This guide details the monetization of domain names, generally carried out via domain parking while keeping the reseller's details hidden.

Domain parking

Domain parking is a technique that involves registering a domain name without immediately using it for a website.

Instead, the domain name is "parked" and typically displays a parking page with advertisements generated by an affiliate network.

The owner of the "parked" domain name can then earn money through these ads as a passive income source.

What if you are the visitor?

Be vigilant: some domain parking pages may resemble legitimate websites, which can cause confusion for users trying to access a particular website, and others may be infected with malware, which can be dangerous for users' cybersecurity.

This guide explains how to implement a DMARC policy for your email hosted by Infomaniak, an essential element to prevent potential delivery issues.

Preamble

• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is an essential tool for enhancing email security and protecting your domain against fraud by verifying the authenticity of outgoing emails (through authentication mechanisms such as SPF and DKIM) and allowing you to define policies for handling unauthenticated emails.
• DMARC is used to specify to other mail providers what they should do when they reject an email due to incorrect or missing SPF or DKIM.
• To do this, domain owners can define DMARC policies, such as "reject", "quarantine" or "none", to specify how these "suspicious" emails should be handled. Example:
  1. An email is sent from anna@domain.xyz to victor@yahoogle.abc.
  2. The Mail Service of domain.xyz contains a DMARC configuration of type reject at 100%.
  3. The Mail Service of yahoogle.abc is well secured and proceeds with the SPF/DKIM/DMARC analysis of the mail arriving from domain.xyz.
  4. If this analysis results in a failure of the SPF or DKIM, then the Mail Service of yahoogle.abc will reject (and therefore delete) the message.
  5. It will send a report by email if a report address is specified in the DMARC of domain.xyz.
     • These DMARC reports generated help you maintain and improve the security of your domain; you will thus be able to identify any authentication errors and phishing attempts using your domain.

DMARC policy and acceptance percentage

For the instructions that can be given to recipient servers when a suspicious message is detected, 3 policies (p = policy) exist and can be refined with a percentage (pct):

none

With "p=none", no email is rejected or quarantined based on DMARC verification. However, the percentage of reception can be used to collect data on unauthenticated emails, indicating how many of these emails should be subject to the DMARC policy. For example, "p=none; pct=10" means that 10% of unauthenticated emails will be subject to the DMARC policy, while the remaining 90% will be accepted.

quarantine

With "p=quarantine", unauthenticated emails may be placed in quarantine, but the reception percentage determines the proportion actually subject to this policy. For example, "p=quarantine; pct=50" means that 50% of unauthenticated emails will be placed in quarantine, while the remaining 50% will be accepted.

reject

With "p=reject", unauthenticated emails are rejected. The reception percentage determines the proportion of unauthenticated emails that will be effectively rejected. For example "p=reject; pct=20" means that 20% of unauthenticated emails will be rejected, while the remaining 80% will be accepted.

Create a DMARC record

There are 2 ways to manage DMARC.

If you have a Mail Service with Infomaniak, the easiest way is to go to the Global Security tool to manage your DMARC security policy and reports:

But since the DMARC record is a type of DNS record, typically of type TXT, you can also manage it from the DNS zone of the domain name:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the relevant product.
3. Click on DNS Zone in the left sidebar.
4. Click the button to add a record:
   
5. Click on the radio button DMARC to add a record.
6. Click on the Next button:
   
7. Leave (or add if necessary) the value _dmarc in the Source field.

8. The Target field must contain the parameters you wish to use, separated by ;:

   Tag Name	But	Example
   v	Protocol version	v=DMARC1
   pct	Percentage of messages subjected to filtering	pct=20
   ruf	Report URI for forensic reports	ruf=mailto:authfail@domain.xyz
   rua	Aggregate report URI	rua=mailto:aggrep@domain.xyz
   p	Policy for the organizational domain	p=quarantine
   sp	Policy for the subdomains of the organizational domain	sp=reject
   adkim	Alignment mode for DKIM	adkim=s
   aspf	Alignment mode for SPF	aspf=r

   This can result in for example v=DMARC1;p=reject;pct=100;rua=mailto:postmaster@dmarcdomain.com (source)

9. Leave the default value for the TTL.
10. Click on the Save: button
    

This guide explains how to use the Newsletter tool with an external domain name (not managed at Infomaniak).

Prerequisites

• The domain name must belong to you.
• Synonym domains and their primary domain cannot be used to send newsletters.
  • It is possible to set up your synonyms as aliases.

Link an external domain

To access the management of Newsletter sending domains:

1. Click here to access your product management on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. If you already have a Newsletter, click on Add a domain:
   
   • Otherwise, click on Start for free:
     
3. Select Other domain from the dropdown menu before entering (or enter directly) the domain name with which you want to send newsletters:
   
4. Click the blue Approve button.
5. Add the TXT / CNAME / DKIM records that you will receive by email and that are visible on the interface to your registrar by clicking the button:
   

This guide details the specifics related to expirations of domain names when they are transferred from one registrar to another.

Preamble

• The expiration dates of domain names refer to the period during which the owner of a domain name has paid for the registration of that name.
• It is crucial for domain name owners to carefully monitor expiration dates and renew their registration on time to avoid any service interruption or having to pay additional recovery fees.
   

Transferring a domain to Infomaniak

When a domain is transferred to Infomaniak, the new expiration date (the date until which the domain will be registered, valid and functional) after transfer will be the date…

• … already existing before transfer + 365 days minimum.
   

Example:

• Domain name with expiration date 01/12/2025 before transfer…
• Transfer takes place on 01/10/2025 for example (no importance or impact)…
• The expiration date becomes 01/12/2026 after transfer to Infomaniak (1 year is added after the transfer).

Exceptions depending on the domain extensions

Transfer policies and their effects on expiration dates may vary depending on the domain extension. Each domain extension (such as .com, .net, .org, etc.) is managed by a specific regulatory entity, and these may have different rules regarding transfers and expiration dates.

The rule described in the previous chapter does not apply to certain extensions for which the new expiration date after transfer will be the date…

• … already existing before transfer, without incrementation or change: .CH.
• … from the transfer date + 365 days minimum: .BE and .DE.

Domain name ownership transfers can also affect expiration dates. When a domain name is transferred from one owner to another, the expiration date may sometimes be changed according to the registrar's policies.

This guide explains how to convert a free Web Starter offer to a more complete and enhanced paid offer, such as a Web Hosting shared or a Web Hosting on Cloud Server.

Preamble

• By purchasing a domain name from Infomaniak, you get 1 free email address as well as a basic Web space of 10 MB.
• In just a few clicks, it is possible to upgrade these offers to enjoy an enhanced experience.

Modify the Starter Offer - Basic Web Page

To upgrade this free offer:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of the relevant item.
3. Click on Modify the offer:
    
   
    
4. Follow the assistant to select the new type of hosting, pay to complete the offer change.

This guide details the specifics of the .be domain extension (for Belgium), particularly the administrative steps to transfer management of a .be domain to Infomaniak.

Preamble

• As with other extensions, but particularly for .be, it is very important to keep the WHOIS contact details of your domain name up to date to avoid any suspension by DNS.be!

Transfer a .be domain to Infomaniak

Domains with the .be extension are subject to a specific procedure for their authorization code (EPP code). If your previous registrar provided you with an authorization code, it is likely that it is not valid. Indeed, to obtain the authorization code for a .be domain, you must either:

• click on "Get the authorization code" from the page asking for the code,
• or go to dnsbelgium.be and request the authorization code (EPP code).

You must absolutely not attempt to transfer the domain multiple times in a row with the wrong code, otherwise you will lock the domain and the transfer (Command failed; please contact support - domain locked‍) for several tens of hours without Infomaniak being able to do anything about it. You will have to wait before trying again with another code that must absolutely be the correct one.

Remove a .be from quarantine

Outside of a transfer period, and following outdated WHOIS information or suspicious use of your domain, it is possible that dnsbelgium.be the Belgian registry temporarily suspends this .be domain.

A standard WHOIS query will indicate "NOT AVAILABLE" but you will obtain the real status directly on their site, and in particular a date of availability before which you must absolutely follow one of the three possible outcomes:

1. resolve the issue with DNSBelgium and transfer the domain to Infomaniak,
2. resolve the issue with DNSBelgium and transfer the domain to another registrar (or to Infomaniak if the issue occurred with another registrar),
3. ignore the issue and wait for the availability date to try to re-register the domain (not recommended).

In the first two cases, you will need to obtain the end of quarantine as well as the authorization code from DNSBelgium. The operation of (re)registering the domain with Infomaniak is paid (around 100€/CHF), so it is important to keep the information up to date as the GTC specify.

Verification required

If you encounter this type of error in the WHOIS, on your site, or via an e-mail report:

• Verification required for domain.be
• This site can’t be reached Check if there is a typo in domain.be. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
• We only activate this domain name once the contact details of the domain name holder have been validated

… check and update your domain name information so that it works again.

This guide presents the DNS Diagnostic tool, which allows you to check that the relationships between…

• DOMAIN NAME at Infomaniak
  
  and
   
• WEB HOSTING at Infomaniak

… are correct, so that Web traffic goes to the right place.

Introduction

• To check, the tool verifies the A, CNAME records, etc.
• You will thus be able to detect and correct certain web issues, especially if they are related to DNS (technical information that, broadly speaking, determines where such and such web traffic should be directed) by acting at the level of your domain.
• Automatic correction is only possible when the domain name is present in the same Organization as the product to which it must be attached.
  • If this is not the case, then the correction will need to be done manually.

Diagnose a DNS issue

To access the DNS diagnostic for your domain name:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Click directly on the name assigned to the product in question.
3. Click on Web in the left sidebar.
4. Click on DNS Diagnostic in the left sidebar:
   
   • If DNS issues are detected, a red display on the table indicates this:
     1. Correct each error individually by clicking on the action menu ⋮ located to the right of the concerned element…
     2. … or all errors at once…
     3. … or, if necessary and you are sure, ignore these warnings.

Refer to this other guide regarding the same automatic verification process but for Mail Services.

This guide details the administrative steps to take to transfer management of a domain .lu to Infomaniak.

Transfer a .lu domain

The transfer of a .lu domain does not require a transfer code; instead, a validation email will be sent to the domain administrator (listed in the WHOIS information) to validate the transfer to Infomaniak.

The domain owner then has 15 days to validate the transfer, otherwise the transfer will fail.

Once the request is validated, the transfer is almost immediate.

This guide details the procedure to modify the WHOIS details of the owner of domain names, which you can apply to a whole batch of domains in your Organization with Infomaniak.

Change the details in bulk

To modify the WHOIS details of multiple domain names at once:

1. Click here to access the management of your product on the Infomaniak Manager (need help?).
2. Select the domains whose owner needs to be changed using the checkboxes.
3. Click on Change Owner at the bottom of the table:
   • Choose an existing contact record
   • or click the Add button to create a brand new contact record
4. Check your selection as well as any potential modification fees in the right-hand box.
5. Click on Validate.

This guide concerns the registration of domain names in .ngo or .ong with Infomaniak.

Registration validation

To order a .ngo or .ong, you must be a non-governmental organization; this means that registering a .ngo or .ong involves a verification process after the domain is registered.

You will receive an email (at the email address indicated in the WHOIS) containing a link to perform this verification. It is important to follow this process within 360 days of registration, otherwise your domain name will be rejected and deleted by the registry.

Note that the domain will only become active once this registration process is completed.