Forward a registered domain

Hi all. I'm afraid this question has been asked and answered over a miljon times but I cannot find it on dreamhost wiki and the forum. So sorry in advance, I really tried!

Anyways, I am about to register a domain with another provider from my own country with its own .extension. I immediatly want to forward this domain to my dreamhost webspace.

1. This is possible?
2. Do I have to own the domain like 60 days before this is possible?
3. Will I be having all the features at dramhost I would have with a full account? (mail and management features, etc, etc)
4. What should I ask this provider from my own country? What do they have to do for me? (DNS forwarding I believe? Any other things?)

Many thanks.

Here's what you need to do at your registrar - http://wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/KB_/_Domains_/_Transfers_/_Transfer_Hosting_/_What_is_your_IPS_Tag_for_my_co.uk_domain? . This is not a "transfer" but merely saying that "when someone asks for this site, ask these machines where it is." Your site will need to be "unlocked" when you request the change. (Your registrar will be able to tell you how to do this, but the info you need is at the link on the wiki.

Once you do this you should have full access to manage your domains (you will need to ADD the domain to "Manage Domains" in your control panel).

It will take a few days for the change to propagate through the DNS systems and be fully available everywhere.

In the meantime you can use this trick to get things ready - http://wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/DNS_-_Viewing_site_before_DNS_change

The wiki's a great place to find things like this - http://wiki.dreamhost.com

Good luck!

Wholly

Looks like the first link broke because of the question mark.

Try to copy/paste this into your browser:

http://wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/KB_/_Domains_/_Transfers_/_Transfer_Hosting_/_What_is_your_IPS_Tag_for_my_co.uk_domain%3F

I hate it when that happens. Thanks for fixing it.

Wholly

Many thanks. I'll have a look at it in probably a few hours!

I also have a question about forwarding a domain. I need to CANCEL forwarding of a domain. When I look at the Web Admin Panel > Manage Domains > Currently Redirected, I see the Redirected URL. But I don't know how to STOP the address from being redirected. I have tried deleting the address, but I get an error message: "Please enter a URL!"

Please tell me how I can STOP my site from being Redirected.

Thanks.

What do you want to do with it that isn't Redirected? Just remove it from DH?

Wholly

I think the trick there is to *delete* the domain. You can always *add* it again, later if you want to "fully host" it, re-instate the re-direction, or set it up another way.

You will need to allow for some time for it to "clear" the system before re-adding it; or ask DH support to "clear" it for you.

--rlparker

Ok, so you say to delete the domain and then re-add it?
Are you sure that I will not be deleting the registed domain from my account? Just want to make sure that I won't have to go through the registration process again or accidently lose the domain name.

Thanks.

Steven,

I understand your concern, but I think you are confusing *hosting* a domain with *registering* an domain. They are two different, and distinct processes. Granted, letting a domain *registration* expire has the effect of "canceling" or "removing" the *hosting* (as you can't reach the domain via DNS, though you would still continue to incur hosting bills), but canceling, or removing *hosting* will not affect the *registration* (the domain will remain registered, but can't be reached via DNS as it is no longer *hosted*)

By removing a "hosted" domain from it's status as being hosted as a re-direct, you will not be impacting the *registration* at all. This allows you to then create a new "hosted domain" at Dreamhost that is now "fully hosted" (or mirrored, or other choice that Dreamhost provides) rather than redirected as it is now.

Think of it this way: You can have a domain registered at registrar A, and hosted at hosting provider B. If you then dropped the hosting from provider B and signed up for new hosting at hosting provider C, the *registration* of the domain with *registrar* A would not be impacted.

Whether or not DH is Registrar A doesn't change any of that being true. As long as you are only adding/removing domain *hosting*, your registration of the domain remains safe (though you can still arrange for transfers of registration via the panel, and other changes, as long as you keep you registration current - not expired). You change the DNS records for the registered domain at the *registrar's* site to point to the nameservers of the *hosting* provider. You use the hosting provider's tools (control panel?) to tell the hosting provider how to handle the domain in it's nameservers records - whether fully hosted, re-directed or what. That is all you are doing under "manage domains" in the Dreamhost panel.

Does that help make it any clearer, or did I just confuse you further?

--rlparker

Hi. Thanks for your help. I successfully set up hosting for my new domain.

Now I want to forward (re-direct) my old domain to my new URL. However, my company currently receives all of our email via the old domain, example: names@olddomain.com

If I start re-directing the domain (www.olddomain.com goes to www.newdomain.com) will it interfere with our company email?

Thanks

In reply to:

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If I start re-directing the domain (www.olddomain.com goes to www.newdomain.com) will it interfere with our company email?

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As long as olddomain.com's DNS records remain unchanged, you should be fine.

--rlparker