It is possible to register domain names with registration periods other than the current value of two years.

To find out more about MYRP, please view our webinar here.

The changes to registration systems are outlined below:

Overview

We have added three new fields to the automaton and EPP. The period field may take one of the values 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and represents the number of years that a domain name is registered or renewed for. The auto-period and next-period values are limited to 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and represent the number of years that a domain name will be renewed for.

• period - used in registration and renewal requests to set the number of years to register or renew a domain name for. 
• auto-period - may be set in registration or modification requests when auto-bill is set and represents the number of years that the domain name will be renewed for when an auto-bill renewal occurs. Note that this field is only used for auto-bill renewals.
  
• next-period - may be set in registration or modification requests when next-bill is set and represents the number of years that the domain name will be renewed for when a next-bill renewal occurs. Note that this field is only used for next-bill renewals.
  

If a registration period is not specified then a registration or renewal will be for the default period of two years.

Standard EPP

The updated EPP schema bundle for use with the multi-year registration period commands is available to download from our website here.

Registration requests 

The following request snippet sets the registration period to 1 year:

    ...
    <domain:create
     xmlns:domain="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0"
     xsi:schemaLocation="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0 domain-1.0.xsd">
      <domain:name>epp-example.co.uk</domain:name>
      <domain:period unit="y">1</domain:period>
      <domain:registrant>EXAMPLE123</domain:registrant>
      ... 

Renewal requests 

The following request snippet sets the registration period to 5 years on renewal

    ...
    <domain:renew      
      xmlns:domain="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0"
      xsi:schemaLocation="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0 domain-1.0.xsd">
      <domain:name>epp-example.co.uk</domain:name>
      <domain:curExpDate>2011-11-01</domain:curExpDate> 
      <domain:period unit="y">5</domain:period>
      ...

Alternatively, registration periods set in multiples of 12 months may also be used for registration and renewal requests. For example:

   ...
    <domain:renew
     xmlns:domain="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0"
     xsi:schemaLocation="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:domain-1.0 domain-1.0.xsd">
      <domain:name>epp-example.co.uk</domain:name>
      <domain:curExpDate>2011-11-01</domain:curExpDate>
      <domain:period unit="m">36</domain:period>
      ...

Setting auto-period and next-period fields

The auto-period and next-period fields may be set at the same time as the auto-bill and next-bill fields respectively using the domain-nom-ext-1.2 extensions. In the following example, an extension to the <domain:create> command, the domain name is set up on registration to renew 5 days before expiry for 6 years.

 

     ...
     <extension>
        <domain-ext:create 
         xmlns:domain-ext="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/domain-nom-ext-1.2"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/domain-nom-ext-1.2
 	 domain-nom-ext-1.2.xsd">
           <domain-ext:auto-bill>5</domain-ext:auto-bill>
	   <domain-ext:auto-period>6</domain-ext:auto-period>
        </domain-ext:create>
     </extension>
     ...

In this example, an extension to the <domain:update> command, the domain name is set up to renew 1 day before expiry for 1 year. 

     ...
     <extension>
        <domain-ext:update 
         xmlns:domain-ext="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/domain-nom-ext-1.2"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/domain-nom-ext-1.2 
 	 domain-nom-ext-1.2.xsd">
           <domain-ext:auto-bill>1</domain-ext:auto-bill>
           <domain-ext:auto-period>1</domain-ext:auto-period>
        </domain-ext:update>
     </extension>
     ...

Automaton

Registration requests

By including the period field in a registration request, the registration period may be set to a value other than two years. The following snippet sets the registration period to 3 years.

...
period: 3y
...

Renewal requests

The period for a renewal request may be set in the same way.

Registration periods set in multiples of 12 months may also be used for both registration and renewal requests:

...
period: 48m
...

We have also extended the renewal request so that the current expiry date for a domain can be specified as part of the request:

...
current-expiry: 20120629
...

If the current expiry date in the request is wrong then the renewal request will fail.

Setting auto-period and next-period

When auto-bill and next-bill are set in registration and modification requests, the auto-period and next-period fields respectively to set the number of years that the domain will renew for.

In the following example, the domain name is set to renew 6 days before expiry for 5 years.

auto-bill: 6
auto-period: 5

Nominet EPP

The updated EPP schema bundle for use with the multi-year registration period commands is available to download from our website here.

The period field in the nom-domain- schemas may be used to set the registration period for a new domain name on registration and renewal.

The auto-period and next-period fields may be set in registration and modification requests using the nom-domain-2.2 schemas.

In the nom-domain-2.2 schema the renew operation now requires the current expiry date to be specified, matching Standard EPP:

    ...
    <domain:renew      
      xmlns:domain="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/nom-domain-2.2"
      xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.nominet.org.uk/epp/xml/nom-domain-2.2 nom-domain-2.2.xsd">
      <domain:name>epp-example.co.uk</domain:name>
      <domain:curExpDate>2011-11-01</domain:curExpDate> 
      <domain:period unit="y">5</domain:period>
      ...

WHOIS output

The ‘Relevant Dates’ section of the WHOIS output will change to show the domain’s Expiry Date rather than its Renewal Date.

Relevant dates:
         Registered on: DD-MMM-YYYY
         Expiry date:   DD-MMM-YYYY
         Last updated:  DD-MMM-YYYY

The number of WHOIS domain registration status statements will be reduced from 7 to 3 leaving:

• Registered until expiry date
• Renewal required (for domains that have expired)
• Registration not required (this is the status when the 'do not renew' option is selected)

Registration status:
         Registered until expiry date.

Registration status:
         Renewal required.

Registration status:
         Registration not required.