When you transfer a domain name from another registrar to Alibaba Cloud Domain Names, you must also migrate the associated DNS records. This topic explains how to transfer your domain name without affecting its DNS resolution.
Scenarios
Transferring a domain name to Alibaba Cloud is a simple procedure. For more information, see Transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud. However, the process can become complex because of DNS resolution and management. This topic describes several common scenarios.
The domain name is already using Alibaba Cloud DNS for resolution
This scenario applies if your domain name is registered with another registrar, but you already use Alibaba Cloud DNS for its resolution. This means the DNS servers at your current registrar are set to the servers that Alibaba Cloud DNS assigned, such as vip(1-8).alidns.com, dns(1-32).hichina.com, or ns(1-8).alidns.com.
Scenario 1: The DNS records are in the destination account
For example, you transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud Account A, and the DNS records for that domain name are also in Account A. You can transfer the domain name directly. The DNS records are kept, and DNS resolution is not affected.
Scenario 2: The DNS records are not in the destination account
For example, you transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud Account A, but the DNS records for that domain name are in Account B. The impact of the transfer depends on the Alibaba Cloud DNS edition that Account B uses.
Scenario | Impact |
Account B uses the Free Edition of DNS. | When you transfer the domain name to Account A, the DNS records in Account B are also transferred to Account A. The DNS records are kept, and DNS resolution is not affected. |
Account B uses a paid edition of DNS. | When you transfer the domain name to Account A, the DNS records in Account B are not transferred. To transfer the DNS records, see Revoke a domain name and its DNS records. |
The domain name is used as a suffix for a CNAME Access Domain Name in Global Traffic Manager 3.0. | The DNS records are not transferred with the domain name, regardless of the DNS edition used. For more information, see Configure an access domain name. |
The domain name is used as a suffix for a CNAME Access Domain Name in an earlier version of Global Traffic Manager. | After the DNS records are transferred, Global Traffic Manager uses the last policy that was in effect, and the failover feature no longer works. Future changes to the scheduling policy in Global Traffic Manager will not take effect. |
The domain name uses another provider for DNS resolution
This scenario applies if the DNS servers at your current registrar are not set to the servers assigned by Alibaba Cloud DNS. Instead, they are set to the registrar's default DNS servers or a third-party DNS service. This scenario also applies if you have added DNS records in Alibaba Cloud DNS, but your domain name is not configured to use Alibaba Cloud DNS.
Scenario 1: You have already added DNS records in Alibaba Cloud DNS
If the DNS records are in the destination account, the records that you added in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console are kept. DNS resolution is not affected.
If the DNS records are not in the destination account, Alibaba Cloud DNS purges the records that were previously added to the console during the transfer process.
Scenario 2: You have not added DNS records in Alibaba Cloud DNS
To prevent the domain transfer from affecting your DNS records and business, first migrate your domain name resolution to Alibaba Cloud DNS. Then, transfer the domain name. For more information about the migration procedure, see Smoothly migrate domain name resolution to Alibaba Cloud DNS.
After you migrate the domain name resolution to Alibaba Cloud, ensure that the destination account for the domain transfer is the same as the account that holds the DNS records. For more information, see The domain name is already using Alibaba Cloud DNS for resolution.
If the domain name that you want to transfer uses a self-managed DNS or a third-party DNS service, confirm with your DNS provider whether the transfer will affect the current resolution. If the provider confirms that the resolution will not be affected, you do not need to migrate the resolution to Alibaba Cloud DNS. You can transfer the domain name directly.