Years ago I was a devoted InternetBS customer and used them my domain registrations. I’ve since moved to Porkbun because I think their interface is superior and they’ve been involved in our community.
I had a domain at InternetBS, and setup the transfer and then…discovered there’s 5-7 day wait to transfer out.
Here how it works on most registrars:
- On source registrar, unlock domain and get EPP code
- On target registrar, initiate transfer using EPP code, pay fee
- You then usually get an email to approve the transfer, and it’s gone
Often there’s a delay between 2 and 3…maybe a few hours. But that’s been a very typical experience for me over the years.
ICANN says that a registrar has 5-7 days to release a domain following step 2. But I’ve never had a registrar provide no easy way to transfer out early.
InternetBS Has Always Been This Way
Looking back in my email, I find that back in 2013 I ticketed in to manually approve a transfer, and they processed it immediately. In fact, I opened a ticket at 12:17pm, they replied at 3:02pm, and it was gone by 5:36pm.
It’s strange that it was entirely manual – indeed, other registrars automate away this very automatable procedure rather than pay humans to handle tickets. However, as their FAQ states:
Once the transfer is initiated, you can contact our support and request to approve the outgoing transfer. If you do not manually approve the transfer, it will complete automatically, but not for 5-7 days.
Unfortunately, what was 5 hours in 2013 get support to process the transfer manually is now 5 days+ in 2023. My experience:
- Opened a ticket immediately after transfer
- 5 days later still had not received a response
- tried to chat with them. Chat issue on day one (that can happen), but on day two the first agent said “it will be completed” and closed the chat, and the other said it was with the L2 team and they would respond, no firm ETA.
All in all, kind of lame.
But there is a way to transfer your domain immediately!
The trick is to use the API, and LowEndTalk member @Xrmaddness has just the script for you:
#!/bin/sh
KEY=""
SERVER="https://api.internet.bs"
ENDPOINT="/Domain/TransferAway/Approve"
PASSWORD=""
DOMAIN=""
URL="${SERVER}${ENDPOINT}?ApiKey=${KEY}&Password=${PASSWORD}&Domain=${DOMAIN}"
wget -O - "${URL}"
I tried it tonight it worked like the charm:
Resolving api.internet.bs (api.internet.bs)... 54.74.71.13 Connecting to api.internet.bs (api.internet.bs)|54.74.71.13|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Cookie coming from api.internet.bs attempted to set domain to internetbs.net Length: 79 [text/plain] Saving to: ‘STDOUT’ - 0%[ ] 0 --.-KB/s transactid=XXXXX status=SUCCESS - 100%[===================================>] 79 --.-KB/s in 0s 2023-03-17 19:48:57 (53.5 MB/s) - written to stdout [79/79]
Setting it Up
Let me save you some time in finding the API key and setting the password, as the InternetBS docs are out of date for the API key and not entirely clear for the password.
To find your API key: Login, and go to My Account->My Domains and you’ll find it shown, rather oddly, in the middle of the page.
To set your API password: Go to My Account->Account Security. On the left under “Change My Password” click “Change API Password”. For Current Password, if you haven’t set it up before, enter your InternetBS password.
Personally, I’m sunsetting the bull and consolidating on the pig.
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I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.
I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308
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1) Internet.bs now requires funds on the account to activate the API, and they email you the password (or you can reset it in the security settings area).
2) Internet.bs now allows approval in their web interface! You must activate 2FA (with google authenticator or another provider, they have three available). After activating 2FA, they have an “approve” button. And yes, it actually works. Transferred to Cloudflare instantly.
Which I would not have known had I not read your article, and begun the process of getting the API online, only to find out that “there’s a button now”. LOL. Thanks.