Custom Domain Setup Fails Immediately on SSL/DNS Verification in AWS Amplify

[Florian-Altermaker]

Environment information

npm ERR! could not determine executable to run

Describe the bug

Description:

I'm experiencing an issue with custom domain setup in AWS Amplify where SSL/DNS verification fails almost immediately, without allowing enough time to update the DNS CNAME record on my end.

Observed Behavior:

Amplify retries the SSL/DNS verification far too quickly, not allowing time for DNS propagation.
After failure, clicking "Retry" generates a new CloudFront URL (e.g., d3a5m5vi53avm0.cloudfront.net), which requires updating the DNS CNAME record again, leading to the same cycle of immediate failure.

Expected Behavior:
In previous experiences with Amplify, the verification process typically waits for a few hours, allowing time to update the CNAME and for the DNS changes to propagate. This has been reliable and allows sufficient time for DNS configuration. I would expect Amplify to either:

Provide a longer window for DNS propagation before verification fails, or
Allow me to retry with the same CloudFront distribution URL, rather than generating a new one with each retry.

Impact:

This is creating a repetitive cycle where I'm unable to successfully configure my custom domain due to the rapid verification failures and changing CloudFront URLs. As a result, I’m unable to use my custom domain with Amplify.

Thank you for your support and any guidance on resolving this or options to force a longer DNS verification period.

Reproduction steps

Steps to Reproduce:

I initiate a custom domain setup in AWS Amplify and receive a CloudFront distribution URL (e.g., d2cr9j4da5u69e.cloudfront.net).
I create a CNAME record with this CloudFront URL on my DNS provider as requested.
Instead of waiting several hours as usual, Amplify attempts verification almost immediately (within a minute or so) and fails the process.

[Jay2113]

Hi @Florian-Altermaker 👋 , thanks for reaching out. You've described a couple of issues in this thread and let me address them individually:

Domain verification fails almost immediately

I tried reproducing this behavior with a domain hosted with a third party DNS provider such as GoDaddy and the domain verification did not fail after a minute. I verified it both from the console and also via the get-domain-association CLI command. Are you consistently observing this behavior? What DNS provider are you using? Can you capture a screen recording and share it with us?

A new CloudFront CNAME record is generated when selecting retry

This is a known behavior and we are tracking it here: aws-amplify/amplify-hosting#4020. In the interim, our recommendation will be to first delete the domain and then restart the process.

[Jay2113]

@Florian-Altermaker 👋 , following up on the previous comment. Can you share the additional details for the issue where the domain verification fails instantly?

[Jay2113]

Closing this thread since we are unable to reproduce the issue with domain verification. If you continue to experience it, feel free to reopen the thread with the requested information. Thanks!

[breaker05]

Why was this closed? There are other people still experiencing this exact issue 8 months later. Can you just add a simple Retry request instead of generating a completely new Cloudfront url?

[MagdielCAS]

A retry request would be much appreciated. I have the same issue, and it generates a new CloudFront url, my client has a third party DNS provider which I am not able to contact everytime the Cloudfront URL changes, even though the DNS records were correctly added it is still stuck with the status "Domain activation failed"

[csl-danslattery]

Agreed with both above. At our company, we don't control the External DNS, so trying to use Amplify puts us in the this infinite loop of...

• Add custom domain, submit ticket to Network team to update CNAME, and by the time they do Amplify is just hung on not valid, but I can't retry as it'll swap the DNS values again (since CF url changes).