control Panel account. You need access to the domain you want to forward.
• The domain registered with OpenSRS. Forwarding is available only for domains under your reseller management.
• The destination URL. Have the full target URL (including http:// or https://) ready before you start.
• Name server access. The domain must be set to the OpenSRS name servers for forwarding to resolve.

Step 1: Open the forwarding settings

Forwarding lives inside each domain's management page.

1. Sign in to the Reseller Control Panel.
2. Search for the domain in the top search bar, then open it.
3. From the domain's menu, select Domains > Forwarding.

Step 2: Enable forwarding and set the destination

Turn forwarding on, then tell OpenSRS where to send visitors.

1. Toggle Domain Forwarding to On.
2. In the Destination URL field, enter the full target URL, including the protocol — for example, https://www.example.com/landing.
3. Choose the redirect type:
   • 301 (Permanent) — search engines transfer ranking to the destination. Use this for permanent moves.
   • 302 (Temporary) — search engines keep the original domain indexed. Use this for short-term campaigns.
4. Click Save.

Optional: forward subpaths

Use the Forward path option if you want yourdomain.com/blog to land at destination.com/blog instead of the root. When disabled, every request lands on the destination URL you set.

Verifying the redirect

Confirm forwarding works before you tell your customer it is live.

1. Open a private or incognito browser window.
2. Visit http://yourdomain.com and confirm it lands on the destination URL.

Warning: Do not test https://yourdomain.com expecting a clean redirect — a certificate warning there is expected, not a sign that setup failed. Only the http:// version of the source domain is covered by forwarding.

Tip: DNS propagation can delay the first successful redirect by up to a few hours. If the redirect does not work right away, wait and retest.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

• Set up DNS for the domain. If forwarding is temporary, plan the eventual move to a hosted site.
• Configure email separately. Forwarding handles web traffic only; configure MX records or hosted email independently.
• Document the redirect for your customer. Note the destination URL and redirect type in your records, and let them know https://yourdomain.com will not resolve through forwarding, so future support requests are easy to resolve.

Questions? Contact OpenSRS Support.