How do I transfer my domain from an AWS account I don't seem to have?
January 9, 2023 3:18 PM Subscribe
My Bluehost account says I have a domain registered with AWS. I have owned the domain longer than AWS has been around so I find this confusing. I would like to transfer the domain to a new host, but of course they need the auth. code which I cannot get because I do not have an AWS account. Now what?
Years ago I registered a domain and used it to host a blog. This would have been about 15 years ago. It fell off my radar until Twitter started to implode and I thought I'd re-register the domain and start blogging again. I remembered at one point using Blue Host and I was able to get into my old account. Blue Host still lists that domain in my account info but shows it as registered by AWS. I am positive I never had an account with them. I tried logging in with likely emails and passwords but no go. My best guess is that Amazon bought out whoever I had it registered with originally.
I have decided to host my new site with Nixihost. They need the authorization code for the domain. I have no idea how to get it. What is the best course of action here?
Years ago I registered a domain and used it to host a blog. This would have been about 15 years ago. It fell off my radar until Twitter started to implode and I thought I'd re-register the domain and start blogging again. I remembered at one point using Blue Host and I was able to get into my old account. Blue Host still lists that domain in my account info but shows it as registered by AWS. I am positive I never had an account with them. I tried logging in with likely emails and passwords but no go. My best guess is that Amazon bought out whoever I had it registered with originally.
I have decided to host my new site with Nixihost. They need the authorization code for the domain. I have no idea how to get it. What is the best course of action here?
You mention re-registering the domain. If you've let the domain registration lapse, even if it's showing in your BlueHost account, it's quite possible that it was snapped up and is now owned by someone else.
posted by hanov3r at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
If you haven't been paying for the domain for the last fifteen years, then you no longer own it. You can easily lookup if someone does own it (it sounds like someone else does) with a WHOIS search.
posted by ssg at 8:27 PM on January 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ssg at 8:27 PM on January 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
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Amazon has a service called "Route 53" that includes both domain registration and DNS hosting services. If your domain is actually registered with Amazon, I think it should show up with a registrar name of "Amazon Registrar, Inc.". If it's using Route 53 for DNS, it should have nameservers that include "awsdns" somewhere in their hostnames.
If your domain is indeed registered through Route 53, it looks like the best option is to contact AWS support, presumably using the "when you can't sign in to your AWS account" option at the bottom.
(If you still have records of whoever the domain was registered with the last time you renewed it, that might also be helpful.)
posted by teraflop at 4:03 PM on January 9, 2023 [2 favorites]