Mastering Cloudflare DNS Management: A Step-by-Step Guide
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This guide walks you through the process of integrating Cloudflare DNS with Firebase Functions to manage subdomains dynamically. You will learn how to:
Before proceeding, ensure you have:
Navigate to Dashboard and click on a project you want to manage.
For API token navigate to the Cloudflare API Tokens page.
Choose Global API Key.
cloudflare_account_api
To interact with Cloudflare’s API, install the SDK:
npm install cloudflare --save
Store your Cloudflare credentials securely using Firebase environment variables:
export const CLOUDFLARE_API_KEY = functions.params.defineSecret('CLOUDFLARE_API_KEY');
export const CLOUDFLARE_EMAIL = functions.params.defineSecret('CLOUDFLARE_EMAIL');
export const CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID = functions.params.defineSecret('CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID');
export const ROOT_DOMAIN = functions.params.defineString('ROOT_DOMAIN', { default: 'yourdomain.com' });
export const SITE_BASE_URL = functions.params.defineString('SITE_BASE_URL', { default: 'yourdomain.com' });
Cloudflare’s API allows you to dynamically manage DNS records, making it easy to create, retrieve, list, and delete records as needed. This is particularly useful for applications that require automated subdomain management, such as multi-tenant SaaS platforms.
Below, we explore how to interact with Cloudflare DNS using the Node.js SDK, covering essential functions for DNS record management.
To create a new DNS record (e.g., a CNAME record for a subdomain), use:
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'CNAME',
name: subdomain,
content: SITE_BASE_URL.value(),
ttl: 3600,
proxied: true,
});
This creates a proxied CNAME record that points the subdomain to your base site URL.
zone_id: The unique identifier for your Cloudflare zone (domain).type: The type of DNS record (CNAME, A, MX, etc.).name: The subdomain you want to create (e.g., app.yourdomain.com).content: The target value of the record (e.g., your main website URL).ttl: Time-to-live, which determines how long DNS resolvers should cache the record.proxied: If true, Cloudflare will proxy traffic through its network for performance and security.const allRecords = await cloudflare.dns.records.list({
zone_id: zoneId,
});
console.log(allRecords);
This is useful for auditing and debugging existing DNS configurations.
To fetch a particular record by its name:
const recordName = `${subdomain}.${rootDomain}`;
const records = await cloudflare.dns.records.list({
zone_id: zoneId,
});
const record = records.result.find((r) => r.name === recordName);
console.log(record);
To remove a DNS record dynamically:
const recordToDelete = allRecords.result.find((record) => record.name === subdomain);
if (recordToDelete?.id) {
await cloudflare.dns.records.delete(recordToDelete.id, { zone_id: zoneId });
}
Cloudflare allows the creation of various DNS record types beyond CNAME. Here’s how you can create different types:
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'A',
name: subdomain,
content: '192.168.1.1', // Replace with your server's IP
ttl: 3600,
proxied: false,
});
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'TXT',
name: subdomain,
content: 'v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all',
ttl: 3600,
});
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'MX',
name: subdomain,
content: 'mail.yourdomain.com',
ttl: 3600,
priority: 10,
});
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'AAAA',
name: subdomain,
content: '2001:db8::1',
ttl: 3600,
proxied: false,
});
await cloudflare.dns.records.create({
zone_id: zoneId,
type: 'NS',
name: subdomain,
content: 'ns1.otherdns.com',
ttl: 86400,
});
This guide provides a structured way to manage Cloudflare DNS records through Firebase Functions, ensuring seamless subdomain management for your application. Additionally, you now know how to create, retrieve, list, and delete different types of DNS records to accommodate various use cases.