Set up a web address for your site

When a new website is created on the Oxford Mosaic platform it is provisioned with a platform address of:

<prefix>.web.ox.ac.uk

where <prefix> has the value that was supplied on the Site Request form.

This address is suitable to be used as a public web address for your site. (Using ‘www.’ as the first part of an address is an optional convention, which is often not used nowadays.) Using the <prefix>.web.ox.ac.uk domain means the site is automatically covered by the Mosaic Platform's SSL Security Certificate which supports HTTPS by default. In this case, there is no need to register another address and you are good-to-go in putting your site live whenever you are ready to do so.

However, in some cases it is desirable to have a web address that is more tailored, e.g.

• To associate a site as a part of an existing Oxford University domain, i.e. <prefix>.<existingdomain>.ox.ac.uk
• To create a new Oxford University domain, i.e. www.<newdomain>.ox.ac.uk
• Or, if the site is for a multi-institution project or partnership, to use an external domain outside *.ox.ac.uk, e.g. www.<newdomain>.org.uk

Domain registration and hosting is separate to web-hosting and is largely managed independently of the Mosaic platform. So in these cases, acquiring and using a custom domain for your site is a 5-step process:

1. Ensure that the address you wish to use complies with University Policy and local web governance arrangements
2. Request registration of the new domain or transfer-in an existing domain
3. Request addition of the new domain to the Mosaic platform's SSL Security Certificate
4. Add the domain to your Mosaic site
5. Configure the custom domain to point to the Mosaic platform server

Steps 1 and 2 apply to all websites published on University web systems or within its domain space. Adding the domain name to your Oxford Mosaic site (step 4) can be done at any time. Step 3 should be done in good time to ensure that security alerts do not appear in browsers once the new domain points to your Mosaic site.

If you are replacing a website that already has its own domain name, this address can be added to the platform security certificate and switched to point to your Mosaic website when you are ready to go-live.

There are five prerequisites to using a custom domain on a Mosaic website:

1. The domain you want to use must comply with University Policy and local web governance arrangements
2. The domain or subdomain is registered in the University's DNS - this means externally-registered domains need to be transferred in to the University's DNS
3. The domain is on the Mosaic platform's SSL Security Certificate, so that it can be served over https
4. The domain is configured to point to the Mosaic platform server, so that when a web user follows a link or bookmark containing the domain, they are taken to the Mosaic platform
5. The domain is associated with your Mosaic site, so that when requests reach the Mosaic platform, they can be routed to your site

To register a new domain or transfer-in an existing externally registered domain, contact domains@it.ox.ac.uk. Ensure that your request has been appropriately approved before making the request and explain that the site you will use the domain on will be a Mosaic website.

If you are transferring-in a domain name from an external registrar, you should supply details of that registrar so that the Domains team can organise the transfer. 

To register a new part to an existing domain, contact the local web manager of the existing domain in the first instance. Management of unit sub-domains is often devolved to local IT managers who will be able to deal with your request, liaising with the central Domains team as needed on your behalf.

See the IT Help page about domain name registration for more information.

If your requested custom domain is not an Oxford domain (i.e. not ending ‘.ox.ac.uk’), our certificate provider Digicert needs to verify that the University owns that domain. Our preferred method of doing this is to allow them to validate a TXT record containing the Oxford Mosaic email address against the domain’s DNS records; this will generate an authorisation email to our mailbox from which we’ll be able to validate the site. Using this method, we can validate a site every year going forward at a time of our choosing without needing further action on your (or your ITSS's) part. 

You will need to create a record for your custom domain to add oxfordmosaic@it.ox.ac.uk as the validation contact email address, as per the example screenshot below. 

Oxford Mosaic supports HTTPS-only. As a consequence, when any custom domain is added to a Mosaic website, it must also be added to the platform’s SSL Security Certificate. If this is not done, when viewed using the custom domain, the website will display security alerts in web browsers.

To add a custom domain to Mosaic's SSL Certificate — whether as part of a site’s go-live or at any other time — use the 'Request a change to a Mosaic site' form on the Contact page to ask for a domain to be added to the Mosaic SSL Certificate.

The Mosaic platform SSL Certificate is updated every two weeks. When the request is received, the domain will be added to a list of domains waiting to be added to the Certificate, and added in the subsequent update.

If you want to add your custom domain to the SSL Certificate but you are not sure whether you will be ready to use the domain by the following certificate update period, let us know anyway. We can add it to the certificate in advance, and it won’t take effect until the domain is pointed to your site.

Adding a domain to your site tells Mosaic which site to resolve requests to once they arrive at the platform. This can be done at any time in relation to the other steps. 

This needs to be done by a Site Owner or Site Administrator in the Site Settings > Domains tab:

Site settings - domains

The tab displays the current primary domain of the site: until your custom domain is added this will be the Platform address.

Once you add a custom domain to use on your site, you need to set your preferred domain as the Primary domain – this will be the one used in links back to the site, e.g. in the Search results list. Normally, you will want your custom domain to be the Primary domain. 

•  Add the domain name into the Domain Name box in the form of www.example.ox.ac.uk. Do not include http:// or a trailing slash 
•  Check the box against the 'Is primary domain?' option 
•  Save the settings 

After you hit Save Settings, it will take around 20-30 seconds for the page to respond whilst the domain is entered onto the platform and associated to your site. 

Once this configuration is done, hits on your domain name will be routed to the Mosaic platform. You should therefore only request this when you are ready to launch your site – you should allow time to complete the related go-live steps and ensure that the update of the platform's SSL Certificate has been completed.

The configuration of DNS updates is devolved to University units, so requests to point domains to Mosaic need to be sent to your local IT Support Staff (ITSS). If you are unsure who your ITSS is, ask an administrator in your unit.

DNS updates are made on the hour, however, with notice, you may be able to ask your local ITSS to queue this work for a specific hour.

Depending on whether you are adding a fully-qualified domain or bare domain (see the information about domains in Step 3) to your Mosaic site, you will need to provide your ITSS with a specific configuration request.

Get the email to request this change