DOMAINS & DNS
Bring a Client's Domain Under NetWise Control¶
Use this procedure at the start of a website build or migration, to make sure NetWise controls the client's DNS before any work begins.
The tooling that imports a client's documents and content needs unfettered access to the old website. If the DNS stays with someone else, NetWise can't be sure of that access, and can't pause Cloudflare if it needs to during the migration. What matters is that the domain's DNS is in NetWise's Cloudflare account. Who holds the registration doesn't matter, so a domain registered elsewhere does not need to be transferred.
For building the DNS zone and changing nameservers, this procedure hands over to Move a Domain to Cloudflare.
1. Check whether the DNS is already with NetWise¶
Look up the domain's nameservers:
dig +short NS <domain>
If they are Cloudflare nameservers (<name>.ns.cloudflare.com), check that the domain is a zone in NetWise's Cloudflare account. If it is, NetWise already controls the DNS: there is nothing to do, and you can start the build.
A Cloudflare nameserver on its own doesn't prove the zone is in NetWise's account. The client could have their own Cloudflare account, so look for the zone in ours.
If the nameservers are anyone else's, or the zone is in the client's own Cloudflare account, continue with Step 2.
Don't start the build until NetWise controls the DNS
Don't carry on with the build and plan to sort the DNS out later.
2. Ask the client for a copy of the existing DNS records¶
The client holds the account with their existing DNS provider, so they have to supply it. We need every record, taken before the nameservers change, so that email, verification records and anything else depending on the domain can be rebuilt exactly.
Get the DNS copy before changing nameservers
Once the nameservers have changed, the old provider's records may no longer be available to look at. Don't change them until the client has sent the full copy.
3. Add the domain to Cloudflare by importing the DNS¶
Add the domain to NetWise's Cloudflare account.
Import the DNS records, don't let Cloudflare scan
When Cloudflare offers a choice, import the existing DNS records from the copy the client supplied. Don't choose the option that lets Cloudflare scan for records itself. Cloudflare's scan often misses records, particularly DKIM records for email.
Check the imported zone against the client's copy, record by record, before changing nameservers. Move a Domain to Cloudflare covers reconciling the zone, setting proxy status and changing nameserver delegation.
4. Confirm NetWise controls the DNS¶
Once the nameservers have changed, repeat the lookup in Step 1 and check the zone is in NetWise's Cloudflare account. Then start the build.
Transferring the registration (optional)¶
The registration doesn't need to move for a build or migration. If a client wants NetWise to hold and renew the domain as well, the route depends on the domain.
- .gov.uk domains go through Nominet and need a TAC from the existing registrar. Follow Transfer a .gov.uk Domain to NetWise.
- gov.wales domains go through JISC / CentralNIC, using the authorisation code from the existing registrar.
- All other domains go through Enom. Raise a transfer from the Domains tab on the client's account in WHMCS, choosing a transfer rather than a registration. It's a separate tab from Products.
gov.wales not yet documented
The JISC / CentralNIC transfer steps haven't been written up in this Wiki. Add them here the next time a gov.wales domain is transferred.
Whichever route the domain takes, add the domain transfer to the client's account in WHMCS, so the domain is billed and renewed through NetWise from then on. For an Enom domain, raising the transfer in WHMCS already does this.