I run a SaaS where customers use their own domains by CNAME-ing to domains.example.com. In our DNS, domains.example.com has proxy disabled. To activate their custom hostname, I set a fallback origin fallback.example.com with proxy enabled.
Now, custom hostnames are active even when CNAMEd to domains.example.com. I expected activated custom hostnames to follow fallback.example.com, but they still resolve to domains.example.com which is proxy disabled. Why is this happening?
If the CNAME target isn’t proxied, you aren’t using Cloudflare Custom Hostnames at all, and none of the settings on Cloudflare will have any effect whatsoever.
What happens if we enable the proxy on CNAMEdomains.example.com and then a host point to that CNAME without having active custom hostname in our zone for them? Will the CNAME routing happen for them even without custom hostname?
We initially asked our customers to point their domains to domains.example.com. Now, we want to enable Cloudflare proxy to take advantage of its features. However, some customers have CAA records that block pki.goog from issuing certificates, preventing their custom hostnames from becoming Active. As a result, some custom hostnames are Active, while others are not.
We don’t want to disrupt their service, and while we’ve asked them to update their CAA records, it may take time.
Is there a way to allow hostnames without a custom hostname in our zone to bypass Cloudflare (acting as if domains.example.com is not proxied) while ensuring that the rest function as expected under Cloudflare’s proxy?