Email Interface

Last change on 2021-05-19 • Created on 2020-03-25 • ID: RO-73073

Introduction

You can use the Hetzner Registration Robot directly by using email templates or indirectly via the web interface. The web interface only serves as a graphic generator for standard emails. The following descriptions regarding the format of emails, therefore, also apply to the graphical user interface.

Basically, the Hetzner Registration Robot allows you to create handles in the WHOIS databases of DENIC, ABC, and nic.at. DENIC handles are required for the registration of .de domains. ABC handles are required for the top level domains .com, .org, .net, .info, .biz, and .eu. And nic.at handles are required for .at domains. People do not need to register a new handle for each domain. Instead, a person should use one handle for all domains associated with that person. It's possible to change the details of the handle at any time.

In addition, Robot makes it possible to administer nameserver entries. For registering a domain at a later stage, you need to have already configured both nameservers. Robot enables you to set up the primary and the secondary nameserver. However, it is also possible to only use the secondary nameserver, while operating the primary nameserver yourself.

Robot also manages the complete registration of domain names for you. And we at Hetzner directly register top level .de domains with DENIC eG. Please pay close attention to the following descriptions. Different instructions require different types of data and have different limitations.

General format of an instruction

Instructions must be PGP signed. First, you must store the public key with us.

You can also encrypt your instructions using our public key. You can find our public key on Robot by going to Administration-> Settings-> Public Key. Important note: You must also sign your encrypted instruction emails with your private key at the same time. We strongly recommend encryption for domain transfers (CHProv orders/KK orders) because you need Auth Code.

You don't need to provide any special information in the subject line; you are free to choose your own.

When Robot responds, it will attach your email instruction. You should not change the preset sequence of the fields in the instruction. You may include any number of comments on your instruction as long as you include these in extra lines and do not include any key words for instruction fields.

The email address for Robot is <robot@robot.first-ns.de>

You should use bold type for the information which you need to provide at the top of the email. You should use italics for comments and descriptions of the field content.

Handle administration

General notice

For specifying information in individual fields, the following apply:

  • For specifying a top level domain, you must use the keyword tld. In older versions of Robot, the keyword type was used along with it, which is now only used for specifying the type of handle.
  • The fields fname and lname only make sense with person handles. With company handles, you must ignore both of these fields; otherwise, the instruction cannot be processed. Exceptions to this are .biz/.eu/.info/.org handles. For these handles, you must provide the fields fname and lname, even if it is a company.
  • The field company must be in place for a person and for company handles. In this way, you specify the name of the company for company handles. With a person handle, you can use this field — except for .biz/.eu/.info/.org — to add a company to the first and last names. For person handles, you can also leave this field blank.
  • With the field country, you must specify the respective two-character country codes. You can find a list of all country codes at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1#Current_codes
  • Please enter telephone and fax numbers in international format (example: +499831610061).

URI template

The URI template implements RFC 6570 and has the following structure.

Email Address

If you want to save an email address with the request handle for contact information, you can do this by using the following syntax:

mailto:info@mydomain.de

Of course, you need to specify the correct email address here. In addition, you can also use this method:

mailto:info@mydomain.de?subject=Domain:{Ulabel}

In this case, <Domain:example.de> will be used in the email subject. And {Ulabel} will be used with the WHOIS-queried domain.

Website

If, for example, you want to save an online form for the contact address, you can use the following:

https://www.mydomain.de/contact

You can use the URI of your choice. You can use the following label if you want the WHOIS-queried domain to be transcribed:

https://www.mydomain.de/contact?domain={Ulabel}

Generating a handle

Person and company handle

The fields phone and fax are not required for .de handles, and you may omit them.

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: handle
task: new
tld: [DE/CN/ORG/INFO/BIZ/EU/AT]
type: [PERSON/ORG]
fname: First name
lname: Last name
company: Company name
address: Street and house number
pcode: Postal code
city: City
country: Two-character country code
phone: Telephone number (not for .de)
fax: Fax number (not for .de)
mail: Email address
handle: new

Request handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: handle
task: new
tld: DE
type: REQUEST
uri: URI Template
handle: new

Example instruction for a person handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hello Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: handle
task: new
tld: DE
type: PERSON
fname: Markus
lname: Examplelastname
company: Hetzner Online GmbH
address: Industriestrasse 25
pcode: 91710
city: Gunzenhausen
country: DE
phone: +4998315050
fax: +4998315053
mail: info@hetzner.com
handle: new
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Instruction example for a company handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: handle
task: new
tld: DE
type: ORG
company: Hetzner Online GmbH
address: Industriestrasse 25
pcode: 91710
city: Gunzenhausen
country: DE
phone: +4998315050
fax: +4998315053
mail: info@hetzner.com
handle: new
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Instruction example for a request handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: handle
task: new
tld: DE
type: REQUEST
uri: mailto:info@hetzner.de?subject=domain:{Ulabel}
handle: new
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Changing a handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: handle
task: upd
tld: [DE/CN/ORG/INFO/BIZ/EU/AT]
type: [PERSON/ORG/REQUEST]
fname: First name
lname: Last name
company: Company name
address: Street and house number
pcode: Postal code
city: City
country: Two-character country code
phone: Telephone number
fax: Fax number
mail: Email address
handle: Handle to be changed

Notes: The entries for the individual fields is similar here to the instruction entries for generating a handle. In addition, at the end, you need to enter the handle that you want to change: handle to be changed. You will not be able to change the first and last names of a person handle, and you will not be able to change the company name of a company handle.

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: handle
task: upd
tld: DE
type: PERSON
fname: Markus
lname: Examplelastname
company: Hetzner Online GmbH
address: Industriestrasse 25
pcode: 91710
city: Gunzenhausen
country: DE
phone: +4998315050
fax: +4998315053
mail: info@hetzner.com
handle: DENIC-168-robot-1
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Deleting a handle

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: handle
task: del
tld: [DE/CN/ORG/INFO/BIZ/EU/AT]
handle: Handle to be changed

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: handle
task: del
tld: DE
handle: DENIC-168-robot-1
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJU
ecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY=PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Domain administration

Domain registration

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: ; Client number
job: domain
task: new
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.(de|com|net|org|info|biz|eu|at|co.at|or.at))
holder: DENIC-, ABC- or nic.at-Handle of domain holder
holder: DENIC-Handle of 2. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 3. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 4. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 5. domain holder (optional)
adminc: ABC or nic.at-Handle of administrator (blank for .eu, not for .de)
techc: ABC or nic.at-Handle of tech. contact (blank for .eu, not for .de)
zonec: ABC or nic.at-Handle of zone administrator (blank for .eu and .at, not for .de)
generalc: DENIC-Handle for general requests (only for .de)
abusec: DENIC-Handle for abuse requests (only for.de)
ns1: Hostname of primary nameserver
ns2: Hostname of secondary nameserver
ns3: Hostname of 3. nameserver (optional)
ns4: Hostname of 4. nameserver (optional)
ns5: Hostname of 5. nameserver (optional)

Note: If you use the field holder more than once for .de domains, you should not enter the individual handles there more than once. If you enter the fields for adminc, techc, and zonec for .eu domains, they will be ignored.

Instruction example .de

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: new
domain: hetzner.de
holder: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-1
generalc: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
abusec: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
ns1: ns1.first-ns.de
ns2: robotns2.second-ns.de
ns3: robotns3.second-ns.com
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Instruction example .com

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: new
domain: hetzner.com
holder: P-XYZ0815
adminc: P-XYZ0815
techc: P-XYZ0815
zonec: P-XYZ0815
ns1: ns1.first-ns.de
ns2: robotns2.second-ns.de
ns3: robotns3.second-ns.com
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Changing a domain

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: domain
task: upd
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.(de|com|net|org|info|biz|eu|at|co.at|or.at))
holder: DENIC-, ABC- or nic.at-Handle of domain holder
holder: DENIC-Handle of 2. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 3. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 4. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-Handle of 5. domain holder (optional)
adminc: ABC or nic.at-Handle of administrator (blank for .eu, not for .de)
techc: ABC or nic.at-Handle of tech. contact (blank for .eu, not for .de)
zonec: ABC or nic.at-Handle of zone administrator (blank for .eu and .at, not for .de)
generalc: DENIC-Handle for general requests (only for .de)
abusec: DENIC-Handle for abuse requests (only for.de)
ns1: Hostname of primary nameserver
ns2: Hostname of secondary nameserver
ns3: Hostname of 3. nameserver (optional)
ns4: Hostname of 4. nameserver (optional)
ns5: Hostname of 5. nameserver (optional)

Note: If you use the field holder more than once for .de domains, you should not enter the individual handles there more than once.

Instruction example .de

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: upd
domain: hetzner.de
holder: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-1
generalc: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
abusec: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
ns1: ns1.first-ns.de
ns2: robotns2.second-ns.de
ns3: robotns3.second-ns.com
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Domain cancellation

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: domain
task: del
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.(de|com|net|org|info|biz|eu|at|co.at|or.at))

Notes: With .de, .com, and .net domains, the instruction to delete is forwarded immediately on to the registry. That means that a .de domain is cancelled immediately, and a .com or .net domain will be cancelled in 30 days. All other TLDs can only be cancelled at 30 days' notice to the end of the month. When Robot receives a cancel instruction for a .org, .info, .biz, .eu, or .at domain, Robot automatically determines the next possible cancellation date. This date is also quoted in the reply email.

For example: You send an instruction to cancel to Robot on 20 April 2011. Robot calculates the next possible cancellation date as 31 May 2011. On this day, we then send an instruction to delete the domain to the relevant registry.

Important note: The registry cannot delete the domain on this cancellation date. The domain will still be registered up to the expiry date.

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: del
domain: hetzner.de
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Domain Transit

(only possible for .de domains)

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: domain
task: transit
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.de)
disconnect: (no|yes)

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: transit
domain: hetzner.de
disconnect: no
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Starting ChProv Domain Transfer

(only possible for .de, .com, .net, .at domains)

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: domain
task: kk
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.(de|com|net|at))
holder: DENIC-, ABC- nic.at-Handle of domain holder
holder: DENIC-, ABC- nic.at-Handle of 2. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-, ABC- nic.at-Handle of 3. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-, ABC- nic.at-Handle of 4. domain holder (optional)
holder: DENIC-, ABC- nic.at-Handle of 5. domain holder (optional)
adminc: ABC- nic.at-Handle of administrator (not for .de)
techc: ABC- nic.at-Handle of technical contact (not for .de)
zonec: ABC- nic.at-Handle of zone administrator (not for .de)
generalc: DENIC-Handle for general requests (only for .de)
abusec: DENIC-Handle for abuse requests (only for .de)
ns1: Hostname of primary nameserver
ns2: Hostname of secondary nameserver
ns3: Hostname of 3. nameserver (optional)
ns4: Hostname of 4. nameserver (optional)
ns5: Hostname of 5. nameserver (optional)
authcode: ; Auth-Code der Domain (optional)

Note: The number of holder handles and the holder names for the handles must be consistent with the current domain information. If the holder information is still in the form as a description, you should only enter one holder handle. The holder name for that holder handle must match with the description.

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: kk
domain: kk-domain.de
holder: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-1
generalc: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
abusec: DENIC-168-Martin-Hetzner-2
ns1: ns1.first-ns.de
ns2: robotns2.second-ns.de
ns3: robotns3.second-ns.com
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Generating an Auth Code

(only possible for .de domains)

If you would like to move your .de domain to another provider using the new DENIC Change of Provider procedure, you can generate an Auth Code for your domain with this instruction. As soon as the Auth Code has been generated, you will receive an email from Robot. Then you can find the Auth Code on Robot by going to Domains in the menu and using the link view.

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!

user: Client number
job: domain
task: authcode
domain: Domain name ([a-zA-Z0-9-]{3,60}\.de)

Instruction example

From: robot-sender@hetzner.de
Subject: Hallo Robot!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

user: K9999999999
job: domain
task: authcode
domain: kk-domain.de
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
iD8DBQE9rV0v4BzTKoUUrgMRAvi4AKCtwzjMz8V/qJCwb1ZWAYBNDYHsTQCfXXJUecYFTMuXs24oXOj21rRVzEY==PTWh
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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