In this article, you will learn:
- What conditions you must meet before changing the domain
- How to change the WebSite service domain
- Common problems
- Frequently asked questions
Renaming conditions
Before renaming the WebSite service, make sure that:
- If the new domain is registered with WEDOS, you have it in your customer account, or you are its authorized user.
- The new domain or subdomain is not the name or alias of another VEDOS service. The exception is the WebSite Free name in combination with the Mailhosting service.
Changing the domain
Warning, changing the WebSite domain includes an automatic DNS change, which in the case of WebSite Profi and Premium also adjusts the domain MX records for email routing. If you use your own email service provider, after the automatic DNS change the domain will stop pointing to it!
The WebSite service can run under any domain (domena.tld) or subdomain (sub.domena.tld). Change it using these steps:
- Log in to the customer administration ⧉.
- In the top menu, select Hosting services WebSite.
- From the list of services, select the one you want to rename.
- In the Website service domain change box in the detail, enter the new service name. Then check whether you want the change to be entered automatically into WEDOS DNS.
- Confirm the name with the Change domain button.
After the change, wait 60 – 90 minutes for the DNS setup to complete and the Let’s Encrypt HTTPS certificate to be issued.
Common problems
Common errors when renaming WebSite include:
- Existing hosting service for the given domain
- The domain is in another customer account
- The old website is displayed on the new domain
- Emails stopped arriving to the new domain
Existing hosting service for the given domain
Problem: The following error is displayed: A web hosting order for the same domain already exists in the system.
Cause: With a few exceptions, the system does not allow two or more services with the same name (domain) to exist. If you want to use a domain that you use with one service for another service, you must first remove it from the original service.
Solution: Also rename the original service, or remove its alias. In case of problems, ask support via the form ⧉ to remove the service name or alias.
The domain is in another customer account
Problem: The following error is displayed: The domain is located in another customer account.
Cause: For security reasons, both the domain and the corresponding WebSite service must be in the same customer account during renaming, or the domain user must have permissions set.
Solution: Ask the customer who has the domain in their account to either set you as an authorized user, or at least temporarily move the domain to your account.
The old website is displayed on the new domain
Problem: After renaming the domain, an error message or the old website is displayed at the new address.
Cause: After renaming, the system (usually) changes our DNS settings and activates the Let’s Encrypt certificate. This operation can take up to 90 minutes.
If the domain does not use our DNS, the system cannot perform the change, so you must point the domain to WebSite manually with your DNS provider.
Displaying the old website may also be caused by the browser cache.
Solution: After renaming, wait 90 minutes. If the problem persists, check which DNS your domain uses and, if necessary, set A records and possibly MX manually with your provider. Clear the browser cache ⧉.
Emails stopped arriving to the new domain
Problem: After renaming WebSite, emails stopped arriving to the new domain.
Cause: The automatic adjustment of DNS records overwrote the MX records to point to our mail servers.
Solution: Fix the MX DNS records manually back to the original provider.
Frequently asked questions
What should I rename WebSite to if I no longer want to use it, but the service name is blocking me?
We usually recommend deleting the subdomain, staryweb and similar, for example delete.domena.tld, where domena.tld is your domain name.