Skip to content

[DNS/SSL] Clarify HTTPS record behavior with Universal SSL and proxied hostnames#30793

Open
ngayerie wants to merge 6 commits into
cloudflare:productionfrom
ngayerie:ngayerie/ESCALATION-2549
Open

[DNS/SSL] Clarify HTTPS record behavior with Universal SSL and proxied hostnames#30793
ngayerie wants to merge 6 commits into
cloudflare:productionfrom
ngayerie:ngayerie/ESCALATION-2549

Conversation

@ngayerie
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

@ngayerie ngayerie commented May 13, 2026

Updates documentation to explain:

  • Manual HTTPS records on proxied hostnames are not served (Cloudflare uses auto-generated records)
  • Disabling Universal SSL prevents automatic HTTPS record generation for proxied hostnames
  • Manual HTTPS records only work for DNS-only (grey cloud) hostnames

Files updated:

  • dns-record-types.mdx: Added note explaining proxied vs DNS-only behavior
  • browser-compatibility.mdx: Strengthened language about Universal SSL requirement

Addresses ESCALATION-2549

Summary

Clarifies documentation about when HTTPS records are served and when they are not.

Problem

Customers disable Universal SSL (for policy reasons) while using Advanced Certificates, then expect HTTPS records to be served. The current documentation was ambiguous ("could impact this behavior").

Solution

Updated two pages:

  • /dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types/ - Added note explaining:

    • Manual HTTPS records work for DNS-only hostnames
    • Manual HTTPS records on proxied hostnames are ignored (auto-generated used instead)
    • Disabling Universal SSL stops auto-generation for proxied hostnames
  • /ssl/reference/browser-compatibility/ - Strengthened caution to clearly state Universal SSL is required for automatic HTTPS record generation

Ticket

  • ESCALATION-2549

…d hostnames

Updates documentation to explain:
- Manual HTTPS records on proxied hostnames are not served (Cloudflare uses auto-generated records)
- Disabling Universal SSL prevents automatic HTTPS record generation for proxied hostnames
- Manual HTTPS records only work for DNS-only (grey cloud) hostnames

Files updated:
- dns-record-types.mdx: Added note explaining proxied vs DNS-only behavior
- browser-compatibility.mdx: Strengthened language about Universal SSL requirement

Addresses ESCALATION-2549
@ngayerie ngayerie requested a review from elithrar as a code owner May 13, 2026 13:08
@github-actions github-actions Bot added product:ssl Related to SSL product:dns Issues or PRs related to DNS size/s labels May 13, 2026
@dklbreitling
Copy link
Copy Markdown

This is great.

Could we clarify that the entire label, i.e. all records in that zone with the same name, need to be grey?

See ticket, if one or more orange names exist on the same label, we also won't serve the manually added HTTPS records when USSL is disabled.

…TPS records

Added:
- Explanation that a 'label' refers to all records with the same name
- Examples showing when manual HTTPS records will/won't be served
- Updated browser-compatibility page to reference the detailed examples
@ngayerie
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator Author

how does it look now @dklbreitling ?

@dklbreitling
Copy link
Copy Markdown

That's great, thank you!


<Details header="Example: Manual HTTPS records and proxy status">

A label refers to all DNS records in a zone that share the same name. For Cloudflare to serve a manually-added HTTPS record, every record on that label must be DNS-only (grey cloud).
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Why are we introducing this talk about "labels"? The official definition of a label is the string between the dots. So for www.example.com there would be three labels, www, example, and com.

Let's scratch all references of "label" and just use the term "name" which is anyway easier to understand.

Comment thread src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx Outdated
Comment thread src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx Outdated
Comment thread src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx Outdated
Co-authored-by: Hannes <105781579+hannes-cf@users.noreply.github.com>
Comment thread src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx Outdated
Comment thread src/content/docs/dns/manage-dns-records/reference/dns-record-types.mdx Outdated
ngayerie and others added 2 commits May 18, 2026 11:13
Co-authored-by: Hannes <105781579+hannes-cf@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Hannes <105781579+hannes-cf@users.noreply.github.com>
@ngayerie ngayerie requested review from a team and kodster28 as code owners May 18, 2026 09:17
The term 'label' has a specific DNS meaning (string between dots).
Using 'name' is clearer and avoids confusion.
@ngayerie ngayerie force-pushed the ngayerie/ESCALATION-2549 branch from a9f79a8 to bc112c7 Compare May 18, 2026 09:19
@ngayerie
Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator Author

Hi @hannes-cf ,
I've updated the PR to remove "labels".

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

product:dns Issues or PRs related to DNS product:ssl Related to SSL size/s

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

4 participants