It was meant to be simple: Create a CNAME record for a newly created subdomain to point it to an external URL in cPanel.
The basic idea was to:
- Create a new subdomain = newsubdomain.domain.com
- Then create a CNAME record with the following:
- Name field = subdomain (add subdomain alone, the domain gets appended by default)
- Target = “the target subdomain”
The frustrating error!
The Simple Solution
The answer is apparently here on cPanel’s support site; Why do I get the error “CNAME and other data” when trying to add a CNAME record? – cPanel and I went over it multiple times and couldn’t decipher it.
That’s the difference education and experience make. Though the information was right there, I needed someone to spell it out for me to get it. The tech support person helped me with it the first time and I thought I got it. I finally figured it out by myself when I had to talk someone through it the second time. We had spent 20 minutes hitting the same error over and over again until I searched online and finally, finally got the hint.
Delete all CNAME, TXT, and A records related to the subdomain you created. They have to be those records starting with the new subdomain name you created.
Another moment in the life.