Sunday, August 11, 2013

putting DNS in place at godaddy in advance of migrating registrar

I was moving a domain from Network Solutions to Godaddy, and I had DNS managed at NetSol and intended for DNS to be managed at Godaddy.  With this setup, there would have been DNS downtime during the transfer when the trasnfer actually happened and DNS wasn't in place at Godaddy before I put it in place.  This is because Godaddy won't let you manage DNS until the domain is actually transferred.

This article describes the process for setting up Godaddy calls off-site DNS, where its DNS servers can provie DNS for a domain it doesn't hold.  This off-site DNS can then be applied to the domain when you transfer.

This article is here:
http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/4041/managing-domain-names-with-offsite-dns?pc_split_value=1

And recreated here (in case that page is ever moved):

To manage the DNS for an off-site domain name, you must add it to the DNS Dashboard, and then change your nameservers at your current registrar.


  1. To Add Off-site DNS for a Domain Name
  2. Log in to your Account Manager.
  3. Next to Domains, click Launch.
  4. From the DNS menu, select DNS Manager.
  5. From the Off-site menu, select Add Off-site. The Add Off-site DNS window displays.
  6. In the Domain name field, enter the domain name you want to manage with Off-site DNS.
  7. (Optional) If you plan to transfer the domain name's registration to us and you want to transfer its existing DNS records as well, select The domain will be transferred ... . We apply the zone file to the domain name upon transfer. Otherwise, de-select this option.
  8. Click OK. The domain name displays in your Domain list with (Off-site) next to it.

NOTE: If your domain name does not display, click  to refresh the list.

Contact your current registrar to update your nameservers to the following:
Standard DNS
mns01.domaincontrol.com
mns02.domaincontrol.com