How to transfer domain registrar from GoDaddy to Amazon Route 53

GoDaddy is a great place to buy domain names, but it does not mean those domain names need to stay on GoDaddy. Amazon Route 53 is a great alternative to GoDaddy as a name server and a domain registrar. You can easily configure GoDaddy to use Amazon Route 53 as the name servers for your domain, but then it means you still keep a dependency on GoDaddy as the domain registrar. Some of you may want to completely migrate away from GodDaddy due to number of reasons.

• Amazon Route 53 is cost effect when it comes to domain renewal
• Amazon Route 53 is more secure and provides more fine-grained security controls. For example, you can easily configure what aspects of your domain functionalities are allowed to modify by whom.
• If your infrastructure is already in AWS you may want to manage all the dependencies in one place, so keeping your domain registrar in AWS reduces complexity and provides you with a single plane of glass for all your infrastructure.
• Amazon Route 53 has an SLA of 100% availability

Let’s now go through the process of completely migrating your domain from GoDaddy to Amazon Route 53.

Step 1

First make sure your top level domain is supported. Most of common top level domains like .com .org are supported by Amazon Route 53. The full list of supported top level domains in Route 53 is given here.

It’s strongly recommend you transfer your DNS configurations and name servers from GoDaddy to Amazon Route 53, before you begin your domain registrar transfer. This is because you will lose access to DNS configuration in GoDaddy’s console when the domain transfer is completed. For more information, read how to transfer name servers from GoDaddy to Route 53.

Step 2

Login into your GoDaddy account, select the domain you want to transfer and go to manage your domain page.

If you are in the landing page of GoDaddy you will see a screen like below

You then need to go to domain management page.

Step 3

Once you are in the domain management page, make sure your contact information is correct. This is crucial because the domain transfer authorization code is sent to this email address. If you fail to reach your email for some reason, your domain can get lost in the wild west of the internet.

Disable privacy, Amazon Route 53 needs access to your contact information during transfer.

Set the Domain lock to Off. This will unlock the domain so that it can be transferred.

Finally click Transfer Domain away from GoDaddy

Step 4

You will then be taken to domain transfer out page.

Make sure you validate all the checklist below and then click Continue with transfer

Domain transfer checklist

1. Make sure your administrative contact email is current. (It’s where we send your transfer authorization code.)
2. Verify that the new registrar will set up your DNS zone files. If you don’t do this, your website and email could go down.
3. Start the domain transfer at your new registrar. (We email you to ensure you requested the transfer.)
4. Authorize the transfer with your new registrar. (Use the transfer authorization code we email you when you’re done here.)
5. We email you confirmation when your transfer completes, usually not more than 5-7 days.

Step 5

GoDaddy will then send a mail to your authorized email address. Take a note of the Authorization Code and keep it in a secure place. We will soon use this code to initiate a domain transfer from GoDaddy to Amazon Route 53

Step 6

Now go into your AWS console and go to Route 53 section

Click Registered domains and click the button that says Transfer Domain. This will take you to domain transfer page.

Step 7

Enter your domain name and click Check, if everything is in good shape you will get a green message. Click Add to Cart and then Continue.

Step 8

Enter the Authorization code you got from GoDaddy. You got this authorization code in Step 5. If you forgot to take a note of the authorization code, check the mail box of the email address registered against the domain contact information. GoDaddy sends the Authorization code to the registered email address for the domain. Click Continue.

Step 9

You will be prompted to enter your contact details. Enter these details and click Continue. If you want to conceal your contact information from WHOIS queries, click Enable radio button next to privacy. This will mask your domain contact information. If you select Disable, your contact information will be publicly available.

Step 10

Finally complete the order. When you transfer a domain to Route 53, the transfer fee depends on the top-level domain, such as .com or .org. You can’t use AWS credits to pay the fee related to transferring a domain to Route 53. Route 53 charges the fee for transferring your domain before it initiates the transfer. If a transfer fails for some reason, AWS credits your account with the cost of the transfer.

You will get a popup like below. Click Close.

Step 11

You still need to authorize the transfer from GoDaddy’s end. Until then, AWS will inform that domain transfer is in progress.

If you go to Pending requests you will see your pending domain transfers.

Step 12

Wait a few minutes and go back to GoDaddy’s console. I observed about 10min delay before the domain transfer request appeared on GoDadddy’s console. In your case it may take longer. In GoDaddy console you will see a pending transfer out request.

Alternatively, you can select following menu options to see the pending domain transfer out requests

Select the domain and click the button “Accept Transfer”

You will receive an email from GoDaddy and the transfer is now complete.

Step 13

After a few minutes you will see your domain under registered domains. Domain transfer from GoDaddy to Amazon Route 53 is now completed.

Best practices

There are a few other best practices to keep in mind once you have transferred the domain.

First, set the expiration to Auto Renew. In case the domain is going to expire, Amazon Route 53 will automatically renew the domain and the cost of that renewal will appear on your AWS bill.

Second, enable the Transfer Lock. This will ensure no one can transfer the domain out of your AWS account.

Third, apply some security hardening to prevent following operations. I use AWS organization to organize my payee, development and production accounts. You can easily apply and AWS organization service control policy to disable someone accidently disabling auto renewal and domain transfer lock.

{
    "Sid": "DomainPolicy",
    "Effect": "Deny",
    "Action": [
        "route53domains:DisableDomainAutoRenew",
        "route53domains:DisableDomainTransferLock"
    ],
    "Resource": [
        "*"
    ]
}

The details of IAM permissions related to Route 53 domains is given here.

If you have any questions related to this post, please raise them in the comments section.