Reverse Proxy configuration

What is this?

Our reverse proxy allows IPv4 users to view IPv6 only HTTP and HTTPS services which would otherwise be unavailable to them.

Why is this needed?

IPv6 is unfortunately still not as ubiquitous as IPv4. Even with recent ISPs enabling for customers, many users around the globe still have no ability to view IPv6 only sites.

Whilst this situation is slowly improving every day, it is still likely to be several years before IPv6 connectivity becomes the default.

What problem does this solve?

This service is aimed at helping users transition to IPv6 only services, whilst maintaining some ability for IPv4 only users to continue to access common services like HTTP and HTTPS.

Whilst this service does work in reverse (IPv6 only users connecting to IPv4 only services), we expect the majority of use to be from IPv4 to IPv6 only.

Important information to remember

To use this service, you must have the domain (or domains) you wish to use, listed under Domains, in the control panel. Currently we only allow domains which are registered or transferred to us. Secondary DNS users may also make use of this service.

HTTPS support will only work for SNI capable browsers; users on Windows XP or older versions of Android, will be unable to use this service to access HTTPS only services.

There may be a delay of up to 5 minutes before changes take effect.

Configuring a reverse proxy

Head to Reverse Proxy section, under Servers, in the control panel.

Enter the hostname, and select the domain you wish to use. Enter the IPv6 address of your server in the Endpoint address field and then press the Add button.

You may ignore location and leave it set to the default of 'ALL' which will use all currently available proxy hosts, and any future proxy hosts without needing to change anything.

Next, you need to update the DNS records for your domain. For bare domains (domains without hostnames, typically referred to as @ or root), use the AAAA and A records.

For almost every hostname, you can use CNAME records instead which require less configuration. However, if you already have a hostname configured (for example sub.domain.tld as MX, and sub.domain.tld as AAAA), you must use the AAAA and A records.

A full list of proxy locations and addresses is provided here.

As an example, to create a working proxy for www.mydomain.tld you would need to put the following parts into the Reverse Proxy, and Manage DNS pages;

..in the Reverse Proxy section

Hostname  Domain        Data centre  Endpoint address
--------  ------        -----------  ---------------
www       mydomain.tld  ALL          2001:db8:0::1

..in the Manage DNS section

Hostname  Type   Data
--------  ----   ----
www       CNAME  proxy.mythic-beasts.com
@         AAAA   2a00:1098::82:1000:3b:1:1
@         A      46.235.225.189

Done! It may time some time for the DNS changes and Reverse Proxy to propagate, though. Contact support if you have any questions or problems when using this service.

Advanced users

The service does allow the use of more than one endpoint address and will round robin between them accordingly. There is however, no guarantee that a client will be directed back to the same endpoint.

You may also specify the location of each proxy, if you have services in different data centres, and would prefer traffic to use a specific path.

Wildcard addresses are also supported;

Hostname     Domain    Data centre  Endpoint address
--------     ------    -----------  ---------------
myhostname   mydomain  ALL          2001:db8:0::1
*            mydomain  ALL          2001:db8:0::1
@            mydomain  ALL          2001:db8:0::1

Reverse proxy locations

The following locations are currently available. Your servers do not need to reside in the same data centre for this service to function correctly. The associated fully qualified domain names are for use with CNAME records.

A full list of proxy locations and addresses is provided here.