Does GitHub Pages Support HTTPS for www and @ subdomains?

[Tsmith18256]

I got one of the new .app TLDs that went live today, and I am trying to point it to Github pages. I want the default URL to be without the www (host: @) and for the www to redirect to the default. I have set the domain without www in my pages repo settings, enabled https, and done the A and CNAME records in my DNS.

The A record is working fine, it loads my site with no www. The CNAME for www is causing an issue with the SSL certificate though. If I open the site in Edge, postman, curl, etc, it works fine; however, .app requires HTTPS and Chrome knows that, so it doesn't even bother trying http and goes straight to the HTTPS version when you type www. This gets an error because Github returns the github.com certificate, and not my own.

Is there a fix for this?

[nadiajoyce · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tsmith18256,

Thanks for being part of the GitHub Community Forum!

GitHub doesn't currently support creating a certificate that covers both your root domain and your wwwsubdomain. We only generate a certificate for the exact domain that you specify in the custom domain input box. That said,  we're always working to improve GitHub, and we consider every suggestion we receive. I've logged your feature request in our internal feature request list. Though I can't guarantee anything or share a timeline for this, I can tell you that it's been shared with the appropriate teams for consideration.

Cheers!

[fadden]

This answers my question -- I have two github projects with pages that are now HTTPS-enabled, but only for <name>.com.  Attempting "https://www.<name>.com/" makes Chrome complain loudly.  I'm hesitant to check the "force HTTPS" box because there's a lot of references to www.<name>.com.

The documentation on https://help.github.com/articles/setting-up-a-custom-subdomain/ seems to suggest that simply adding a CNAME will work -- the last step in the CNAME setup process is adding/removing to trigger HTTPS.  The docs should probably be updated to reflect the current state of things.

[nadiajoyce]

Hi @fadden,

Thanks for this feedback! We're always working to improve GitHub, and we consider every suggestion we receive. Though I can't share a timeline for this, I can tell you that your feedback has been shared with the appropriate team.

Cheers!

[isaacdozier]

I'm having the same issue. Any word on a solution?

[that-pat]

Hi @isaacdozier,

This is currently not possible still. This may be released as a feature in the future, but I can't make any promises currently. Please keep an eye on the GitHub Changelog for information when this is released.

Thanks!

[wintercooled]

Support for both an apex and subdomain cert would be appreciated.

e.g. if I had the following in the CNAME file I'd expect them to both be covered:

somedomain.org

www.somedomain.org

Only allowing one to be covered by the cert isn't apparent when you set a site up.

Cheers.

[hattesen]

May I suggest modifying the feature request about supporting subdomains, to automatically creating wildcard certificates for custom domains, so ANY subdomain is supported (not just www):

*.custom-domain.tld

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcard_certificate

[kevinpapst]

I don't think that this will work, as GitHub uses LetsEncrypt. LEs wildcard certificates need the Acme v2 endpoint and this requires regular DNS (TXT) changes for renewing the wildcard certificate.

[Zibri]

I agree... wilcard certificate would be very nice.. so I can set a domain *.mydomain.org which will all go to the same github page.

but still... even only www.mydomain.org and mydomain.org would be a nice option.