Create a custom frontend

Learn how to create a custom frontend in the Frontdoor console and configure the necessary DNS records at your domain provider.

Creating a custom frontend allows you to serve your NetFoundry Frontdoor shares from your own domain name. This provides a seamless, professional experience by replacing the default URL with a branded link (e.g., files.your-company.com).

In addition to branding, a custom frontend is a prerequisite for securing your shares with an OAuth provider, allowing you to enforce authentication from identity providers like OIDC, GitHub, or Google.

Steps

Frontdoor console

1. From the Frontdoor console, click Frontends in the left-hand menu.

2. Click the + icon to create a new custom frontend.

3. Enter your domain name, then click Next.

4. (Optional) Select an auth provider, then click Save.

   You'll get a loading message that your DNS info is being created. You can wait for it to finish, or navigate away and come back later:

   

   Once the DNS info is ready, the screen will refresh with your CNAME record and A Record info.

   

5. Create the CNAME and A Records in your DNS provider, as shown in the Frontdoor console, then click Verify.

   It may take some time for DNS changes to propagate.

6. (Optional) NetFoundry will verify your DNS records, but you can also verify manually using command-line tools like nslookup or dig.

   Use the sample responses provided by NetFoundry to confirm your records are set up correctly.

7. Click Next to finish creating your custom frontend, then exit out of the screen.

   Your newly created custon frontend will appear in the frontends list with a status of Pending until DNS verification is complete. Once verified, the status will change to Active.

Command-line interface

Use the REST API to create a custom frontend for Frontdoor.

1. Replace the placeholders and run:

   curl --location "https://gateway.production.netfoundry.io/frontdoor/$FRONTDOOR_ID/custom-frontends" \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
     --data '{
       "domainName": "'"$DOMAIN_NAME"'",
       "authProviderIds": ["'"$AUTH_PROVIDER_ID"'"]
     }'

   • The authProviderIds array is optional. Only include it if you want to attach an OAuth auth provider to this frontend.
   • The response will return a JSON object with the customFrontendId and status NEW.

2. After creation, it may take a minute for the frontend status to update to PENDING. You can check the frontend status:

   curl -s \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     "https://gateway.production.netfoundry.io/frontdoor/$FRONTDOOR_ID/custom-frontends"

3. Once the frontend status is PENDING, fetch the DNS info:

   CUSTOM_FRONTEND_ID="your_custom_frontend_id_here"
   
   curl -s \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     "https://gateway.production.netfoundry.io/frontdoor/$FRONTDOOR_ID/custom-frontends/$CUSTOM_FRONTEND_ID/dns-records"

   The response will include:

   {
     "frontdoorId": "your_frontdoor_id",
     "customFrontendId": "custom_frontend_id",
     "domainName": "files.your-company.com",
     "aRecord": {
       "name": "*.files.your-company.com",
       "ipAddress": ["75.2.114.129","166.117.134.68"]
     },
     "cnameRecords": [
       {
         "name": "_randomhash.files.your-company.com.",
         "value": "files.your-company.com.domains.zrok.sandbox.netfoundry.io"
       }
     ]
   }

4. After updating your DNS, you can verify DNS propagation using dig or nslookup:

   dig +short *.files.your-company.com
   dig +short _randomhash.files.your-company.com

   Once DNS resolves correctly, the frontend status will change to ACTIVE.

See the custom frontends API guide for more details.

Next steps

After creating a custom frontend, you can create a custom branded share by selecting it during share creation.