Transferring without downtime

Module 6: Transferring and changing ownership · Reading time: 10 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can plan a domain transfer so that your website and email keep working, in the right order and at the right moment.

Key concepts: transfer plan, inventory, order, sorting out DNS first, taking the zone with you, nameservers during the transfer, DNSSEC, testing the website in advance, email during the switch, timing, cancelling the old service, transfer reminder

Downtime is almost never caused by the transfer itself

Transferring a registration (lesson 6.1) is in itself an administrative step: the name moves from one registrar to another. A visitor notices nothing of this. Downtime is caused by what happens at the same time, or what fails to happen: DNS left behind with the old provider, nameservers switched to an empty zone when you place the order, DNSSEC that no longer matches, or an old package cancelled too early.

A good transfer plan therefore starts with the question: what is actually moving? The DNS course distinguishes four kinds of move: website, email, DNS management and registration. How to move the DNS itself (lowering the TTL, preparing records, checking) is covered in detail in lesson 6.3 of that course. This lesson is about the plan around it.

Step 1: know what is where

Write down four things for your domain:

You can find the nameservers in WHOIS or RDAP (lesson 4.1). They show who manages your DNS. That might be your registrar, your hosting provider or a separate DNS service. Your plan follows from this list. There are three common situations.

Three situations, three plans

A. Only the registration moves. Your DNS is with a different provider than your registrar, for example your hosting provider, and it stays there. Then nothing needs to change in the DNS. The only risk: when you order the transfer, the new registrar often asks which nameservers you want. Choose the nameservers currently in use, not the new registrar's default nameservers.

B. Registration and DNS move together. Your DNS is with your old registrar and needs to move too. The order is then: first set up the complete zone with the new provider, and only then point the nameservers to the new provider. Preferably do this before you cancel with the old registrar, because the old zone disappears once you are no longer a customer there. Make a backup or export of the old zone beforehand.

C. Everything moves: registration, DNS, website and email. This is the biggest job. First set up the website and mailboxes in the new place and test the website before the DNS switches. Then comes the DNS switch and, last or at the same time, the registration. During the switch, some email will still arrive at the old place; check both mailboxes until nothing has arrived at the old place for a few days.

In all three cases: only cancel the old service once everything works in the new place.

DNSSEC: the pitfall that takes everything down

If your domain is secured with DNSSEC, the registry holds a fingerprint of your current DNS provider's key. If DNS management moves to a provider with a different key and the old fingerprint stays in place, your domain suddenly becomes completely unreachable for many visitors. Website and email.

SIDN advises: choose a new registrar that supports DNSSEC and tell them the security must keep working during the transfer. In practice there are two safe routes: switch DNSSEC off first and wait, or take the key with you. How this works and when to choose which is explained in knowledge base article 6678 and in lesson 8.1 of the DNS course. If your DNS stays with the same provider (situation A), the key does not change and you usually don't need to do anything.

The right moment

A good plan also picks the moment. Keep these points in mind:

• Not just before the expiry date. If a transfer gets stuck just before the name expires, you will be short of time. Transfer well in advance.
• Not too soon after registration or a previous transfer for gTLDs: within 60 days the registrar may refuse (lesson 6.1).
• Check how long the code is valid. A .be code is valid for 7 days, a .de code for at most 30 days. Only request it when you are ready to transfer.
• Not just before a busy period. A webshop doesn't transfer in the week before the holidays, and a bakery doesn't transfer just before the May bank holiday.
• Check your contract. For .nl, your contract with the old registrar does not end automatically; what you still owe there depends on your agreements.

After the transfer

Once the name is with the new registrar, you are not done yet:

1. Check the nameservers, the website (including https) and email, with a test email sent both ways.
2. Check the registrant and contact details at the new registrar (lessons 3.2 and 3.3).
3. Turn on automatic renewal (lesson 5.1).
4. For a gTLD, turn the transfer lock back on.
5. Turn DNSSEC back on if you switched it off.
6. Only then cancel the old services.

In practice: how it works at WebOké

At WebOké, when you order a transfer you choose the nameservers per domain: WebOké's or your own. That covers situation A or B. If you want to view your website on the new server first, you can use the Test your website before migrating tool (knowledge base article 6117). If you don't enter the transfer code straight away, you will receive a reminder email every 14 days until the transfer is complete. After the transfer, the Domain / Email health card shows whether the nameservers, DNSSEC and your domain's pointing are correct. Other registrars work in a similar way.

Summary

• Downtime almost never comes from the registration itself, but from DNS, DNSSEC or cancelling too early.
• Start with a list: where are the registration, DNS, website and email, and where do they need to go.
• If the DNS moves too: set up the zone first, then change the nameservers; if it stays: choose the current nameservers when ordering the transfer.
• With DNSSEC: switch it off first or take the key with you (knowledge base article 6678).
• Pick a quiet moment, well before the expiry date, and only cancel the old service once everything works.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise D6.2: Your transfer plan. Make a transfer plan for one of your own domains, even if you aren't planning to transfer yet. Start with the list from step 1 and decide whether it is situation A, B or C. Use the result of exercise A6.1 for the points you need to sort out first.

Tick off:

• I know where the registration, DNS, website and email are now and where they need to go.
• I know whether my domain uses DNSSEC and which approach I will take (knowledge base article 6678).
• I have a backup or export of my current DNS records, or a screenshot.
• I have chosen a moment well before the expiry date and outside a busy period.
• I have written down what I will check after the transfer and when I will cancel the old services.

Answer for yourself:

1. Is your transfer situation A, B or C, and why?
2. In what order will you put the steps, from preparation to cancellation?
3. What will you do if the website or email doesn't work after the switch?

Further reading

• Free DNS course 6.3: DNS during a transfer
• Moving your domain, website and email together without downtime: the step-by-step plan
• DNSSEC and moving: disable it first, or take the key with you
• Previewing your website at WebOké before you transfer your domain name
• Receiving email while moving your domain name