Route 53 domain only works when prefixed with http(s)://

Question

I have an application that runs fine in AWS App Runner and can be found here: https://iyarles.net

However, it's not accessible via the naked domain name iyarles.net. Clarification comment: If I goto iyarles.net in my browser (edge), the request times out. If I goto iyarles.net, my website loads fine.

The App Runner service has a custom domain configured and my hosted zone has the 2 certificate validation records and the alias record pointing to my service.

A few weeks ago I transferred my domain from Google Domains to Route 53. It was originally a redirect from iyarles.net or any other subdomain (with or without https://) to the default domain for my service.

How can I replicate the previous behavior? What exactly are these alias records doing?

Answer 1

When you type the hostname into the browsers address bar, browsers will assume you want to make a plain HTTP request.

When you explicitly include the https: scheme, browsers will make a secure HTTP request.

Your server is running an encrypted service on port 433. It is not running a plain service on port 80.

It times out if you type http://iyarles.net too.

Answer 2

The issue is that the custom domain configured in AWS App Runner is not accessible via the naked domain name, iyarles.net. To replicate the previous behavior, you will need to create an Alias Record in your hosted zone in Route 53, which will point your domain name to the service URL.

The Alias Record is used to route traffic from a domain name to the service URL. It will ensure that any requests to the domain name will be routed to the service URL, thereby allowing your application to be accessible via the naked domain name.

It is important to note that you will also need to create two Certificate Validation Records in your hosted zone in Route 53. These records are used to validate the SSL Certificate for your domain name, which is necessary for HTTPS connections.