Alibaba Cloud DNS:Domain name FAQ

For domain names registered with Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba Cloud DNS and Domain Names work together to prevent service interruptions caused by DNS server resets after a domain name expires. During recursive resolution, the domain name registry returns the cluster endpoint of the Alibaba Cloud DNS Free Edition as the authoritative endpoint.

Case 1: Free Edition

Because the domain name registry returns the cluster endpoint of the Alibaba Cloud DNS Free Edition as the authoritative DNS resolution endpoint, domain names that use the Free Edition of Public Authoritative DNS are not affected. After you renew your domain name, wait for the Time to Live (TTL) period to elapse. DNS resolution is then restored. The default TTL is 10 minutes.

Case 2: Paid Edition

If you use a paid edition of Alibaba Cloud DNS, the DNS server addresses for your domain name are set to vip(1-8).alidns.com. After you renew the domain name, DNS resolution for basic lines is not affected. However, DNS resolution for paid lines becomes unavailable. The changes require up to 48 hours to synchronize and take effect.

Case 3: Third-party DNS service

After you renew the domain name, the DNS server addresses are changed back to the ones provided by your DNS service provider. In this case, you must wait up to 48 hours for the changes to synchronize globally. During this period, you cannot accelerate the process. To restore DNS resolution as soon as possible, you can use a temporary solution. The domain name registry returns the cluster endpoint of the Alibaba Cloud DNS Free Edition as the authoritative endpoint. Go to the Alibaba Cloud DNS - Public Zone console and add DNS records that are consistent with the records from your other DNS service provider. This lets you temporarily use Alibaba Cloud's public authoritative DNS service. After the TTL period elapses (typically 10 minutes), DNS resolution is restored. Over the next 24 to 48 hours, DNS resolution will gradually revert to your original DNS service provider.

A: No, it does not. When a domain name expires, the domain name registrar blocks the DNS servers from providing the service. Even if Alibaba Cloud DNS is providing normal service, recursive DNS queries are not sent to Alibaba Cloud DNS. Therefore, if DNS resolution fails because the domain name expired, Alibaba Cloud DNS cannot fix the issue. After you successfully renew the domain name, DNS resolution is typically restored within 24 to 48 hours.

A: The domain name checker tool queries the WHOIS database, which does not retrieve the latest information in real time. If you encounter this issue, go to WHOIS Lookup and click Get the latest information to retrieve the latest data.

A: The following scenarios describe why you might be unable to add a domain name:

• Case 1: An error message indicates that the domain name does not belong to the current account.

  If you receive this error message when you add a domain name, it means that your domain name is registered with Alibaba Cloud but is under a different Alibaba Cloud account. To move the domain name to the current account, log on to the account that owns the domain name and go to the domain name list in the Domain Names console. On the All Domain Names tab, click the domain name. In the navigation pane on the left, click Transfer to Another Alibaba Cloud Account.

  Note

  • For more information about how this operation affects DNS resolution, see How to prevent DNS resolution from being affected when a domain name is transferred between Alibaba Cloud accounts.

• Case 2: An error message indicates that the domain name has been added by another account.

  You can use the Domain Name Retrieval feature to retrieve the domain name and add it to the current account. For more information, see Retrieve a domain name that is not registered with Alibaba Cloud.

A: If your domain name is registered with Alibaba Cloud, you cannot delete it in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console.

A: This issue usually occurs because the number of bound domain names exceeds the limit for your edition. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS - Public Zone console. On the Domain Name Resolution page, click the Edition Management tab. Click Bind Domain Name. In the Basic Information section, you can view the Number Of Bindable Domain Names. To bind more domain names, on the Edition Management tab, click Upgrade and increase the number of allowed domain names on the upgrade page.

A: If the system displays an error message that the domain name does not exist, it means that the domain name cannot be found in the authoritative domain name list of your current account. First, check whether the domain name you entered is correct. If you confirm that the domain name is correct but it is still not in the list, your domain name may be registered with another domain name provider. You can add the domain name to Alibaba Cloud DNS first. For more information, see Add a domain name that is not registered with Alibaba Cloud.

A: Follow these steps for a smooth migration:

① Export the DNS records of the primary domain from Alibaba Cloud. Ensure that the exported DNS records include the NS records that delegate the subdomain to Alibaba Cloud DNS.

② Import the DNS records to another DNS provider.

③ At the domain name registrar, change the DNS servers to point to the other provider.

④ In the Alibaba Cloud DNS console, do not delete the NS records for the subdomain from the primary domain's settings for at least 48 hours.

A: Follow these steps to ensure a smooth migration for the subdomain. For information about how to migrate the DNS service for the primary domain, see Smoothly migrate DNS services to Alibaba Cloud DNS.

① For a domain name not registered with Alibaba Cloud, add the primary domain to the Alibaba Cloud DNS list. You can ignore this step for domain names registered with Alibaba Cloud.

② After you add the primary domain, add NS records for the subdomain to the primary domain's settings. The NS records must point to Alibaba Cloud DNS.

③ At the registrar of the primary domain, change the DNS servers for the domain name.

④ At the original DNS service provider, do not delete the NS records for the subdomain for at least 48 hours.

A: You can add a DNS record. Enter your domain name prefix in the Host field and your server's IP address in the Value field. For example, if your primary domain name is example.com and you need to set up the second-level domain www.example.com, you can add a record and enter www in the Host field. If you want to manage www.example.com and its subdomains independently, for more information, see Subdomain management.

A: Yes, it does. Alibaba Cloud DNS supports the following scenarios:

• Scenario 1: The primary domain uses a third-party DNS service, and the subdomain uses Alibaba Cloud DNS.

• Scenario 2: Both the primary domain and subdomain use Alibaba Cloud DNS and are managed by different accounts.

• Scenario 4: Both the primary domain and subdomain use Alibaba Cloud DNS and are under the same account.

For more information, see Subdomain management.

A: Adding a subdomain and assigning a DNS server to it are asynchronous operations. Wait a few minutes and refresh the page. Click the subdomain to go to the DNS Settings page. In the notification area, you can find the DNS server name assigned to the subdomain.

A: Check whether your primary domain name has DNS records for its subdomains.

• Your primary domain does not have existing DNS records for the subdomain. In this case, the record count is expected to be zero. You must add DNS records for the subdomain.

• There is a synchronization delay. Adding a domain name and importing records from the primary domain are asynchronous operations. Wait a few minutes and refresh the page to check again.

A: This status indicates that Alibaba Cloud DNS failed to query the DNS server information for the domain name. This may be because no DNS servers are configured for the subdomain. You can find the assigned DNS server names on the DNS Settings page of the subdomain. Then, add two NS records to the primary domain's settings that point to the DNS server names assigned to the subdomain by Alibaba Cloud DNS.