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New in UltraDNS: HTTPS Web Forwarding with Full Certificate Automation

Enrique Somoza
  • Community team

We’re excited to share that UltraDNS now supports HTTPS Web Forwarding with automated certificate provisioning and lifecycle management, giving customers a seamless way to redirect traffic over HTTPS without the operational complexity of managing TLS certificates.

This enhancement builds on our existing Web Forwarding capabilities and follows the recent launch of Bring Your Own Certificate (BYOC) support. With HTTPS automation now available, UltraDNS users can choose between uploading their own certificate or letting the platform handle everything end-to-end using DigiCert CertCentral.

Key Features

Here’s what you get with UltraDNS HTTPS Web Forwarding (Automated):

  • End-to-End TLS Automation: From domain validation to cert issuance and renewal, the full lifecycle is managed by UltraDNS via DigiCert CertCentral.
  • DNS-01 Validation: DNS-based validation ensures full automation and reduces dependency on external validation methods.
  • Preserves Path and Query String: Redirects retain all URL components for accurate routing.
  • Scalable Entry Support: Each HTTPS redirect can include up to 250 entries, including domains, subdomains, and paths.
  • Anycast-Delivered Redirects: All traffic is served via UltraDNS’s globally distributed Anycast edge network for performance and resilience.
  • UI and API Access: Manage HTTPS Web Forwarding in the portal or integrate into your workflow via API.

 

Use Cases

This new automation-driven forwarding feature is designed for real-world DNS teams that need security and efficiency at scale. Some examples:

1. Redirecting Parked Domains

Organizations often register domains defensively or in anticipation of brand expansions. With HTTPS forwarding, these parked domains can now redirect to a central brand site securely, without manual cert work.

2. Handling Rebrands and Migrations

When undergoing a merger, acquisition, or rebrand, legacy domains can securely forward to the new brand presence with automated TLS in place. This ensures a smooth user experience and avoids trust issues due to certificate errors.

3. Managing Typosquatting and Defensive Domains

Companies registering typo variations or common misspellings of their primary domains can redirect that traffic safely and automatically to the correct location.

4. SEO Cleanup and Site Consolidation

Redirecting sub-brands or microsites into a single main site helps improve SEO. HTTPS forwarding ensures these redirects don’t hurt ranking or create mixed content issues.

5. Simplifying Multi-Brand Infrastructure

Large organizations with multiple customer-facing brands can centralize redirect logic in DNS and let UltraDNS handle the TLS details.

Benefits

Implementing HTTPS Web Forwarding with automation delivers both technical and business value:

  • Reduced Operational Overhead: No need to track expiration dates, generate CSRs, or upload certs.
  • Improved Security: HTTPS everywhere reduces opportunities for phishing and data interception.
  • Better SEO Performance: Secure redirects help maintain ranking and user trust.
  • Faster Time-to-Value: Set up forwarding in minutes rather than days.
  • Reliable at Scale: Designed for customers managing thousands of domains and subdomains.

This is especially impactful for organizations that previously hesitated to deploy HTTPS redirects due to certificate management complexity.

How to Get Started

The feature is now available to all UltraDNS customers. You can access it in two ways:

In the Portal:

  • Navigate to Web Forwarding
  • Select Add New
  • Toggle HTTPS Forwarding: Yes
  • Choose to Use an UltraDNS managed certificate

Via API:

  • Leverage the new HTTPS Web Forwarding endpoints to automate configuration across your environments.

If you're already using BYOC and want to reduce the operational load of managing certs manually, this automated option is a natural upgrade path.

What’s Next

This release is part of our broader effort to simplify and automate DNS operations as part of DigiCert ONE—where DNS and PKI work seamlessly together.

If you’re looking to streamline certificate management, secure your redirects, and reduce manual effort, HTTPS Web Forwarding with automation is ready to help.

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