How to Transfer Domain Names to Google Cloud Hosting
One of the final steps before deploying your WordPress website on Google Cloud Platform is setting up a domain name.
One of the final steps before deploying your WordPress website on Google Cloud Platform is setting up a domain name.
Registering a Domain Name
Before starting this tutorial, you should’ve already purchased a domain name. Most .com domains usually sell for around ten U.S. dollars. However, less commonly used domain names, such as those ending in .club or .site, sell for much cheaper. To register a domain:
- Visit a domain name provider (we recommend NameCheap).
- Search for the domain you want to purchase.
- Add it to your cart.
- Checkout.
Once you’ve registered a domain name and have setup WordPress on Google Cloud (Click-to-Deploy or Bitnami), you’re ready to start this tutorial.
1. Enable the Cloud DNS API
Login to your Google Cloud Platform account. Click the hamburger menu in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and go to API Manager > Dashboard.
Once you’ve reached your API Dashboard, click on “ENABLE API” at the top of the screen.
In the search field, search for “cloud dns”, and click on “Google Cloud DNS API”. After you’ve clicked on “Google Cloud DNS API”, click enable.
2. Create a Cloud DNS Zone
After enabling the Cloud DNS API, click on the hamburger menu in the upper left hand corner of the screen and navigate to Networking > Cloud DNS.
Once you’ve navigated to Cloud DNS, click on “CREATE ZONE” at the top of the page.
Enter the name of your website in the Zone Name field, and your website’s root domain name in the DNS Name field. Click the “Create” button.
3. Add DNS Records
After you’ve created your zone, click on the “ADD RECORD SET” link that appears on the next page.
The first record you’ll create is an “A” record. In the Resource Record Type field, select “A”. In the IPv4 Address field, enter your IPv4 address (instructions for finding your IPv4 address in next image).
You can locate your IPv4 address by clicking on the hamburger menu in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, and navigating to Compute Engine > VM Instances > External IP.
Next, you’re going to create a CNAME record. In the DNS Name field enter “www”. In the Resource Record Type field enter “CNAME”. In the Canonical name field, enter your domain name.4. Configure NS Records
In this section of the tutorial, you will be pointing your domain name to your website on Google Cloud. In this example, NameCheap is used as the domain name provider, however, the process will be the similar for all domain name providers.
After you’ve configured your “A” and “CNAME” records, you should have a total of 4 recordsets. The two-record sets in the middle (NS and SOA) are generated automatically. Copy the four NS records.
Sign-in to the domain name provider where you registered your domain name.
Click on the manage button next to your domain name.
In the NAMESERVERS section of the domain management page, choose “Custom DNS”, then paste the four Google NS records.
5. Edit WordPress URLs
5.1. WordPress Bitnami Instructions
Use the following instructions if you’re configuring the Bitnami version of WordPress on Google Cloud. For Click-to-deploy, scroll down to step 5.2.
From your Google Cloud Platform dashboard navigate to “Compute Engine” > “VM Instances”
Once inside of your Compute Engine, click on the SSH button to connect to your WordPress installation.
Once connected via SSH, connect as a root user and open your wp-config.php file in the nano editor.
sudo -i
nano /opt/bitnami/apps/wordpress/htdocs/wp-config.php
nano /opt/bitnami/apps/wordpress/htdocs/wp-config.php
Inside of your wp-config.php file, you will need to replace your SiteURL and HomeURL definitions as shown below.
REPLACE THIS:
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');
define('WP_HOME', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');
WITH:
define('WP_HOME','http://example.com');
define('WP_SITEURL','http://example.com');
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');
define('WP_HOME', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/');
WITH:
define('WP_HOME','http://example.com');
define('WP_SITEURL','http://example.com');
Remember to replace “example.com” with either the www. or non-www. version of your domain name – whichever your prefer. For example:
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://www.yourdomain.com/');
define('WP_HOME', 'http://www.yourdomain.com/');
define('WP_HOME', 'http://www.yourdomain.com/');
If you’ve already configured SSL for your domain, you should substitute the http:// in the code above for https:// instead. For example:
Next, make sure to verify your website’s permalink structure. This setting often gets corrupted after changing your domain name settings. You can access your permalink settings by going to Settings > Permalinks.
Make sure to verify your permalink structure after changing your domain name settings.
5.2. WordPress Click-to-deploy Instructions
Use the following instructions to configure your WordPress URLs for the Click-to-deploy version of WordPress on Google Cloud.
Go back to your Compute Engine > VM instances page and copy the IP address connected to your website. Also – make sure that you’ve reserved the IP address as static.
Paste the IP address into your browser, followed by /wp-admin.
Next, fill in your login credentials to access your WordPress dashboard.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings > General. From here, change the URL fields from your IP address to the domain name that you just transferred.
That’s it!
Your domain name is now pointing to your Google Cloud website!
Remember – domain name changes can take up to 48 hours to take effect, but in my experience, they usually take less than 30 minutes.
If you have questions, follow along with the video for clarification.
Otherwise, leave your questions and comments below, and I will respond to them promptly.
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