Domains and DNS

AI Admin Panel manages domain routing for all deployed services. Every service gets an automatic subdomain, and customers can optionally attach custom domains.

Automatic Subdomains

When a service is deployed, it automatically receives a subdomain:

https://{service-name}.{panel-domain}

For example, if your panel domain is panel.example.com and you deploy a service named my-app:

https://my-app.panel.example.com

This works because:

1. A wildcard DNS record (*.panel.example.com) points to your server
2. Traefik matches the hostname and routes to the correct container
3. Let's Encrypt issues an SSL certificate for the subdomain

No manual DNS configuration is needed for subdomains.

Custom Domains

Customers can attach custom domains to their services. For example, mapping app.acme.com to a deployed service.

Setup Process

1. Navigate to the service detail page
2. Click Settings > Custom Domain
3. Enter the custom domain (e.g., app.acme.com)
4. The panel displays a CNAME record to create:

   app.acme.com  CNAME  my-app.panel.example.com

5. Create the CNAME record in the custom domain's DNS provider
6. Click Verify — the panel checks DNS resolution
7. Once verified, Traefik provisions an SSL certificate for the custom domain

SSL for Custom Domains

Traefik automatically issues a Let's Encrypt certificate for verified custom domains using the HTTP-01 challenge. The domain must resolve to your server for the challenge to succeed.

Multiple Custom Domains

A service can have multiple custom domains. Each domain gets its own SSL certificate and Traefik route.

Cloudflare DNS Integration

When configured, the panel automates DNS record management through the Cloudflare API.

What It Does

For each deployed service, the panel:

1. Creates an A record pointing {service-name}.{panel-domain} to the server IP
2. When a service is deleted, removes the corresponding DNS record
3. Optionally enables Cloudflare proxy (orange cloud) on created records

Configuration

Set these environment variables in /opt/aiadminpanel/.env:

CF_DNS_API_TOKEN=your-cloudflare-api-token
CF_ZONE_ID=your-zone-id        # Optional — auto-detected if token has zone:read
CF_PROXIED=false                # Set to true to enable Cloudflare proxy

Creating the API Token

In the Cloudflare dashboard:

1. Go to My Profile > API Tokens > Create Token
2. Use the Edit zone DNS template
3. Set permissions:
   • Zone > DNS > Edit
   • Zone > Zone > Read (for auto-detection of zone ID)
4. Set zone resources to your specific domain
5. Click Create Token and copy the token

With vs. Without Cloudflare

Feature	With Cloudflare	Without Cloudflare
DNS record creation	Automatic	Manual (wildcard covers subdomains)
DNS record cleanup	Automatic on delete	Manual
Per-service records	Yes	No (wildcard only)
CDN/DDoS protection	Available (if proxied)	No
Custom domain DNS	Still manual (different zone)	Manual

Cloudflare Proxy Considerations

If CF_PROXIED=true:

• Traffic routes through Cloudflare's CDN and DDoS protection
• Cloudflare terminates SSL and re-encrypts to your server
• WebSocket connections work but require Cloudflare's WebSocket support
• Real client IPs are in the CF-Connecting-IP header

If CF_PROXIED=false:

• DNS-only mode — Cloudflare resolves the domain but does not proxy traffic
• Direct SSL from Let's Encrypt
• Lower latency for real-time applications

DNS Troubleshooting

Subdomain not resolving

# Check wildcard DNS
dig +short *.panel.example.com

# Should return your server IP

If empty, verify the wildcard A record exists in your DNS provider.

Custom domain verification failing

# Check CNAME record
dig +short app.acme.com CNAME

# Should return: my-app.panel.example.com

Ensure the CNAME points to the service's subdomain, not the server IP.

SSL certificate not issuing

Check Traefik logs:

docker logs aiadminpanel_traefik | grep -i "acme\|certificate"

Common causes:

• DNS not yet propagated (wait a few minutes)
• Let's Encrypt rate limits (5 certificates per domain per week for non-wildcard)
• Port 80 blocked (required for HTTP-01 challenge)