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dnsmigrator

Amazon Route 53 FortiGate DNS

Migrate DNS from Route 53 to FortiGate.

4 record types move as they are. 5 things work differently at FortiGate, 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

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

FortiGate 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 1s are raised

FortiGate's minimum TTL is 1 seconds. Shorter TTLs are raised to 1s and shown as translated.

FortiGate rewrites the whole host list

Every write to FortiGate's API replaces all records. We read, merge and write once, so records outside the migration survive.

A typical Route 53 zone at FortiGate

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

Route 53 FortiGate

  • UnsupportedA@

    Not migrated

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

  • ExactMX@

    10 mx1.mail.example.net. +1

  • UnsupportedTXT@

    Not migrated

    FortiGate doesn't support TXT records through its API.

  • UnsupportedCAA@

    Not migrated

    FortiGate doesn't support CAA records through its API.

  • UnsupportedTXT_dmarc

    Not migrated

    FortiGate doesn't support TXT records through its API.

  • UnsupportedSRV_sip._tls

    Not migrated

    FortiGate doesn't support SRV records through its API.

  • ReviewAapi

    192.0.2.10 +1

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

  • UnsupportedSPFlegacy

    Not migrated

    SPF record type is obsolete.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 FortiGate

    Connect FortiGate (Management URL + REST API admin token (Bearer) + VDOM). 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 FortiGate

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

  5. 5

    Verify

    We query FortiGate'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 FortiGate

  • FortiGates usually sit on private networks: we only connect if the admin HTTPS interface is exposed on a public address with a valid certificate, because private and internal addresses are refused by design.
  • Only A, AAAA and CNAME records plus MX at the zone apex are supported; wildcards, TXT, SRV and CAA are not, and disabled entries are left untouched.
  • Every change rewrites the zone's whole dns-entry table; we read and merge first so records outside the plan survive, but concurrent edits in the GUI can be overwritten.

Access we need: Admin profile with System → Configuration read for the preview, read/write to apply; restrict the REST API admin with trusted hosts.

Questions

Will there be downtime moving from Route 53 to FortiGate?

Not if both providers serve the same answers during the switch. The records are copied to FortiGate 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 FortiGate and publish its new DS record. The cutover plan walks you through each step.

Related migrations

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