Hostly

Hostly Domains and Domain Fragments ​

Hostly uses domains to address workspaces and services uniquely on the internet.

DNS in brief ​

The Domain Name System, or DNS, translates readable domain names into technical network and routing information.

When a user opens app.example.hostly.ninja, DNS first ensures that the request reaches the Hostly infrastructure. Hostly then maps the request to the matching service and forwards it there.

No custom DNS records are required for domains provided by Hostly. Everything is fully configured and ready to use from the moment the service is deployed.

Four central terms ​

TermExampleMeaning
Workspace domain fragmentexampleThe name part assigned to a workspace.
Workspace domainexample.hostly.ninjaThe full domain of the workspace.
Service domain fragmentappThe name part assigned to a service.
Service domainapp.example.hostly.ninjaThe publicly reachable domain of the service.

The service domain always follows this pattern:

text
<Service-domain-fragment>.<Workspace-domain-fragment>.hostly.ninja

Workspace domain fragment ​

The workspace domain fragment is globally unique. Therefore, only one workspace worldwide can use, for example, example or example.hostly.ninja.

An account with multiple workspaces needs its own globally unique workspace domain fragment for each workspace.

The workspace and its domain fragment currently cannot be renamed.

Service domain fragment ​

The service domain fragment must be unique within the workspace.

Example:

text
app.example.hostly.ninja
api.example.hostly.ninja
status.example.hostly.ninja

Another workspace may use the same service domain fragments:

text
app.data.hostly.ninja
app.example.hostly.ninja

A service may also use the same fragment as its workspace:

text
example.example.hostly.ninja

Hostly always creates exactly one additional domain level for the service.

Service domain fragment and service name ​

The service domain fragment is not the same as the service name. The service domain fragment determines the public address and can be changed. The service name determines the internal address <service-name>:<port> and can never be changed. When creating a service, the wizard prefills the service name from the service domain fragment.

Services without domain ​

Internal services have no service domain and therefore no service domain fragment. They are only reachable by other services of the workspace via their service name. See What is a Service?.

Character rules ​

The following characters are currently allowed for workspace and service domain fragments:

text
Alphanumeric: a-z, 0-9

Uppercase letters are automatically converted to lowercase.

Service names follow their own rules and may also contain hyphens.

Changes and reservation ​

The workspace domain fragment cannot be changed.

A service domain fragment can only be changed through a deployment change. There is no automatic redirect from the old service domain to the new one.

The service domain fragment remains reserved throughout the entire service lifecycle. Only final deletion releases it for reuse.

HTTP and HTTPS ​

When deploying a public service, you must select how users should access the service. The available options are HTTP and HTTPS.

HTTPS ​

Every service can use the built-in SSL or TLS feature. A deployment with this feature enabled automatically receives a Let's Encrypt certificate and upgrades HTTP traffic to HTTPS.

The benefit is that users of the service get an additional layer of connection security, and browsers show users that the connection is secure.

The default deployment configuration is HTTPS. We recommend this setting for most users.

Reachability:

text
app.example.hostly.ninja -> https://app.example.hostly.ninja
http://app.example.hostly.ninja -> https://app.example.hostly.ninja
https://app.example.hostly.ninja -> https://app.example.hostly.ninja

The public port for HTTPS traffic is 443.

HTTP ​

The connection for users of the service is not additionally secured, and browsers show users that the connection is not secure.

We recommend this setting only for users who understand the risks.

Reachability:

text
app.example.hostly.ninja -> http://app.example.hostly.ninja
http://app.example.hostly.ninja -> http://app.example.hostly.ninja
https://app.example.hostly.ninja -> error 404, page does not exist

The public port for HTTP traffic is 80.