Starting A Domain Transfer
Synopsis
| Description | A command to initiate a transfer for a domain name. |
| URL | https://toolkit.centralnic.com/srv/start_transfer |
| HTTP Method | POST |
| Requires Authentication? | Yes |
| Requires SSL? | Yes |
| Query Parameters: | |
| test | The test flag (eg 1 or 0, optional) |
| user | Your Registrar ID (eg H12345) |
| password | Your Toolkit Password |
| domains[] | One or more domain names (eg example.uk.com, multiple) |
| authinfo[] | One or more authInfo codes, must match the number of domains. Optional parameter. |
Using this command, you can initiate a transfer request for one or more domain names. Domain Transfers follow the following procedure:
- The gaining registrar submits a transfer request. At this point, the transfer status is new.
- Our system sees the new request and sends an authorisation message to the losing registrar. The status of the transfer is now pending.
- The losing registrar may then explicitly approve or reject the transfer request. The status of the transfer is now either approved or rejected.
- If the transfer was rejected, the gaining registrar is notified.
- If the transfer was approved, the object is transferred to the gaining registrar. Any outstanding payments for the domain name are also transferred to the gaining registrar. If the Technical Contact for the domain name matches the losing registrar, then this is also changed to the gaining registrar.
- If the transfer is not explicitly approved or rejected by the losing registrar within five calendar days, and an authinfo code was not provided, then the transfer is automatically marked as rejected. The transfer may still be actioned if the gaining registrar can acquire written authorisation (ideally on company letterhead) from the Registrant.
- If the transfer is not explicitly approved or rejected by the losing registrar within five calendar days, and an authinfo code was provided, then the domain is transferred as per step 5 above.
AuthInfo Codes
AuthInfo codes are a shared secret that provides additional security for domain transfers. They are now a standard feature of most domain registry systems. All CentralNic registrars are required to supply the authInfo code for a domain name upon request of the registrant.
For more information about authInfo codes, please see this page on the CentralNic website.
If you wish to supply authInfo codes for domain names when requesting a transfer, you must ensure that the authinfo[] parameters match the domain names, for example, if the authInfo code for example.uk.com is "abc12345", and the code for example.gb.com is "xyz98765", the query should have the following parameters:
domains[0]=example.uk.com &authinfo[0]=abc12345 &domains[1]=example.gb.com &authinfo[1]=xyz98765
Response Format
The response will be of the form
Transaction-ID: e2ca01ad7135e787a5e97ad5b421ed74 Status: 0 Message: transfer requests for the domain(s) have been queued, authorisation request will be sent to the losing registrar.
In the event of an error, the server will return something like this:Transaction-ID: e2ca01ad7135e787a5e97ad5b421ed74 Status: 1 Message: Domain not found.