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dnsmigrator

Amazon Route 53 OpenWrt

Migrate DNS from Route 53 to OpenWrt.

5 record types move as they are. 4 things work differently at OpenWrt, 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
  • SRV

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

OpenWrt 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 300s are raised

OpenWrt's minimum TTL is 300 seconds. Shorter TTLs are raised to 300s and shown as translated.

A typical Route 53 zone at OpenWrt

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

Route 53 OpenWrt

  • UnsupportedA@

    Not migrated

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

  • TranslatedMX@

    10 mx1.mail.example.net. +1

    TTL 3600s is outside the allowed range. Set to 300s.

  • UnsupportedTXT@

    Not migrated

    OpenWrt doesn't support TXT records through its API.

  • UnsupportedCAA@

    Not migrated

    OpenWrt doesn't support CAA records through its API.

  • UnsupportedTXT_dmarc

    Not migrated

    OpenWrt doesn't support TXT records through its API.

  • TranslatedSRV_sip._tls

    100 1 443 sip.example.net.

    TTL 3600s is outside the allowed range. Set to 300s.

  • 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    SPF record type is obsolete.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.

  • TranslatedCNAMEwww

    example.com.

    TTL 3600s is outside the allowed range. Set to 300s.

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 OpenWrt

    Connect OpenWrt (LuCI URL + username + password (LuCI JSON-RPC, luci-mod-rpc)). 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 OpenWrt

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

  5. 5

    Verify

    We query OpenWrt'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 OpenWrt

  • Routers usually sit on a private network; we refuse private and internal addresses by design, so LuCI must be exposed publicly over HTTPS with a trusted certificate (ideally allow-listed to our egress IPs).
  • dnsmasq local records have no per-record TTL, so every record is reported and written with a fixed TTL of 300 seconds.
  • Records live in one flat list on the router, so a zone is simply the set of names under that domain; wildcard CNAMEs, null MX and null-target SRV records are not supported.

Access we need: LuCI logins are not scoped: the account can read and change the whole router configuration. We only touch dnsmasq host, CNAME, MX and SRV entries in /etc/config/dhcp.

Questions

Will there be downtime moving from Route 53 to OpenWrt?

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

Related migrations

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