Overview
If you registered a domain name with a third-party registrar and want to use the Alibaba Cloud Domains service to manage the domain name, you can transfer the domain name to Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud. This topic describes how to transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud without affecting Domain Name System (DNS) resolution.
The operations are user-friendly. However, the implementation and management of DNS resolution may be affected in different scenarios. The following section introduces the common scenarios.
The DNS service provider of the domain name that you want to transfer is Alibaba Cloud.
The DNS servers configured by the domain name registrar are assigned by Alibaba Cloud DNS. Example: vip(1-8).alidns.com, dns(1-32).hichina.com, and ns(1-8).alidns.com.
Scenario 1: The domain name is transferred to an Alibaba Cloud account to which the DNS records of the domain name belong.
For example, the domain name is transferred to Account A, and the DNS records of the domain name belong to Account A. You can directly transfer the domain name to Account A. The DNS records are retained, and the DNS resolution works as expected.
Scenario 2: The domain name is transferred to an Alibaba Cloud account that does not have the DNS records of the domain name.
For example, the domain name is transferred to Account A, and the DNS records of the domain name belong to Account B. In this scenario, the Alibaba Cloud DNS edition used to host the domain name determines whether the DNS resolution is affected:
Free edition: If a free instance of Alibaba Cloud DNS is used to perform DNS resolution for Account B, the DNS records within Account B are transferred together when you transfer the domain name to Account A. The DNS records are retained, and the DNS resolution works as expected.
Paid edition: If a paid instance of Alibaba Cloud DNS is used to perform DNS resolution for Account B, the DNS records within Account B are not transferred when you transfer the domain name to Account A. If you want to transfer the DNS records to Account A for management, you can use Account A to log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS console and add the domain name to Account A. In this way, the retrieval of the domain name and DNS records is triggered. This allows you to transfer the DNS records from Account B to Account A. Note that the domain name must be bound to a DNS instance of the same edition when you retrieve the DNS records. For more information, see the Retrieve DNS records section of the Manage domain names topic.
The DNS service provider of the domain name that you want to transfer is not Alibaba Cloud.
The DNS servers configured by the domain name registrar are not assigned by Alibaba Cloud DNS. Another case is that the domain name is not hosted by Alibaba Cloud DNS but the DNS records of the domain name are added in Alibaba Cloud DNS.
Scenario 1: The DNS records are added in Alibaba Cloud DNS.
If the DNS records are within the destination account to which the domain name is transferred, the DNS records added in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console are retained and the DNS resolution is not affected.
If the DNS records are not within the destination account to which the domain name is transferred, the DNS records added in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console will be removed during the transfer process.
Scenario 2: The DNS records are not added in Alibaba Cloud DNS.
To prevent your DNS records from being affected by the transfer of the domain name, we recommend that you transfer the DNS records to Alibaba Cloud before you transfer the domain name to Alibaba Cloud. This ensures that your business runs as expected.
You must contact the domain name registrar to confirm whether the DNS resolution service will be immediately suspended if you change the DNS servers.
If the DNS resolution service will not be immediately suspended, you can transfer the DNS records first, and then the domain name. For more information, see Smooth domain name migration.
If the DNS resolution service will be immediately suspended, we recommend that you do not transfer the domain name. Even if you smoothly migrate the domain name in advance, DNS requests will still be sent to the original DNS servers within 48 hours after you change the DNS servers. This results in unstable DNS resolution. Proceed with caution.
After the DNS records are transferred to Alibaba Cloud, make sure that the account to which the domain name is transferred is the same as the account to which the DNS records are transferred. For more information, see the The DNS service provider of the domain name that you want to transfer is Alibaba Cloud section of this topic.
If the domain name that you want to transfer is hosted by a self-managed DNS service or a third-party DNS service, you must contact the DNS service provider to confirm whether the DNS resolution will be affected if you transfer the domain name out. If the DNS resolution will not be affected, you can directly transfer the domain name to Alibaba Cloud.