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I just registered a domain name (say http://www.abc.com ). I also have a website with content on it (say http://www.freehost.com/mywebsite).

I would like to redirect visitors that type http://www.abc.com to http://www.freehost.com/mywebsite. Can this be done with DNS records (and if so , how?)?

Thanks!!

Joel

Edit:

Thanks for all the answers! I understand that it works only for top level domains. What about subdomains? Can I use CNAME to redirect to http://mydomain.freehost.com ?

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No, this can't be done with DNS records.

CNAME records can only redirect hostname to hostname, not hostname to full URL.

To do what you require you need a separate web server on www.abc.com which issues an HTTP redirect to send the user to the right URL. Note that your cheap web-host address will then also appear in the user's browser address bar.

Alternatively, if your web content is also available as http://subdomain.freehost.com/ then a CNAME to that is legal.

However the webserver will need to be configured to accept your new domain name (i.e. via the Host: header) and know which user's content to serve. Your free webhost may not permit that.

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Yes, subdomains are handled by DNS so you can set up a CNAME to point www.abc.com at mydomain.freehost.com (it's best not to call it a "redirect" - that's handled at the HTTP level, so it's potentially confusing).

Note though, that this still might not work correctly. It's probably best to set up a record in your drivers/etc/hosts file first and test that it works before you go about changing DNS records.

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Two steps:

  1. You'll need to create a CNAME from www.abc.com to www.freehost.com.
  2. Create a redirect page (php, aspx, etc) at www.freehost.com to send anyone who hits it to www.freehost.com/mywebsite

You cannot fully implement your solution with DNS alone, but with the above steps you can achieve the result you are looking for.

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  • It should probably be assumed that the OP cannot install content or redirections at the freehost's web root.
    – Alnitak
    Sep 21, 2010 at 15:07
  • Can I use CNAME to redirect to mydomain.freehost.com, i.e. subdomain
    – Joel
    Sep 21, 2010 at 15:15
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    yes, that's legal. However the webserver will need to be configured to accept your new domain name (i.e. via the Host: header). Your free webhost may not permit that.
    – Alnitak
    Sep 21, 2010 at 15:20
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You really should be doing this via the htaccess file, not DNS. There are specific reasons you modify your CNAME records, a simple redirect is not one of them. Look here for a tutorial on htaccess, or google for one on your own.

EDIT: Also note that your web hosting provider will likely have an option in their control panel to do this for you if both domains have their DNS pointed to them.

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