Local (.co.za & .org.za) domain transfer guide – how to move to bytewise
Preparation is the key to a successful local domain transfer
Follow our guide and achieve first time success:
Step 1: Prepare
- Ensure that you have access to the email address listed as the Registrant for your domain. An email “ticket” requesting permission to transfer the domain will need to be accepted from this email address.
- If your current host is listed as the Registrant, they will need to accept the transfer request on your behalf.
- If the email address is outdated or wrong, your current registrar can update it for you, but updates takes 5 days to complete, and you’ll have to wait until this period is completed before you can submit the transfer ticket.
- Notify your current host that the domain will be transferred away. In order to transfer to our server, you first need to cancel your hosting service with your current provider.
- We will ensure that all the development work on our servers have been completed for the site to go live once the transfer is complete.
Step 2: Transfer Preparation
We will assist you in choosing the correct hosting package on our servers.
To avoid any downtime to your website or email, we will ensure that the development work is complete to your new website and uploaded. All email addresses will be created on our servers before the domain is transferred:
We will send you the new email settings for all of your client devices. This will need to be setup on your devices to retrieve your email from our servers once the transfer is complete.
You are now ready to submit the domain transfer request
Step 3: Transfer
- Domains are updated or transferred via a voting process, with a voting ticket sent to the email address listed as the Registrant of the domain. This is the only email address authorised to accept the transfer.
- If this address is incorrect, contact your current registrar to change it (a 5 day change period applies).
- We will assist you to submit the transfer ticket to the outgoing registrar that will transfer your domain name registration to our servers.
- The Domain Transfer Manager is active for 47 days. If the transfer does not complete within this period, the hosting package will be terminated, removing web content and mailboxes.
If you are the domain registrant:
- Check your email and accept the update request (voting ticket) that you will receive from the registrar, ZACR.
- You’re done! It will take about 24 hours for propagation to complete so that the change is visible across the Internet.
If you are not the domain registrant:
- The current registrant has 5 days to accept the transfer voting ticket. You will receive a notification from the registry, ZACR, once the ticket has been accepted. Propagation will start immediately as the name servers update to the new host at this point.
- We will keep you updated as to the progress of the transfer.
- If the transfer update is declined, you will need to resolve any outstanding issues, and we will then resubmit the transfer request.