Skip to main content

The GDS Way and its content is intended for internal use by the GDS community.

Domain names and DNS records for your service

To ensure users can connect to your service, you’ll need accurate Domain Name System (DNS) records and a DNS provider to supply your DNS nameservers.

For services hosted on AWS you should use Amazon Route 53 as a cloud DNS web service.

Some services dual-host their DNS using Google Cloud DNS for high nameserver availability. This adds complexity and risk, so do a careful analysis of how it could affect overall reliability first.

You can read more about service domains and DNS, including how to apply for a domain name for citizen-facing services, in the Service Manual.

Production and non-production domain names

Your non-production domains should be subdomains of your production domain.

For example, if you service can be found at myservice.service.gov.uk, then you might also have Route 53 records for your other environments, such as:

  • staging.myservice.service.gov.uk
  • dev.myservice.service.gov.uk

In this example it’s important to avoid setting cookies for the entire domain myservice.service.gov.uk. Always follow the OWASP guidance on cookie domains such as to avoid using the Domain cookie attribute.

You can also consider ensuring full separation using the domain hierarchy, for example by putting your production service on www.myservice.service.gov.uk.

You can manage all of these records from your production Route 53 configuration pipeline, even though they relate to other environments.

If your service has more complex needs you may alternatively delegate the zone for a subdomain to an AWS account that relates specifically to that environment.

Internal GDS services

Internal GDS services must be hosted on subdomains of the digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk domain.

This domain is likely to change as part of GDS joining the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Once you have configured your Route 53 hosted zone, you’ll need to use the GDS IT Help Desk to request delegation of your subdomain - choose:

  • IT Requests
  • Changes - Request & Support
  • DNS

You must follow the GDS brand guidance for services that are accessible by the public but which don’t use the GOV.UK brand.

This page was last reviewed on 18 March 2025. It needs to be reviewed again on 18 March 2026 by the page owner #gds-way .