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objective: Moving a website to Google Cloud with a load balancer using Google's managed SSL without downtime.

current configuration:

  • A Google Load Balancer with unmanaged instance group that currently has 1 VM.

  • The website is using a cpanel which I have access to update the DNS settings.

  • The domain has a wildcare positiveSSL certificate.

  • The website is also using cloudfront SSL.

Problem: The main issue I have is configuring and provisioning SSL.

Mentally, before making the move, I'm thinking it should be a breeze. No.....!

Situation:

  • I set up the load balancer but it can't provision the SSL because the domain is using positiveSSL on another server.

I read that I need to have a A record pointed to the load balancer in order for it to provision. I also read that for cpanel, if I were to make any changes to the A record, it will affect the mail service. I don't want the mail services to be disrupted.

  • I tried adding a new A record pointing to the load balancer's IP but it doesn't allow because the current A record is using Alias pointing to cloudfront's and I have to detach them first. I don't think this is a good move.

  • My planned ideal steps are to ensure the load balancer is functioning properly and pointing to the website correctly before I update the DNS.

I'm not sure if this approach makes sense technically, I set up a A record for a random subdomain to point to the load balancer's IP, the provisioning is successful but it returns an error

curl: (35) error:14084210:SSL routines:ssl3_read_bytes:sslv3 alert handshake failure

How should I go about doing it? I didn't know switching a server is so difficult.

FlyingPenguin
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  • You will have downtime to set up a load balancer and SSL certificate. If downtime is critical, practice with a test domain first. This answer will help you minimize downtime: https://stackoverflow.com/a/68386511/8016720 – John Hanley Aug 25 '21 at 06:16

1 Answers1

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Discard the wildcare SSL and cloudfront SSL from your domain and provision a google managed SSL instead.But before that, you need to create a managed zone in cloud DNS add your website as A record there pointing to server’s IP address, only then you will be able to provision SSL. It might require a little downtime which you can reduce using tactics mentioned in John’s link.
Check here for help in managing cloud DNS records.
Refer to this for help in provisioning google managed SSL certificates.

Ramesh kollisetty
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