By default, your BoxCast OTT web app is assigned a 6 character subdomain of viewcastle.tv. For example, t1kro4.viewcastle.tv, where t1kro4 is your web app's unique subdomain (we will refer to this unique subdomain as your app's app_id going forward in this article). However, you can set up your own subdomain making it easier for your audience to find and access your web app. You can do this via the BoxCast OTT Dashboard under the Settings menu.

You may already have your own domain, such as yourdomain.com. You can use this domain to create a subdomain for your OTT web app to use. One example could be live.yourdomain.com, but you can use whatever fits your organization's branding or purpose.

If you don't have a domain purchased, you can buy one from trusted domain registrars, such as GoDaddy and Cloudflare. The following instructions assume that you have already purchased a domain to use for creating a subdomain.

Note that OTT does not support root domains for redirect, only subdomains.

Before your subdomain can be used, it must first be validated. Validation lets us know that you own or administrate the domain to which your desired subdomain is attached. This requires creating new CNAME records in your domain host’s DNS records section.

First, navigate to your OTT Dashboard via your BoxCast Streaming Dashboard. You can do this by clicking the bento box icon (square with 9 dots) in the upper left corner of your BoxCast Streaming Dashboard page. Select OTT from the dropdown there to be taken to your OTT Dashboard.

From the OTT Dashboard, navigate to Settings on the left sidebar, then click on Subdomain. From this menu, click on the teal Get Started button.

A window will pop up titled Add a subdomain and domain. In this menu, enter the desired subdomain followed by the domain you own, then click Submit. See below for an example entry, where we're using the example live.boxcast.com:

Once you've submit your information, a new option will populate on the Subdomain menu, shown here:

Click Verify and Connect to continue set-up. You will be prompted to visit your domain host or provider's website on another tab, as shown below.

When you've signed into your domain host's website and navigated to the DNS records section for your domain, click the Next button.

At this stage, your unique validation tokens will be displayed, as shown below.

Copy these tokens and return to your domain host tab. You can copy these values using the copy button to ensure accuracy.

From your domain host's DNS records menu, create a CNAME record using the shown Name and Value entries. Be sure to save the records before continuing.

Once this has been entered and saved on your domain host, click the Done button on the menu in BoxCast OTT.

Now that you've entered these records, the OTT Dashboard will verify the domain. This can take several hours, so check back later.

After validation is completed, you will see a green confirmation checkmark in the Subdomain menu on OTT.

Please note that validation tokens become inactive if not used. If you do not validate your domain or subdomain within 48 hours, please let your account manager know.

Now that validation is complete, you will need to create another entry in your domain's DNS records to finish the process. Doing so will make your subdomain available online. If done correctly, anyone who enters your subdomain in their web browser or clicks a link to your subdomain will be taken to your OTT content.

First, return to your domain host's DNS records menu and create a new record. Select CNAME as the type.

Next, enter the following information into the record:

Type: CNAME
​Host: [Enter your subdomain]
​Destination: [app_id].viewcastle.tv (replace [app_id] with your web app's unique subdomain)
​TTL: 1 hour (3600 seconds)

Using our example information from this article, a completed entry will look like this:

Type: CNAME
​Host: live
​Destination: t1kro4.viewcastle.tv
​TTL: 1 hour (3600 seconds)

After entering this information, be sure that it's correct and then add or save the record to your DNS. That's it!

It can take a few minutes to a few hours for this change to propagate around the world. You can check your URL here to see its status throughout various locations across the globe. When it has finished propagating, each location should resolve to [app_id].viewcastle.tv.

If your organization has decided to either change domains or their branding, your current OTT subdomain might need to be changed as well.

To do this, simply navigate to the Settings menu on the OTT Dashboard, then select Subdomain. You'll see your activated subdomain information here.

On this page, you should see a trashcan icon in the bottom right corner, shown here:

Click this icon to remove your current subdomain. You will be prompted to confirm your selection. Once confirmed, the subdomain will be removed from your OTT. This will allow you to restart the process with a new subdomain.

Tip: If you are simply changing the subdomain to something else and are not moving to a brand new domain entirely, be sure to also log into your domain host and remove the CNAME records you created from the previous steps. This ensures that the subdomain is completely offline and minimizes confusion when creating a new entry.

If you're using Godaddy as your domain hosting platform then follow these instructions in order to add a CNAME record to your DNS.

If you're using NameCheap as your domain hosting platform then follow these instructions in order to add a CNAME record to your DNS.

First double-check that your tokens are entered correctly. You can review the tokens by clicking on the Validation Records in the Subdomain menu on OTT, shown below.

If you have verified that the tokens are entered correctly in your DNS, you can try modifying the Name field token slightly and trying again.

For example, if your Name field validation token looks like this:
​

123456abcdef.live.boxcast.com

You can modify it to look like this instead:

123456abcdef.live

After making these changes, be sure to save them to your DNS records.

At this time, OTT only supports connections between subdomains, not root domains. Please choose a subdomain for your OTT and resume the process.

During the validation process, you can review the validation tokens again by navigating to Settings then Subdomain on your OTT Dashboard. You will see a teal button that says Validation Records. Click this button to review them. See below for an example:

During the validation process, you can review the status by navigating to Settings then Subdomain on your OTT Dashboard. You will see a grey button that says Check Status. Click this button to review the status of your subdomain's validation. See below for an example: