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dnsmigrator

Amazon Route 53 DigitalOcean DNS

Migrate DNS from Route 53 to DigitalOcean.

8 record types move as they are. 4 things work differently at DigitalOcean, and the preview shows exactly which of your records they affect.

Free preview. Read-only. Nothing changes until you apply.

What works differently

Generated from the same provider capability data the migration engine uses.

Moves as-is

  • A
  • AAAA
  • CNAME
  • MX
  • TXT
  • NS
  • SRV
  • CAA

Alias records are converted

Route 53 alias records become CNAMEs below the apex. At the apex they need static addresses, and the preview shows which ones.

Routing policies are flattened

DigitalOcean has no routing policies. Weighted, geo and latency sets collapse into one set of answers, and failover keeps only the primary. Each one is flagged for review.

TTLs below 30s are raised

DigitalOcean's minimum TTL is 30 seconds. Shorter TTLs are raised to 30s and shown as translated.

A typical Route 53 zone at DigitalOcean

Example records for example.com. Open any flagged row to read why it changed.

Route 53 DigitalOcean

  • UnsupportedA@

    Not migrated

    @ is an alias to d1a2b3.cloudfront.net at the zone apex. DigitalOcean doesn't support apex aliases or CNAMEs.

  • ExactMX@

    10 mx1.mail.example.net. +1

  • ExactTXT@

    "v=spf1 include:_spf.example.net -all"

  • ExactCAA@

    0 issue "letsencrypt.org"

  • ExactTXT_dmarc

    "v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@example.com"

  • ExactSRV_sip._tls

    100 1 443 sip.example.net.

  • ReviewAapi

    192.0.2.10 +1

    Weighted routing isn't available at the destination. All 2 answers are served together as simple round-robin.

  • TranslatedTXTlegacy

    "v=spf1 -all"

    SPF record type is obsolete. Stored as TXT, which is what mail servers read.

  • ExactCNAMEwww

    example.com.

How the move works

  1. 1

    Connect Route 53

    Connect Route 53 with read-only access (Cross-account IAM role with an external ID).

  2. 2

    Connect DigitalOcean

    Connect DigitalOcean (Personal access token (custom scopes)). Write access is only used when you apply.

  3. 3

    Review the preview

    Check every record marked Review or Unsupported. Each one explains what changes and why.

  4. 4

    Apply to DigitalOcean

    We snapshot the DigitalOcean zone, write in batches, and leave Route 53 untouched.

  5. 5

    Verify

    We query DigitalOcean's own nameservers for every record and compare the answers before you switch.

  6. 6

    Switch nameservers

    Lower TTLs a day or two ahead, remove any DS record if DNSSEC is on, then point the domain at the new nameservers at your registrar.

Good to know about Route 53

  • Alias records can only target AWS resources or records in the same hosted zone.
  • Weighted, latency, geolocation and failover routing are Route 53 features. Most other providers can't reproduce them.
  • Apex CNAMEs are not allowed. Use an alias record instead.

Access we need: route53:ListHostedZones, GetHostedZone, ListResourceRecordSets for the preview; ChangeResourceRecordSets and CreateHostedZone to apply.

Good to know about DigitalOcean

  • DigitalOcean nameservers don't support DNSSEC, so turn DNSSEC off at the registrar before switching to them.
  • TXT records are limited to roughly 500 characters in total and can't contain backslashes.
  • CAA records can't use a bare ";" value or CA parameters such as "letsencrypt.org; accounturi=…".

Access we need: domain:read for the preview; domain:read, domain:create, domain:update and domain:delete to apply.

Questions

Will there be downtime moving from Route 53 to DigitalOcean?

Not if both providers serve the same answers during the switch. The records are copied to DigitalOcean and verified before you change nameservers, so resolvers get the same answer from either side while caches expire.

Do I have to delete anything at Route 53?

No. We never write to Route 53. Keep the old zone for a week after cutover so you can switch back instantly if anything looks wrong.

What about DNSSEC?

If DNSSEC is on, remove the DS record at your registrar and wait for it to expire before switching nameservers. Then enable DNSSEC at DigitalOcean and publish its new DS record. The cutover plan walks you through each step.

Related migrations

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