When you have the desired domain name for your organisation or business website, there are two (2) steps you need to take.
Firstly, is to check the availability of the domain name before proceeding to register for the domain name. The .ng domain name has five (5) stages and they are:
- Available
- Active
- Expired
- Redemption Period
- Pending Deletion
The system that indicates these stages of a domain name status is known as the Extensible Provisioning Protocol Domain Status Codes.
These domain status codes are particularly important, as they help to organise the domain name system and ensure the security of domain names.
The Extensible Provisioning status code, apart from indicating the status of a domain name, the alpha-numeric code is also required to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another registrar. The EPP Code also known as Authorisation Key or Transfer Secret Key can be viewed by anyone to take action.
EPP status codes are generated by the current registrar and verified through the global registries, such as the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as well as the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), for validity.
Authorization (EPP) keys are a security code required by the registry for domain transfer, and thus are unique to every domain name. Hence, no two authorization keys are the same. If you are transferring more than one EPP domain, you will need to obtain each domain’s specific code separately for security reasons.
EPP code helps domain name users to protect their domain names from being transferred illegally. The EPP code is required when the need to transfer a domain from one registrar to another arises. If your EPP Key is requested by anyone other than your accredited registrar, it is essential to validate the request.
There are two types of EPP status codes which are:
- Server status codes and
- Client status codes
Server status codes are set up by the domain registries and they take precedence over the client codes. Client status codes are set by registrars. Some registrars automatically enact certain status codes when you register a domain name, while others do so on demand.
A way to find out your .ng EPP or domain’s status code is by running a ‘Who is lookup’, which can be done by visiting https://whois.nic.net.ng or www.register.ng. Your domain’s EPP status codes surface in the search results.
Conclusively, registrants need to understand what Extensible Provisioning status codes mean, as it would help them know if their domain name is expired and about to face deletion and or transfer.
Would you like to know why your website domain name suddenly stopped working? Before you contact your registrars, you can easily confirm your domain name status with the help of an Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) Domain Status Code.
This tool would also let you know when your domain name is facing legal charges.
Credit:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en