Question:

How to restore a Google Site with a custom domain after removing CloudFlare proxy? >
> I have a Google Site that uses a custom domain from Google Domains. I attempted to add CloudFlare as a proxy service for security reasons, but this caused my site to become unreachable. I removed CloudFlare from my site, but now I cannot access it at all. I get an ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED error when I enter my URL. >
> I have updated my DNS records to the following values, which I believe are the original ones: >
> “` > Hostname: www > Type: CNAME > TTL: 30 seconds > Data: ghs.googlehosted.com. >
> Hostname: @ > Type: A > TTL: 30 seconds > Data: 216.239.32.21, 216.239.34.21, 216.239.36.21, 216.239.38.21 > “` >
> I have also switched back to Google’s default nameservers. However, none of these changes seem to have any effect. I have checked the Google FAQs, but I could not find a solution to my problem. >
> Can anyone help me restore my site? I appreciate any assistance. Thank you.

Answer:

How to restore a Google Site with a custom domain after removing CloudFlare proxy?

If you have a Google Site that uses a custom domain from Google Domains, and you tried to add CloudFlare as a proxy service for security reasons, you may have encountered some issues with your site’s availability. This article will explain why this happens and how to fix it.

CloudFlare is a service that provides various features such as CDN, SSL, DDoS protection, and more for websites. One of the features is the proxy service, which acts as an intermediary between your visitors and your web server. This can improve your site’s performance and security, but it also changes the way your site’s DNS records are configured.

When you add your site to CloudFlare, you need to change your nameservers to point to CloudFlare’s nameservers. This means that CloudFlare will handle all the DNS requests for your domain, and direct them to the appropriate IP address or CNAME record. However, this also means that CloudFlare will override any custom DNS records that you have set up for your domain, such as the ones required for Google Sites.

Google Sites is a service that allows you to create and host websites using Google’s infrastructure. To use a custom domain for your Google Site, you need to set up some specific DNS records that point your domain to Google’s servers. These records include a CNAME record for the www subdomain, and four A records for the apex domain. These records are necessary for Google to verify your domain ownership and serve your site content.

However, when you use CloudFlare’s proxy service, these records are not respected by CloudFlare. Instead, CloudFlare will try to proxy your site through its own servers, which may not be compatible with Google Sites. This can result in various errors, such as ERR_CONNECTION_CLOSED, ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR, or 404 Not Found. To avoid these errors, you need to either disable CloudFlare’s proxy service, or remove your site from CloudFlare altogether.

How to disable CloudFlare’s proxy service for your Google Site?

If you want to keep using CloudFlare for your domain, but disable the proxy service for your Google Site, you can do so by following these steps:

• Log in to your CloudFlare account and select your domain.
• Go to the DNS tab and find the DNS records for your Google Site. They should look something like this:

“`

Type Name Content TTL Proxy status

CNAME www ghs.googlehosted.com Auto Proxied

A @ 216.239.32.21 Auto Proxied

A @ 216.239.34.21 Auto Proxied

A @ 216.239.36.21 Auto Proxied

A @ 216.239.38.21 Auto Proxied

“`

• Click on the cloud icon under the Proxy status column for each record. This will toggle the proxy status from Proxied to DNS only. The cloud icon should turn from orange to gray. The records should now look something like this:

“`

Type Name Content TTL Proxy status

CNAME www ghs.googlehosted.com Auto DNS only

A @ 216.239.32.21 Auto DNS only

A @ 216.239.34.21 Auto DNS only

A @ 216.239.36.21 Auto DNS only

A @ 216.239.38.21 Auto DNS only

“`

• Save the changes and wait for the DNS propagation to take effect. This may take up to 48 hours, depending on your domain registrar and ISP. You can use a tool like [DNS Checker] to check the status of your DNS records.
• Once the DNS propagation is complete, you should be able to access your Google Site using your custom domain, without any errors.

How to remove your site from CloudFlare?

If you want to stop using CloudFlare for your domain, and revert to Google’s default nameservers, you can do so by following these steps:

• Log in to your CloudFlare account and select your domain.
• Go to the Overview tab and click on Remove Site from CloudFlare at the bottom of the page. Confirm the removal by clicking on Remove.
• Log in to your Google Domains account and select your domain.
• Go to the DNS tab and scroll down to the Custom resource records section. Delete any DNS records that are related to CloudFlare, such as CNAME, A, MX, TXT, or SRV records. You can leave the NS records as they are, as they will be updated automatically by Google.
• Scroll up to the Name servers section and click on Use the Google Domains name servers. This will restore the default nameservers for your domain, which are:

“`

ns-cloud-a1.googledomains.com

ns-cloud-a2.googledomains.com

ns-cloud-a3.googledomains.com

ns-cloud-a4.googledomains.com

“`

• Save the changes and wait for the DNS propagation to take effect. This may take up to 48 hours, depending on your domain registrar and ISP. You can use a tool like [DNS Checker] to check the status of your DNS records.
• Once the DNS propagation is complete, you should be able to access your Google Site using your custom domain, without any errors.

Conclusion

In

this article, we have explained why CloudFlare’s proxy service can cause problems with Google Sites, and how to fix them by either disabling the proxy service or removing your site from CloudFlare. We hope this article was helpful for you, and that you were able to restore your Google Site with your custom domain. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below. Thank you for reading.