How to setup your own domain for Community in Salesforce

Step 1: Register your domain name

Register your domain name in DNS and alias (CNAME) it to your Organization's site. This is done outside of Salesforce.

For example: if your domain is www.samplecommunity.com, you'll have to register it with a domain name provider and add a CNAME to www.samplecommunity.com.<insert your Salesforce siteID here>.live.siteforce.com

You'll find the Salesforce siteID by going to Setup->Domain Management->Domains

Note: Custom domains can only be used with production environments not sandbox

Screenshot of Domain setup

Step 2: setup the domain in Salesforce

Note: First check that the domain name you've created has propagated over the internet by doing a nslookup of the domain name from your local machine
Then in Salesforce, go to Setup->Domain Management->Domains
Enter the new Domain name you've created in the Domain Name text field. You don't need a certificate at this time.
Click Save.

Step 3: Obtain a SSL certificate for your domain

3a: Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and send it to your Certificate Authority (CA)

• Go to Setup-> Security Controls-> Certificate and Key Management.
• Click on Create CA-Signed Certificate and enter the following information. Click on Save

Common Name=<your domain name>

Department=<your department name>

Company=<your company's legal name>

City=<Your company's city>

State=<Your company's city>

Country Code=<two-letter ISO code for the country where your organization is located>

Key size=<either 2048 or 4096 bit - depending on what your CA supports>

Email Address=<preferably provide the email address of your salesforce administrator>

In the next screen, click on Download Certificate Signing Request. Provide this CSR file to the CA

3b: import the certificate into Salesforce and apply it to your domain

• Once the certificate has been obtained from the CA, go back to Go to Setup-> Security Controls-> Certificate and Key Management and click the record you created the CSR for in Step 3a
• Click on Update Signed Certificate to apply the new certificate
• On the same screen, add the certificate to the domain by clicking on Add Domain

Step 4: Configure the domain to point to the community  

Note: your Community must be Published.

Go to the domain setup in Step 2. Click on Add Custom URL and enter the Community URL and save.

Step 5: Test

In a browser window, go to your domain name. The landing page of your community should show up!

References

1. Configure a Custom Domain for Your Community[developer.salesforce.com]
2. About Salesforce Certificates and Keys [help.salesforce.com]
3. Certificate signing request [wikipedia.org]

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