# AliasTarget
<a name="API_AliasTarget"></a>

 *Alias resource record sets only:* Information about the AWS resource, such as a CloudFront distribution or an Amazon S3 bucket, that you want to route traffic to.

When creating resource record sets for a private hosted zone, note the following:
+ For information about creating failover resource record sets in a private hosted zone, see [Configuring Failover in a Private Hosted Zone](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover-private-hosted-zones.html).

## Contents
<a name="API_AliasTarget_Contents"></a>

 ** DNSName **   <a name="Route53-Type-AliasTarget-DNSName"></a>
 *Alias resource record sets only:* The value that you specify depends on where you want to route queries:    
Amazon API Gateway custom regional APIs and edge-optimized APIs  
Specify the applicable domain name for your API. You can get the applicable value using the AWS CLI command [get-domain-names](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/apigateway/get-domain-names.html):  
+ For regional APIs, specify the value of `regionalDomainName`.
+ For edge-optimized APIs, specify the value of `distributionDomainName`. This is the name of the associated CloudFront distribution, such as `da1b2c3d4e5.cloudfront.net`.
The name of the record that you're creating must match a custom domain name for your API, such as `api.example.com`.  
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud interface VPC endpoint  
Enter the API endpoint for the interface endpoint, such as `vpce-123456789abcdef01-example-us-east-1a.elasticloadbalancing.us-east-1.vpce.amazonaws.com`. For edge-optimized APIs, this is the domain name for the corresponding CloudFront distribution. You can get the value of `DnsName` using the AWS CLI command [describe-vpc-endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/describe-vpc-endpoints.html).  
CloudFront distribution  
Specify the domain name that CloudFront assigned when you created your distribution.  
Your CloudFront distribution must include an alternate domain name that matches the name of the resource record set. For example, if the name of the resource record set is *acme.example.com*, your CloudFront distribution must include *acme.example.com* as one of the alternate domain names. For more information, see [Using Alternate Domain Names (CNAMEs)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/CNAMEs.html) in the *Amazon CloudFront Developer Guide*.  
You can't create a resource record set in a private hosted zone to route traffic to a CloudFront distribution.  
For failover alias records, you can't specify a CloudFront distribution for both the primary and secondary records. A distribution must include an alternate domain name that matches the name of the record. However, the primary and secondary records have the same name, and you can't include the same alternate domain name in more than one distribution.   
Elastic Beanstalk environment  
If the domain name for your Elastic Beanstalk environment includes the region that you deployed the environment in, you can create an alias record that routes traffic to the environment. For example, the domain name `my-environment.us-west-2.elasticbeanstalk.com` is a regionalized domain name.   
For environments that were created before early 2016, the domain name doesn't include the region. To route traffic to these environments, you must create a CNAME record instead of an alias record. Note that you can't create a CNAME record for the root domain name. For example, if your domain name is example.com, you can create a record that routes traffic for acme.example.com to your Elastic Beanstalk environment, but you can't create a record that routes traffic for example.com to your Elastic Beanstalk environment.
For Elastic Beanstalk environments that have regionalized subdomains, specify the `CNAME` attribute for the environment. You can use the following methods to get the value of the CNAME attribute:  
+  * AWS Management Console *: For information about how to get the value by using the console, see [Using Custom Domains with AWS Elastic Beanstalk](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/dg/customdomains.html) in the * AWS Elastic Beanstalk Developer Guide*.
+  *Elastic Beanstalk API*: Use the `DescribeEnvironments` action to get the value of the `CNAME` attribute. For more information, see [DescribeEnvironments](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/api/API_DescribeEnvironments.html) in the * AWS Elastic Beanstalk API Reference*.
+  * AWS CLI *: Use the `describe-environments` command to get the value of the `CNAME` attribute. For more information, see [describe-environments](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elasticbeanstalk/describe-environments.html) in the * AWS CLI Command Reference*.  
ELB load balancer  
Specify the DNS name that is associated with the load balancer. Get the DNS name by using the AWS Management Console, the ELB API, or the AWS CLI.   
+  ** AWS Management Console **: Go to the EC2 page, choose **Load Balancers** in the navigation pane, choose the load balancer, choose the **Description** tab, and get the value of the **DNS name** field. 

  If you're routing traffic to a Classic Load Balancer, get the value that begins with **dualstack**. If you're routing traffic to another type of load balancer, get the value that applies to the record type, A or AAAA.
+  **Elastic Load Balancing API**: Use `DescribeLoadBalancers` to get the value of `DNSName`. For more information, see the applicable guide:
  + Classic Load Balancers: [DescribeLoadBalancers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/2012-06-01/APIReference/API_DescribeLoadBalancers.html) 
  + Application and Network Load Balancers: [DescribeLoadBalancers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeLoadBalancers.html) 
+  ** AWS CLI **: Use `describe-load-balancers` to get the value of `DNSName`. For more information, see the applicable guide:
  + Classic Load Balancers: [describe-load-balancers](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elb/describe-load-balancers.html) 
  + Application and Network Load Balancers: [describe-load-balancers](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elbv2/describe-load-balancers.html)   
 AWS Global Accelerator accelerator  
Specify the DNS name for your accelerator:  
+  **Global Accelerator API:** To get the DNS name, use [DescribeAccelerator](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/api/API_DescribeAccelerator.html).
+  ** AWS CLI:** To get the DNS name, use [describe-accelerator](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/globalaccelerator/describe-accelerator.html).  
Amazon S3 bucket that is configured as a static website  
Specify the domain name of the Amazon S3 website endpoint that you created the bucket in, for example, `s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com`. For more information about valid values, see the table [Amazon S3 Website Endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/s3.html#s3_website_region_endpoints) in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*. For more information about using S3 buckets for websites, see [Getting Started with Amazon Route 53](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/getting-started.html) in the *Amazon Route 53 Developer Guide.*   
Another Route 53 resource record set  
Specify the value of the `Name` element for a resource record set in the current hosted zone.  
If you're creating an alias record that has the same name as the hosted zone (known as the zone apex), you can't specify the domain name for a record for which the value of `Type` is `CNAME`. This is because the alias record must have the same type as the record that you're routing traffic to, and creating a CNAME record for the zone apex isn't supported even for an alias record.
Type: String  
Length Constraints: Maximum length of 1024.  
Required: Yes

 ** EvaluateTargetHealth **   <a name="Route53-Type-AliasTarget-EvaluateTargetHealth"></a>
 *Applies only to alias, failover alias, geolocation alias, latency alias, and weighted alias resource record sets:* When `EvaluateTargetHealth` is `true`, an alias resource record set inherits the health of the referenced AWS resource, such as an ELB load balancer or another resource record set in the hosted zone.  
Note the following:    
CloudFront distributions  
You can't set `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` when the alias target is a CloudFront distribution.  
Elastic Beanstalk environments that have regionalized subdomains  
If you specify an Elastic Beanstalk environment in `DNSName` and the environment contains an ELB load balancer, Elastic Load Balancing routes queries only to the healthy Amazon EC2 instances that are registered with the load balancer. (An environment automatically contains an ELB load balancer if it includes more than one Amazon EC2 instance.) If you set `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` and either no Amazon EC2 instances are healthy or the load balancer itself is unhealthy, Route 53 routes queries to other available resources that are healthy, if any.   
If the environment contains a single Amazon EC2 instance, there are no special requirements.  
ELB load balancers  
Health checking behavior depends on the type of load balancer:  
+  **Classic Load Balancers**: If you specify an ELB Classic Load Balancer in `DNSName`, Elastic Load Balancing routes queries only to the healthy Amazon EC2 instances that are registered with the load balancer. If you set `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` and either no EC2 instances are healthy or the load balancer itself is unhealthy, Route 53 routes queries to other resources.
+  **Application and Network Load Balancers**: If you specify an ELB Application or Network Load Balancer and you set `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true`, Route 53 routes queries to the load balancer based on the health of the target groups that are associated with the load balancer:
  + For an Application or Network Load Balancer to be considered healthy, every target group that contains targets must contain at least one healthy target. If any target group contains only unhealthy targets, the load balancer is considered unhealthy, and Route 53 routes queries to other resources.
  + A target group that has no registered targets is considered unhealthy.
When you create a load balancer, you configure settings for Elastic Load Balancing health checks; they're not Route 53 health checks, but they perform a similar function. Do not create Route 53 health checks for the EC2 instances that you register with an ELB load balancer.   
API Gateway APIs  
There are no special requirements for setting `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` when the alias target is an API Gateway API. However, because API Gateway is highly available by design, `EvaluateTargetHealth` provides no operational benefit and [Route 53 health checks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover.html) are recommended instead for failover scenarios.  
S3 buckets  
There are no special requirements for setting `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` when the alias target is an S3 bucket. However, because S3 buckets are highly available by design, `EvaluateTargetHealth` provides no operational benefit and [Route 53 health checks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover.html) are recommended instead for failover scenarios.  
VPC interface endpoints  
There are no special requirements for setting `EvaluateTargetHealth` to `true` when the alias target is a VPC interface endpoint. However, because VPC interface endpoints are highly available by design, `EvaluateTargetHealth` provides no operational benefit and [Route 53 health checks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover.html) are recommended instead for failover scenarios.  
Other records in the same hosted zone  
If the AWS resource that you specify in `DNSName` is a record or a group of records (for example, a group of weighted records) but is not another alias record, we recommend that you associate a health check with all of the records in the alias target. For more information, see [What Happens When You Omit Health Checks?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover-complex-configs.html#dns-failover-complex-configs-hc-omitting) in the *Amazon Route 53 Developer Guide*.
While `EvaluateTargetHealth` can be set to `true` for highly available AWS services (such as S3 buckets, VPC interface endpoints, and API Gateway), these services are designed for high availability and rarely experience outages that would be detected by this feature. For failover scenarios with these services, consider using [Route 53 health checks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover.html) that monitor your application's ability to access the service instead.
For more information and examples, see [Amazon Route 53 Health Checks and DNS Failover](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-failover.html) in the *Amazon Route 53 Developer Guide*.  
Type: Boolean  
Required: Yes

 ** HostedZoneId **   <a name="Route53-Type-AliasTarget-HostedZoneId"></a>
 *Alias resource records sets only*: The value used depends on where you want to route traffic:    
Amazon API Gateway custom regional APIs and edge-optimized APIs  
Specify the hosted zone ID for your API. You can get the applicable value using the AWS CLI command [get-domain-names](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/apigateway/get-domain-names.html):  
+ For regional APIs, specify the value of `regionalHostedZoneId`.
+ For edge-optimized APIs, specify the value of `distributionHostedZoneId`.  
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud interface VPC endpoint  
Specify the hosted zone ID for your interface endpoint. You can get the value of `HostedZoneId` using the AWS CLI command [describe-vpc-endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/describe-vpc-endpoints.html).  
CloudFront distribution  
Specify `Z2FDTNDATAQYW2`.  
Alias resource record sets for CloudFront can't be created in a private zone.  
Elastic Beanstalk environment  
Specify the hosted zone ID for the region that you created the environment in. The environment must have a regionalized subdomain. For a list of regions and the corresponding hosted zone IDs, see [AWS Elastic Beanstalk endpoints and quotas](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/elasticbeanstalk.html) in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*.  
ELB load balancer  
Specify the value of the hosted zone ID for the load balancer. Use the following methods to get the hosted zone ID:  
+  [Elastic Load Balancing endpoints and quotas](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/elb.html) topic in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*: Use the value that corresponds with the region that you created your load balancer in. Note that there are separate columns for Application and Classic Load Balancers and for Network Load Balancers.
+  ** AWS Management Console **: Go to the Amazon EC2 page, choose **Load Balancers** in the navigation pane, select the load balancer, and get the value of the **Hosted zone** field on the **Description** tab.
+  **Elastic Load Balancing API**: Use `DescribeLoadBalancers` to get the applicable value. For more information, see the applicable guide:
  + Classic Load Balancers: Use [DescribeLoadBalancers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/2012-06-01/APIReference/API_DescribeLoadBalancers.html) to get the value of `CanonicalHostedZoneNameId`.
  + Application and Network Load Balancers: Use [DescribeLoadBalancers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeLoadBalancers.html) to get the value of `CanonicalHostedZoneId`.
+  ** AWS CLI **: Use `describe-load-balancers` to get the applicable value. For more information, see the applicable guide:
  + Classic Load Balancers: Use [describe-load-balancers](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elb/describe-load-balancers.html) to get the value of `CanonicalHostedZoneNameId`.
  + Application and Network Load Balancers: Use [describe-load-balancers](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elbv2/describe-load-balancers.html) to get the value of `CanonicalHostedZoneId`.  
 AWS Global Accelerator accelerator  
Specify `Z2BJ6XQ5FK7U4H`.  
An Amazon S3 bucket configured as a static website  
Specify the hosted zone ID for the region that you created the bucket in. For more information about valid values, see the table [Amazon S3 Website Endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/s3.html#s3_website_region_endpoints) in the *Amazon Web Services General Reference*.  
Another Route 53 resource record set in your hosted zone  
Specify the hosted zone ID of your hosted zone. (An alias resource record set can't reference a resource record set in a different hosted zone.)
Type: String  
Length Constraints: Maximum length of 32.  
Required: Yes

## See Also
<a name="API_AliasTarget_SeeAlso"></a>

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific AWS SDKs, see the following:
+  [AWS SDK for C\$1\$1](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForCpp/route53-2013-04-01/AliasTarget) 
+  [AWS SDK for Java V2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForJavaV2/route53-2013-04-01/AliasTarget) 
+  [AWS SDK for Ruby V3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForRubyV3/route53-2013-04-01/AliasTarget)