TMA: Domain names and Hosting

[friznit]

Existing domain namd and forum, www.volcbat.com, needs to be transferred to my good self since the current owner is offski. He's provided me with an authorisation key of some kind, but I have nfc what to do with it. I need to transfer ownership of the domain and also ensure the forum itself is rehosted so when he disappears it doesn't all fall over.

WHOIS says it's registered and hosted by Dreamvomit, which inevitably appears to be having a spack attack today (as we know, since 5punk is also hosted there). Presumably I can should open a new account with Dreamhost, press lots of buttons, and continue normal working.

Or will this definitely break horribly because it's something that should be really simple but has been designed by a hive mind to be utterly fucking useless?

[Stoat]

According to the DH wiki, you could set up an account and plonk the code you've got in the Domain Transfer window.
http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Transfer_your ... tion_to_us

Transferring domains can take a while to take effect though, as all the DNS servers catch the change.

[friznit]

Ugh, found this on the wiki. Looks a bit more complicated. Keeping it all hosted on Dreamhost to keep things simple:

1. Signup for a new account using a temporary dreamhosters.com domain name (Do I need web hosting, or just domain registration?)
2. Request a transfer of the domain registration (I've got the auth code)
3. Login to the ftp account for the domain and download the site files (where do I find the FTP details for a forum?)
4. Backup database phpMyAdmin (I'm guessing that's somewhere on the admin panel)
5. If you have any Discussion or Announcement lists on the domain to be moved (I'm guessing this is not relevant?)
6. Delete the domain from the manage domain page on the Web Panel (Old owner will need to do this)
7. Initiate a domain transfer from the new account with the auth code.
8. Add the domain to the new account on the Manage Domain page, setup databases, etc.
9. Upload the files via FTP and import the database dumps that you had backed up earlier.
10. Update the whois information to reflect the new owner if not already done.

Does that all sound about right? I imagine there will be some downtime while it all takes place.

[FatherJack]

There is an easier way:

1. Get dude to delete all his personal info, bank details etc from the Dreamhosts account
2. Get him to tell you the login and password
3. You log in, change password, update personal and bank details with your own and change whois details if you want
4. Site carries on working and no-one notices anything

[spoodie]

The Dreamhost support team will probably be willing to help out if you get in touch with them. I'd imagine all this is routine for them.

[friznit]

There is an easier way:

1. Get dude to delete all his personal info, bank details etc from the Dreamhosts account
2. Get him to tell you the login and password
3. You log in, change password, update personal and bank details with your own and change whois details if you want
4. Site carries on working and no-one notices anything

I think he still needs his DH account for hosting other stuff, so that probably won't work.

[FatherJack]

I think he still needs his DH account for hosting other stuff, so that probably won't work.

He can still split off the hosting and assign it to you if you make an account there. If he puts in a support request they'll tell him what to do.