How to transfer my domain away from Melbourne IT to ETNHost?

Here at ETNHost, we recommend that you keep your domain name where you host your website. It is easier to manage, fewer passwords to worry about, better security, and last but not least this way you get a piece of mind. You will receive regular notifications from us, via e-mail, reminding you when the renewal date for your domain name is due, so you will not miss to renew it and risk your website becoming inaccessible.

Extra:

Once the domain name is transferred to us, you will get one year of a free domain name renewal as a bonus.

Domain name transfers may take anywhere between 3 and 10 days until completion. Before initiating a domain name transfer of a domain name registered with Melbourne IT, you will need to make sure that the following conditions apply:

• The domain must be more than 60 days old. This is not an ETNHost, nor Melbourne IT, specific rule, but rather a rule implemented by ICANN, the organization that governs domain registrations.
• The domain has been Unlocked for transfer from Melbourne IT.
• The domain is showing your current e-mail for the admin contact in the Whois database as that is where the authorization email will be sent.
• The domain must not be too close to its expiration date, as Melbourne IT will normally auto renew domains 15 days prior to expiration.

Notes:

The 60-day holding period only applies to domain transfers between registrar providers when a domain is either newly registered or recently transferred. If you just ended site services with another provider (without transferring the domain to another registrar), then the 60-day hold shouldn't apply at all. If the hold did apply, it still shouldn't prevent you from pointing it to another host service to start up a new site.

To prepare your domain name to be transferred away from Melbourne IT you must engage in the following steps:

1. Log into your Melbourne IT account
2. Unlock your domain name

To successfully unlock your domain name for transfer you must follow these simple steps. Once the My Account Console is displayed find the Manage Domain Names section and click on Manage Domain Names. Click on the domain that you want to unlock. Once you do that, the Domain Management Page for that domain will be displayed and you will be able to click on Unlock which is located in the Overview section. 

3. Disable the Domain Privacy/ ID Protect feature

To disable the domain’s privacy feature find My Purchases and click on Manage Domain Names. Select the domain name for which you would like to disable the Domain Privacy by clicking on it. Under Overview you will find the Disable Private registration option. 

4. Update the contact information if necessary

To update the contact information of the domain name which you would like to transfer under My Purchases select Manager Domain Names under the Manage Domain Name section. Double click on the desired domain name to call out the Management screen, where on the upper right side you will find the contact details. Make the necessary changes to the contact information after which click on the Change Contact Details link. 

5. Obtain the EPP/ Authorization code

To obtain the EPP code assigned to your domain go to the Domain Names section and click on View/Manage Domain Names. Select the domain for which you need the EPP code by clicking on it. Find the Domain Details section and click on Retrieve Domain Name (authinfo) Password.

After completing the preparation, let some time pass (a day or so) before you initiate the transfer. You can also check the Whois info for your domain. You can do this at http://www.whois.net or http://whois.domaintools.com or similar sites, to make sure everything shows up and is correct.

Once ready, you can now submit a transfer request for the domain:

• Start within your ETNHost account .
• Proceed with posting an order for the domain name transfer by clicking on the Domains tab.
• Upon the request of the domain name transfer, you will need to enter the Authorization/EPP code. Once the code is entered then the process will begin.

Note that you will also receive a transfer approval email to the listed administrative contact for the domain. After the transfer is confirmed the losing registrar (Melbourne IT) has 7 days to release the domain. If everything is OK, the domain will be released and added to the Domains Section in your ETNHost account.

Notes:

Once you start a domain name transfer you must remember that you can't change your DNS, Whois info, contact info and so on.