Did you know that you can register domain names on Amazon Route 53? While it is generally considered a Domain Name System (DNS) service, it also provides domain name registration and health-checking cloud services. In a nut-shell, it helps users translate a domain name (like hirokonishimura.com) into the resource’s numeric IP address to load the website or application. A phone book for the Internet, if you will.
In this tutorial, I will teach you how to transfer your registered domain name from your current registrar to Amazon Route 53. In my case, I will be transferring a .com domain from Namecheap.com to Amazon Route 53. Though steps may differ slightly, most registrars should follow similar patterns and steps.
Table of Contents
Prepare/confirm before beginning the transfer
You don’t need any previous Amazon Web Services (AWS) knowledge to execute this tutorial, but you do need:
- A domain registered at a different registrar (if you haven’t registered a domain yet, you can just do so directly on Amazon Route 53– no need to register at a different place)
- The domain needs to be at least 60 days old since you registered at the current registrar
- An AWS account
- Valid payment method for your AWS account (you will need to pay for the annual registration fee; you cannot use AWS credits to pay for domain name registrations)
- Access to the email address you have put on file with your domain registrar to verify that you are the owner of the domain
This process can take up to a week and a half, so make sure you are not trying to do this last minute (the manual steps do not take very long, but processing on the domain registrars’ part can take up to 10 days).
This tutorial assumes that your domain name is currently unused (not connected to any websites/resources that cannot accept downtime). There are more steps to make sure there are no/minimal service interruptions for domain names that are attached to resources. If you are attempting to transfer a domain name that have active resources attached, please follow AWS’s official documentation.
Let’s get started!
Before initiating the domain transfer to Amazon Route 53
There are a few things you need to do before we begin the process of transferring your domain from your current registrar to Amazon Route 53.
- Make sure you have access to the email address that you have on file at the current registrar as the domain owner, as you will need to receive a domain transfer authorization email (if you don’t have access, update the email address to a current address, and AWS recommends that you wait 60 days before transferring)
- Go to your current domain registrar and “unlock” your domain by disabling “domain lock” or “transfer lock” (with Namecheap, it’s Domain List > Click on the domain > Sharing & Transfer > Transfer Out, and Domain Lock: “unlock”)
- Obtain domain transfer authorization code (should appear next to or near the “Domain Lock” section once the unlock is completed); you should receive an email at your registered email address
- Disable DNSSEC (if enabled) by going to Advanced DNS > DNSSEC > Status (gray)– this will ensure that that you can complete the domain transfer without DNS validation issues
Once you obtained the authorization code, make sure you have access to it as we go through this tutorial. You can read more in-depth about the steps in this checklist on AWS’s official documentation: Pre-transfer checklist for domain transfers.
Initiate the transfer on Amazon Route 53
- Go to Amazon Route 53 console, and select “transfer domain“
- Enter the domain name you want to transfer to Route 53 in “Check domain transferability” and confirm availability
- If you did not complete the previous section’s steps to unlock your domain, Transferability will read “Not transferable”
- If your domain is transferrable, you will get an alert message with following information:
- To transfer the registration for a domain to Amazon Route 53, complete the following:
- Transfer your DNS service to Amazon Route 53 or another DNS service provider if DNS service will be turned off.
- Confirm that the email for the registrant contact for your domain is up to date.
- Unlock the domain so it can be transferred.
- Turn off DNSSEC for the domain.
- Check to see if you need an authorization code
- Renew your domain registration before you transfer the domain to make sure it doesn’t become unavailable on the internet.
- Check your Service Quota limits prior to submitting your domain transfer request. You can review your Service Quotas and adjust as necessary here .
- Check off “I verify” and click “next” to begin your domain transer
- Step 1: DNS service- Route 53 will use existing name servers; click next
- Step 2: Authenticate transfer- enter the authentication code you received in your email from the current domain name registrar and click next
- Step 3: Pricing – accept the domain pricing (turn auto-renew on or off depending on your preference)
- Step 4: Contact Information – fill out the contact information (make sure you have access to the email registered)
- Step 5: Review and submit
Now we wait
Now, we sit back and wait. You will receive some emails once the process completes. One of them is an authorization email to authorize the transfer. You MUST click on the link and complete the authorization, or the transfer will not complete (refer to this KB article for more information).
Expect the process to take at least a few days. You can check back on the progress on your Route 53 dashboard.
The dashboard status will tell you what step it is on in the domain transfer sequence.
If the transfer fails, you may have one of few reasons, such as:
- Authorization/verification emails were not received or acted upon
- Domain was not unlocked
- Invalid authorization code
- 60 day rule violation
Once the process is complete, you’ll see a screen like this:
Once the domain is residing in Route 53, you’re ready to get started on your next project!
Other notes
- Do you want a super in-depth tutorial documentation? Check out AWS’s “Transferring registration for a domain to Amazon Route 53.”
- How transferring a domain to Amazon Route 53 affects the expiration date for your domain registration
- Default maximum number of domains per account is 20, but you can request a higher quota
- Making Amazon Route 53 the DNS service for an existing domain