If your site redirects forever after you turn on Cloudflare's proxy, the SSL/TLS mode is almost always the cause. Set it to Full or Full (strict), not Flexible. Every Flashcloud hosting account gets a valid Let's Encrypt certificate on the origin server automatically, so there's no reason to use the mode built for origins that don't have one.
You'll find this setting in the portal: open the Cloudflare CDN page, then Manage on your domain, and SSL/TLS mode is in that domain's settings. See Setting up a CDN with Cloudflare for where that page lives and what the other options do.
The four modes, and what each one actually does
SSL/TLS mode controls how Cloudflare talks to your origin server once proxy mode is on. It has nothing to do with whether visitors see HTTPS in their browser, that part is handled separately. It's entirely about the connection between Cloudflare's edge and your hosting.
- Off: no HTTPS at all between visitor and Cloudflare. Don't use this for a live site.
- Flexible: visitor to Cloudflare is HTTPS, but Cloudflare to your origin is plain HTTP. Cloudflare assumes your server has no certificate.
- Full: visitor to Cloudflare is HTTPS, Cloudflare to origin is also HTTPS, but Cloudflare doesn't verify the origin certificate is trusted or matches the hostname.
- Full (strict): same as Full, but Cloudflare verifies the origin certificate is valid, trusted, and matches the domain. This is the correct setting for a real certificate.
Why Flexible causes redirect loops
The loop happens because two systems disagree about what protocol the origin is using. Flashcloud hosting enforces HTTPS: plain HTTP requests to your origin redirect to HTTPS automatically, this is standard behavior once a certificate is issued and covered in SSL certificates. In Flexible mode, Cloudflare connects to your origin over HTTP. Your server sees that HTTP request and redirects it to HTTPS. Cloudflare follows the redirect, which lands back at itself, sees HTTP again from its own perspective relative to the origin, and redirects again. The browser eventually gives up with ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS.
This isn't a bug in either system. Flexible mode exists for origins that genuinely have no certificate installed, where forcing HTTPS to the origin would just fail outright. That's not the situation on Flashcloud. Your origin has a certificate, so telling Cloudflare to skip it creates the mismatch.
If you're already stuck in a loop
- Open the Cloudflare CDN page for the affected domain in the portal.
- Change SSL/TLS mode from
FlexibletoFullorFull (strict). - Purge cache for the domain, browsers and Cloudflare itself may have cached the redirect chain.
- Test in a private/incognito window to rule out a locally cached redirect.
Full vs Full (strict): which one to pick
Full (strict) is the right default for essentially every Flashcloud-hosted domain. Since your origin certificate is auto-issued and auto-renewed, there's no scenario where strict verification fails unless something else is actually wrong, like DNS not pointing at your hosting yet. In that case Full (strict) failing is useful information, not an obstacle.
Full without strict verification is mainly a fallback for setups with self-signed or mismatched certificates on the origin. That's not the normal case here. If you find yourself reaching for plain Full instead of strict, it's worth checking whether the certificate actually matches the domain rather than assuming it needs the looser setting.
What to check if strict mode won't validate
A validation failure on Full (strict) usually traces back to one of these:
- DNS not pointed at Flashcloud yet. If the domain's nameservers or records aren't resolving to your hosting, the origin certificate can't have been issued for it. Certificate issuance happens automatically within roughly five minutes of DNS pointing correctly.
- A new domain or subdomain added recently. Give it a few minutes for issuance to complete before troubleshooting further.
- An addon domain or alias that hasn't picked up its own certificate. Each hostname needs its own valid certificate for strict mode to pass.
When to contact support
If you've set the mode to Full (strict), purged cache, waited past the initial issuance window, and the domain still won't validate or you're still hitting a redirect loop, open a ticket from Support in the portal. Support is real people, no phone tree, and they can check certificate status and DNS propagation on the origin side directly.