Once all of the configuration steps and testing are complete, you can go live to begin delivering your website or app.

1. Activate on production

The first step in the process is to push your Ion property to the production ("live") network to distribute your content to end users.

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This process assumes that the target Ion property has already been activated on the Staging network, for use in testing. You must push a property to Staging before you can push it to Production.

1. If necessary, access the target property on ​Akamai Control Center​:

   a. Use the drop-down in the top right to select the ​Control Center​ account you used to create the property.

   b. Go to ☰ > CDN > Properties.

   c. Enter the name of your property in the Filter by Property or Hostname field.

   d. Click the Property Name to open it.

2. Click the Version <#> for the property you want to activate.

3. Select the Activate tab.

4. Click Activate v<#> on Production. The Activate window opens.

5. Click Activate v<#> on Production. The Production Network Activation window opens. Set these options:

   • Fast Activation. To speed up activation, ensure this is set to On.
   • Override block of hostname moves. ​Akamai​ applies a temporary block on a hostname that's been moved, in order to check its validity. Enabling this skips this temporary block, for example if you've just moved your property from another account. Note that this can increase the number of hits to your origin server.
   • Notes. You can include a description of this version's activation.
   • Notify via email. This defaults to the email address set for the active ​Control Center​ user. You can change it or add more. Separate multiple addresses with a comma (",").

6. Click Activating v<#> on Production.

7. With Fast Activation, your property should be ready in the Estimated Activation Time listed, but typically no longer than 15 minutes. Now, you can:

   • Monitor the Activate tab to track progress.
   • Click Activation Details. This lets you review settings and information regarding the Property.
   • Wait for the confirmation email. Any email set in Notify via email will get an email when the activation is complete.

2. Point to your configuration

Next, you need to change the existing DNS record for your site or application to be a CNAME record that points to the ​Akamai​ edge hostname. Once you modify the DNS record, it can be be as quick as a matter of minutes for the DNS change to be applied. After that, your content will be delivered over the ​Akamai​ edge network.

Here are some DNS record examples:

How long does the DNS change take?

This depends on the time to live (TTL) you have set for the existing DNS record for your site. This is commonly set to one day, which means it would take up to 24 hours before your end users are rerouted to the ​Akamai​ edge network. To shorten the switch over to the edge network, you can reduce your DNS TTL before the change to the ​Akamai​ edge, and then revert it back after the change.

You can switch your website or application to the edge network at any time after completing the activation steps and testing. No additional activation or monitoring is required.

Troubleshooting

If you notice a problem after switching your content to the edge network:

1. Roll back the DNS change to point your website or application back to your servers.

2. Report the problem to ​Akamai​.

This helps you and ​Akamai​ identify the problem in a controlled environment without affecting live end users.