How to host a TON Site

Hosting a TON Site requires a reverse proxy that accepts inbound ADNL connections and forwards HTTP to a local web server, plus a .ton domain record pointing to that proxy’s ADNL address.

Prerequisites

• A web server running on 127.0.0.1:80
• A .ton domain registered via TON DNS
• rldp-http-proxy from a TON monorepo release (v2024.01 or newer), or tonutils-reverse-proxy from the tonutils/reverse-proxy releases (v0.4.0 or newer)

Set up the reverse proxy

A reverse proxy accepts inbound ADNL connections and forwards HTTP requests to the local web server. Two implementations are available: rldp-http-proxy (manual key generation) and tonutils-reverse-proxy (automatic key generation with QR-code domain linking). Follow the steps in How to set up a reverse proxy to configure either option.

Link the domain

After configuring the reverse proxy, assign the ADNL address to the .ton domain:

Irreversible mainnet transaction

Linking a domain writes a dns_adnl_address record on TON Mainnet. The transaction cannot be undone once confirmed; a wrong address binds the domain to the wrong endpoint and requires a second on-chain correction. Verify the ADNL address character-by-character against the reverse proxy startup log before signing. Test the full flow on TON Testnet first.

1. Open the domain in the dns.ton.org management interface or the TON wallet app that supports DNS record editing.
2. Paste the ADNL address into the Site field.
3. Confirm the transaction with the domain owner wallet.

The dns_adnl_address record maps the domain to the ADNL address of the reverse proxy. Resolution details are in the TON DNS reference.

Verify

Open the .ton domain in a browser configured with a TON Proxy forward proxy. The site content served by the local web server should be visible.

Troubleshoot

• DNS propagation delay: the dns_adnl_address record is stored on-chain. After the transaction confirms, allow up to 60 seconds for DHT nodes to propagate the record before testing with a browser.
• Wrong ADNL address: if the site does not load, verify the ADNL address in the DNS record matches the address logged by the reverse proxy at startup. Correct it by submitting a new DNS transaction with the right value.
• Wallet signing failure: confirm the wallet holds enough TON for gas (typically less than 0.1 TON). If the wallet does not display a DNS record editing UI, switch to a wallet that supports TON DNS management, such as Tonkeeper or the TON web wallet.

Static sites from TON Storage

Note

Serving static assets from a TON Storage bag is covered separately in the TON Storage overview.

A bag containing HTML and static assets can also be served as a TON Site by combining TON Storage and a dns_storage_address DNS record. The storage gateway resolves .bag hostnames to bag content.

Related pages

• TON Sites: how TON Sites work
• How to set up a reverse proxy: configure rldp-http-proxy or tonutils-reverse-proxy
• TON DNS: domain name registration and record types