Custom Branded URL

An extension of Dashboard and Report customization is the ability to access the Dashboard over a secure custom branded URL.

Login to your domain reseller's control panel to create a DNS CNAME record pointing to a custom address (for example dashboard.your.domain, portal.your.domain, www.your.domain), then generate its SSL certificate by linking the CNAME in your Dashboard. For convenience and to support different domains, each Dashboard supports multiple custom CNAME entries.

This feature uses the Let's Encrypt certificate authority and we will automatically obtain, apply and maintain an SSL certificate for your custom domain.

Once the certification process is complete, both you (and your customers) can securely access the Dashboard over your own custom address.

Please be aware that a certification error is returned if you attempt to access the Dashboard using a CNAME Record that is not linked to an account and recorded in our database.

The option to create an HTTPS certificate for your Dashboard CNAME record is only available for accounts with custom branding enabled. Please reach out to your account manager for details of your available branding options.

Create a DNS CNAME Record

If you are using a domain reseller's DNS servers, there will usual be a facility on the domain control panel that allows you to manage your DNS zone through a form-based interface.

Please be aware that depending on your domain reseller/agent's DNS configuration it may take up 24 hours for the DNS changes to propagate.

The domain interface can vary between domain resellers and the following example covers the creation of a DNS CNAME record based on the GoDaddy control panel:

  1. Login to your GoDaddy account
  2. Go to My Products, Choose Domains
  3. Click Manage
  4. Click the target domains drop-down
  5. Go to Manage DNS
  6. Under DNS Zone File
  7. Click Add Record
  8. From Record Type
  9. Choose CNAME (Alias)
  10. Configure the zone record
    1. Host: enter the hostname to access the Dashboard over (for example dashboard.your.domain, portal.your.domain, www.your.domain)
    2. Points to (destination hostname):

      3. Territory

      Points to (destination hostname)

      Americas

      dashboard.am.remote.management

      Asia

      dashboardasia.system-monitor.com

      Australia

      dashboard.system-monitor.com

      Europe

      dashboardeurope1.systemmonitor.eu.com

      France (FR)

      dashboardfrance.systemmonitor.eu.com

      France1

      dashboardfrance1.systemmonitor.eu.com

      Germany

      dashboardgermany1.systemmonitor.eu.com

      Ireland

      dashboardireland.systemmonitor.eu.com

      Poland

      dashboardpoland1.systemmonitor.eu.com

      United Kingdom

      dashboard.systemmonitor.co.uk

      United States

      dashboard.systemmonitor.us

    3. Click Finish then Save Changes to apply

Link your DNS CNAME Record to the Dashboard

Linking your custom DNS CNAME record with the Dashboard automatically adds an SSL certificate for your domain.

Once complete, you can securely access your Dashboard using CNAME address.

  1. Verify your new CNAME record has propagated and is now available
  2. Login to your Dashboard
  3. Go to Settings > General Settings > Custom Domains
  4. Check the Custom Domains window to see whether the CNAME record is already linked to the Dashboard
  5. To add a domain:
    1. Enter your customer Dashboard CNAME record in the Custom domain field excluding forward or back slashes and https:// Note: The system performs a lookup to determine the validity of the entered URL. An error message returned where a problem is detected. For example: "The domain you have entered is either invalid or does not have the required CNAME entry set up".
    2. Click Add
  6. Perform step 7 to add any additional domains

    7. Where branding is not enabled for your Dashboard the dialog displays "To enable custom domains you need to first enable custom branding. Contact your account administrator for details".

  7. Click OK to save and apply

custom_dns_dialog

To avoid any potential certification issues where the domain entered for the Custom Branded URL utilizes a CAA DNS record, it is necessary to add Let’s Encrypt (letsencrypt.org) as an authorized Certification Authority either for the domain itself or the specific Dashboard sub-domain.

What do you want to do?

Please note that we are not responsible for the content of external sites.