title: forwarding HTTPS from Godaddy to AWS
body: <p>I'm new to setting up and managing Websites. I've looked through many previous questions and none seem to quite fit my case. I think this question may be useful to many others.</p>
  
  <p>I purchased a domain name and hosting services on Godaddy. I need to also have secure access so I also purchased an SSL certificate on Godaddy. The default settings thus routed <a href="http://mydomain.com" rel="noreferrer">http://mydomain.com</a> and <a href="https://mydomain.com" rel="noreferrer">https://mydomain.com</a> to my site. Godaddy also forwarded the www subdomains to my site - this all worked perfectly. I now needed to add a database and support for growth, so I am moving to a VPC on AWS with a public EC2 instance for the Website, and private EC2 instance for the DB. </p>
  
  <p>First, I've read some posts indicating that the best way to move the Website is to use Godaddy's domain controls to forward the domain (via 301) to the AWS Website. Others seem to indicate that I should just make the domain servers point directly to the AWS Website. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each approach? Which is the better approach?</p>
  
  <p>I've currently used the domain forwarding approach. However, for Godaddy, this seems to only forward HTTP requests and not HTTPS requests (they get a 'This Webpage is not available' error). Is there a way to forward the HTTPS address to AWS and retain (rekey?) the SSL certificate? What do I need to do with the SSL cert? If I need a new SSL cert, how do I attach it to the domain hosted by Godaddy but point it to the Website on AWS?</p>
  
  <p>I'm a newbie, so please explain in detail. Thanks. </p>