Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
Update terminology
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
"Government Digital Service" Jisc account, since that's what the org is called.

Make clearer that CO delegating `gov.uk` and `www.gov.uk` is something of an anomaly.

Remove misleading notes about how we can update what `gov.uk` and `www.gov.uk` points to.

Make clearer that we're referring to Fastly services.
  • Loading branch information
ChrisBAshton committed Feb 20, 2024
1 parent b73063a commit 9a4c92b
Showing 1 changed file with 9 additions and 11 deletions.
20 changes: 9 additions & 11 deletions source/manual/dns.html.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -30,25 +30,23 @@ The [GOV.UK proposition](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govuk-propos

There are lots of other `*.gov.uk` domains, such as `cityoflondon.gov.uk`, which are managed by Cabinet Office.

In theory, the GOV.UK proposition domains should all be managed by GOV.UK (who use [Jisc](https://www.jisc.ac.uk/): a non-profit that provides networking to UK education and government). In practice, a couple of GOV.UK proposition domains are managed by Cabinet Office, and a couple of non-proposition domains are in GOV.UK's Jisc account. [This is being looked at](https://trello.com/c/qNpyVaC5/3228-consolidate-co-vs-non-co-domains-in-govuks-jisc-account) by Platform Security & Reliability.
In theory, the GOV.UK proposition domains should all be managed by Government Digital Service (who use [Jisc](https://www.jisc.ac.uk/): a non-profit that provides networking to UK education and government). In practice, a couple of GOV.UK proposition domains are managed by Cabinet Office, and a couple of non-proposition domains are in the Government Digital Service Jisc account. [This is being looked at](https://trello.com/c/qNpyVaC5/3228-consolidate-co-vs-non-co-domains-in-govuks-jisc-account) by Platform Security & Reliability.

In most cases, DNS zones are hosted by both AWS (Route 53) and Google Cloud Platform (Cloud DNS). See [Amazon Route53 vs Google Cloud in the govuk-dns-tf README](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf#amazon-route53-vs-google-cloud)

### The `gov.uk` domain

This is managed by Cabinet Office. `gov.uk.` is an apex domain so it [cannot have a CNAME record](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1912#section-2.4). Instead, it has A records that point directly to Fastly virtual IP addresses, resolving to the [Production TLD Redirect](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/7IaQm6UK3NiQu0v0E83YKn) service, which performs a redirect to `www.gov.uk`.
This domain is currently delegated by Cabinet Office. `gov.uk.` is an apex domain so it [cannot have a CNAME record](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1912#section-2.4). Instead, it has A records that point directly to Fastly virtual IP addresses, resolving to the [Production TLD Redirect](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/7IaQm6UK3NiQu0v0E83YKn) Fastly service, which performs a redirect to `www.gov.uk`.

### The `www.gov.uk` domain

This is managed by Cabinet Office.
This domain is currently delegated by Cabinet Office.

`www.gov.uk.` is a CNAME to `www-cdn.production.govuk.service.gov.uk.`, which means we do not need to make a request to Jisc if we want to change CDN providers. We can just change where the CNAME points to.

We've configured this CNAME to point to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.` (configured [via govuk-dns-tf](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/govuk.service.gov.uk.yaml#L45-L48)). This resolves to the [Production GOV.UK](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/4b340CyOhAgINR9eKMH83h/versions/549/origins) service.
`www.gov.uk.` is a CNAME to `www-cdn.production.govuk.service.gov.uk.`, which ultimately points to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.` (configured [via govuk-dns-tf](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/govuk.service.gov.uk.yaml#L45-L48)). This resolves to the [Production GOV.UK](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/4b340CyOhAgINR9eKMH83h/versions/549/origins) Fastly service.

### The `service.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

The `service.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/e00ae516f9ae6265ca186581a1e74319372d2677/zones/service.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L10) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses.

Expand All @@ -58,23 +56,23 @@ An important one we've configured is `publishing.service.gov.uk`, which is [dele

### The `data.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

The `data.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L9) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses, and `www.data.gov.uk` is a [CNAME to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.`](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L291-L294). Both domains resolve to the [Production data.gov.uk](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/1hGLCRA0sJuaXJEFI49z2z).
The `data.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L9) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses, and `www.data.gov.uk` is a [CNAME to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.`](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L291-L294). Both domains resolve to the [Production data.gov.uk](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/1hGLCRA0sJuaXJEFI49z2z) Fastly service.

The `data.gov.uk` redirect to `www.data.gov.uk` is [configured in govuk-fastly-secrets](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-fastly-secrets/blob/61e0206f62a7af6e45c80820e90d52db7590f3ab/secrets.yaml#L387-L396).

There are a number of other subdomains of `data.gov.uk` configured in govuk-dns-tf.

### The `blog.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

We have a [wildcard CNAME](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/blog.gov.uk.yaml#L18-L21) delegating all subdomains of `blog.gov.uk` to our provider, DXW.

### The `campaign.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

We have a [wildcard CNAME](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/1be5ae58e82fb47f0e42cc6f7c2507b424fa9200/zones/campaign.gov.uk.yaml#L91-L95) delegating all subdomains of `campaign.gov.uk` to our provider, DXW.

Expand Down

0 comments on commit 9a4c92b

Please sign in to comment.