The following are common questions about Alibaba Cloud ECS instances.

Do I have to purchase an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance before applying for an ICP Filing through Alibaba Cloud?

A purchased domain name and a server located in mainland China are required for the ICP Filing. You need to apply for an ICP Filing through your web hosting service provider. Therefore, to complete an ICP Filing through Alibaba Cloud, you must first purchase an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance with a minimum three-month subscription and public network bandwidth in mainland China. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system to submit an ICP Filing application.

If you are using your own server, for example, a user-created server or data center, contact your ISP, such as China Unicom or China Telecom for an ICP Filing.

How many ICP Filings can an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance be associated with?

The number of websites that can be filed varies with the product type. After a website is successfully filed, the number of websites that can be filed with this product decreases correspondingly. This number cannot be restored if you cancel the website or cancel the transfer.

Note You can use the initial account used to purchase the Alibaba Cloud ECS instance, or manually apply for an ICP Filing service number. In either method, the number of websites that can be filed per server is the same.

The cloud servers supporting ICP Filing and the number of websites that can be filed per server are as follows:

Location Purchased instance duration ICP Filing service numbers Description
Mainland China ECS instances with public network bandwidth and a minimum three-month subscription. You can apply for at most five service numbers for each ECS instance. The Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system does not support Pay-As-You-Go instances.
To purchase public network bandwidth, see the instructions in Change configurations.

I have purchased a server in Hong Kong region. How do I apply for an ICP Filing?

If your website domain name directs to a server in the Hong Kong region, you do not need an ICP Filing number. Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) only requires ICP Filing for accessible websites that are directed to servers in mainland China. ICP Filing is not required for servers outside of mainland China.

My ECS instance has only one month subscription. How do I apply for an ICP Filing?

If the remaining subscription duration of your website server does not meet the ICP Filing requirements, you must renew your subscription.

If I am using Alibaba Cloud OSS or CDN, do I have to apply for an ICP Filing through Alibaba Cloud?

  • For OSS, you must apply for an ICP Filing with MIIT. If you already have an ICP Filing with another web hosting service provider, you do not have to transfer the ICP Filing to Alibaba Cloud.

  • For CDN, you must apply for an ICP Filing with the MIIT. If your website origin site is in Alibaba Cloud, you must apply for an ICP Filing with Alibaba Cloud. If you already have an ICP Filing at another web hosting service provider, you must transfer it to Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Transfer an ICP Filing.

I already have an ICP Filing. Do I have to apply for a new one if my website is hosted by an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance?

In the following situations, you must transfer your ICP Filing because of changes in the web hosting service provider: 1. If you acquired an ICP number from a web hosting service provider and transferred your website from that web hosting service provider to an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance. 2. If you have directed your domain name to an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance.

To check if you have an ICP number for your domain name, go to the MIIT ICP registration system, click Public Query > Query ICP Registration, and enter your domain name.

I already have an ICP Filing. Do I have to apply for a new one if I transfer my website to another server?

If you want to transfer a domain name hosted by an Alibaba Cloud ECS instance to another ECS instance, you can modify the domain name resolution (DNS) to direct the domain name to the new server. In this case, a new ICP number is not required.

However, you transfer your website to another web hosting service provider, you must transfer your ICP Filing information to the service provider. For more information about the transfer process, contact your new web hosting service provider.