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"Government Digital Service" Jisc account, since that's what the org is called.

Make clearer that CO delegating `gov.uk` and `www.gov.uk` is something of an anomaly.

Remove misleading notes about how we can update what `gov.uk` and `www.gov.uk` points to.

Make clearer that we're referring to Fastly services.
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ChrisBAshton authored Feb 20, 2024
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20 changes: 9 additions & 11 deletions source/manual/dns.html.md
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Expand Up @@ -30,25 +30,23 @@ The [GOV.UK proposition](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/govuk-propos

There are lots of other `*.gov.uk` domains, such as `cityoflondon.gov.uk`, which are managed by Cabinet Office.

In theory, the GOV.UK proposition domains should all be managed by GOV.UK (who use [Jisc](https://www.jisc.ac.uk/): a non-profit that provides networking to UK education and government). In practice, a couple of GOV.UK proposition domains are managed by Cabinet Office, and a couple of non-proposition domains are in GOV.UK's Jisc account. [This is being looked at](https://trello.com/c/qNpyVaC5/3228-consolidate-co-vs-non-co-domains-in-govuks-jisc-account) by Platform Security & Reliability.
In theory, the GOV.UK proposition domains should all be managed by Government Digital Service (who use [Jisc](https://www.jisc.ac.uk/): a non-profit that provides networking to UK education and government). In practice, a couple of GOV.UK proposition domains are managed by Cabinet Office, and a couple of non-proposition domains are in the Government Digital Service Jisc account. [This is being looked at](https://trello.com/c/qNpyVaC5/3228-consolidate-co-vs-non-co-domains-in-govuks-jisc-account) by Platform Security & Reliability.

In most cases, DNS zones are hosted by both AWS (Route 53) and Google Cloud Platform (Cloud DNS). See [Amazon Route53 vs Google Cloud in the govuk-dns-tf README](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf#amazon-route53-vs-google-cloud)

### The `gov.uk` domain

This is managed by Cabinet Office. `gov.uk.` is an apex domain so it [cannot have a CNAME record](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1912#section-2.4). Instead, it has A records that point directly to Fastly virtual IP addresses, resolving to the [Production TLD Redirect](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/7IaQm6UK3NiQu0v0E83YKn) service, which performs a redirect to `www.gov.uk`.
This domain is currently delegated by Cabinet Office. `gov.uk.` is an apex domain so it [cannot have a CNAME record](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1912#section-2.4). Instead, it has A records that point directly to Fastly virtual IP addresses, resolving to the [Production TLD Redirect](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/7IaQm6UK3NiQu0v0E83YKn) Fastly service, which performs a redirect to `www.gov.uk`.

### The `www.gov.uk` domain

This is managed by Cabinet Office.
This domain is currently delegated by Cabinet Office.

`www.gov.uk.` is a CNAME to `www-cdn.production.govuk.service.gov.uk.`, which means we do not need to make a request to Jisc if we want to change CDN providers. We can just change where the CNAME points to.

We've configured this CNAME to point to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.` (configured [via govuk-dns-tf](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/govuk.service.gov.uk.yaml#L45-L48)). This resolves to the [Production GOV.UK](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/4b340CyOhAgINR9eKMH83h/versions/549/origins) service.
`www.gov.uk.` is a CNAME to `www-cdn.production.govuk.service.gov.uk.`, which ultimately points to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.` (configured [via govuk-dns-tf](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/govuk.service.gov.uk.yaml#L45-L48)). This resolves to the [Production GOV.UK](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/4b340CyOhAgINR9eKMH83h/versions/549/origins) Fastly service.

### The `service.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

The `service.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/e00ae516f9ae6265ca186581a1e74319372d2677/zones/service.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L10) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses.

Expand All @@ -58,23 +56,23 @@ An important one we've configured is `publishing.service.gov.uk`, which is [dele

### The `data.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

The `data.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L9) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses, and `www.data.gov.uk` is a [CNAME to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.`](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L291-L294). Both domains resolve to the [Production data.gov.uk](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/1hGLCRA0sJuaXJEFI49z2z).
The `data.gov.uk` domain has [A records](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L3-L9) pointing to Fastly's virtual IP addresses, and `www.data.gov.uk` is a [CNAME to `www-gov-uk.map.fastly.net.`](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/f21d1f9dfde8470981e2fc79a63538753f2e25f8/zones/data.gov.uk.yaml#L291-L294). Both domains resolve to the [Production data.gov.uk](https://manage.fastly.com/configure/services/1hGLCRA0sJuaXJEFI49z2z) Fastly service.

The `data.gov.uk` redirect to `www.data.gov.uk` is [configured in govuk-fastly-secrets](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-fastly-secrets/blob/61e0206f62a7af6e45c80820e90d52db7590f3ab/secrets.yaml#L387-L396).

There are a number of other subdomains of `data.gov.uk` configured in govuk-dns-tf.

### The `blog.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

We have a [wildcard CNAME](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/8fa490bce3d9272e6df69f4dbcb1c1be1b3f07c2/zones/blog.gov.uk.yaml#L18-L21) delegating all subdomains of `blog.gov.uk` to our provider, DXW.

### The `campaign.gov.uk` domain

This is managed in GOV.UK's Jisc account.
This is managed in the Government Digital Service Jisc account.

We have a [wildcard CNAME](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-dns-tf/blob/1be5ae58e82fb47f0e42cc6f7c2507b424fa9200/zones/campaign.gov.uk.yaml#L91-L95) delegating all subdomains of `campaign.gov.uk` to our provider, DXW.

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