How do I migrate my DNS services from a third-party DNS provider to Lightsail?

Resolution

Use one of the following methods to transfer your DNS service.

Move the entire domain name server setup from the third-party DNS provider to Lightsail

To move the domain name server setup from a third-party DNS provider, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Amazon Lightsail console.
2. Choose Networking, and then choose Create DNS Zone. For more information, see Create a DNS zone in the Lightsail console.
3. Enter the domain, and then choose Create DNS Zone. You receive a set of four name servers.
4. Refer to the DNS record details in your current DNS provider to add more DNS records in the new DNS zone. Then, copy each record to your Lightsail DNS zone.
5. In your domain's current registrar portal, replace the current name servers with the new name servers.
6. Chose Save.
   Note: The name server change propagates through the internet's DNS and can take several hours.

Move the subdomain name server setup from a third-party DNS provider to Lightsail

To move only the subdomain name server setup from a third-party DNS provider, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Amazon Lightsail console.
2. Chose Networking, and then choose Create DNS Zone. For more information, see Create a DNS zone in the Lightsail console.
3. Enter the domain, and then choose Create DNS Zone. You receive a set of four name servers.
4. Open the DNS records at your third-party DNS provider. Use NS as the record type to create four new DNS records. 
5. Open the Amazon Lightsail console, and then open the DNS zone.
6. Create a DNS record that points the subdomain to the Lightsail instance. For more information see Add records to the DNS zone.

Point your domain to the Lightsail instance, but don't move the DNS servers

You don't need to create a Lightsail DNS zone. Create an A record in your third-party DNS provider for your domain. Then, point the A record to the Lightsail instance's IP address to load the website from the Lightsail instance.

Note: It might take a few hours for DNS propagation to complete.

Related information

Point a domain to your Lightsail distribution