Integrated messaging domain name setup

• US 20060101113A1
• Filed: 11/05/2004
• Published: 05/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, Kevin M., Lemson, David E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,464,136 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

The present invention provides for a configuration tool that during configuration of a message server assists a user in registering, transferring, maintaining a domain name and/or automatically configuring a message system in accordance therewith. The configuration tool guides the user through a series of inquiries, and based on the user input utilizes a list of registrars for registering a new domain name, configuring the system in accordance with an existing domain name, or transferring an existing domain name to a registrar within the list. The system then automatically configures the messaging server and other systems accordingly. Further, the system is configured to update a DNS for dynamic IP addresses corresponding to a domain name by periodically having the server send connection request to itself. This identifies when IP addresses associated with the domain name have changed, and thus the server may initiate the update of the DNS records.

Claims

1. In a messaging system, a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to a new domain name can be appropriately routed by utilizing a configuration tool that assists a user in registering the new domain name with a domain name registrar, the method comprising acts of:

receiving a user request to acquire a new domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

based on the top-level domain extension, retrieving a list of registrars capable of registering the new domain name;

receiving user input selecting a registrar from among the list of registrars for registering a desired domain name;

based on the selected registrar, automatically establishing a communication with the selected registrar'"'"'s signup process;

automatically determining an IP address corresponding to a message server, the IP address used for configuring records of a domain name server; and

sending at least the IP address and a unique user identifier to the registrar'"'"'s signup process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

using the unique user identifier for verifying that the user has appropriately obtained the desired domain name; and

upon verification, using the desired domain name for automatically configuring the message server.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s signup process assists in setting up a mail exchange (MX) record and an “

A”

record that points to the IP address, both of which reside on the domain name server.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the established communication launches a registrar'"'"'s signup website unique to the configuration tool, wherein the user inputs information including one or more of a billing address, desired domain name, payment information, user name or company name.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the act of verifying that the user has appropriately obtained the desired domain name further includes acts of:

receiving an indication that the user has finished using the registrar'"'"'s signup website;

connecting with the registrar for identifying the user by using the unique user identifier;

using a secret generated during the act of automatically establishing the communication for authenticating to the registrar; and

inquiring the registrar whether or not the user has appropriately obtained the desired domain name.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user did not appropriately obtain the desired domain name, and wherein the user is instructed to acquire a domain name before being able to proceed in configuration of the message server.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein a UI of the configuration tool is presented to the user that abstracts the user from the established communication with registrar'"'"'s signup process, the method further including the acts of:

receiving user input for configuring registration information including one or more of a billing address, the new domain name, payment information, user name or company name;

sending the registration information to the registrar'"'"'s setup process; and

based on the registration information, receiving an indication from the registrar for either the success or failure of the registrar'"'"'s signup process.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the new domain name is unavailable, the method further including the acts of:

receiving from the registrar a list of alternative domain names based on the new domain name;

presenting the list of alternative domain names to the user for selection;

receiving a user request selecting the desired domain name from the list of alternative domain names; and

sending the desired domain name to the registrar for completing the registrar'"'"'s signup process.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the desired name is the new name.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the list of registrars is retrieved from a centralized expandable database with a permanent URI such that the configuration tool does not need to be updated over time as changes are made to the list of registrars.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the list of registrars is in an XML format.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the top-level domain extension represents one or more of a commercial organization, an educational organization, a country code, a non-profit organization, a governmental organization, a military organization and a network provider.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein the message server is one of an email server or web server.

14. In a messaging system, a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to an existing domain name can be appropriately routed to a message server by utilizing a configuration tool for configuring the messaging system using an existing domain name, the method comprising acts of:

receiving a user request to use an existing domain name for configuring a message server, the existing domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

automatically determining that the existing domain name is maintained by a registrar within a list of registrars, each registrar in the list being capable of interacting with a configuration tool used in configuring the message server;

automatically establishing a communication with the registrar'"'"'s update process;

automatically determining an IP address corresponding to the message server, the IP address used for configuring records of a domain name server;

sending at least a unique user identifier and the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s update process; and

using the existing domain name for automatically configuring the message server.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein sending the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s update process assists in setting up a mail exchange (MX) record and an “

A”

record that points to the IP address, both of which reside on the domain name server.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the list of registrars is retrieved from a centralized expandable database with a permanent URI such that the configuration tool does not need to be updated over time as changes are made to the list of registrars.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the list of registrars is in an XML format.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the act of automatically determining that the existing domain name is maintained by a registrar within a list of registrars is determined by querying one or more registrars within the list of registrars.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more registrars that are queried are based on the top-level domain extension.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the top-level domain extension represents one or more of a commercial organization, an educational organization, a country code, a non-profit organization, a governmental organization, a military organization and a network provider.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the message server is one of an email server or web server.

22. In a messaging system, a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to an existing domain name can be appropriately routed to a message server by utilizing a configuration tool that assists a user in transferring registrars used to maintain the domain name, the method comprising acts of:

receiving a user request to use an existing domain name for configuring a message server, the existing domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

automatically determining that the existing domain name is not managed by a registrar within a list of registrars, each registrar within the list being capable of interacting with a configuration tool used in configuring the message server;

based on the top-level domain extension for the existing domain name, retrieving one or more registrars capable of maintaining the existing domain name from the list among the list of registrars;

receiving user input selecting a registrar from among the one or more registrars for transferring the existing domain name;

based on the selected registrar, automatically establishing a communication with the selected registrar'"'"'s transfer process;

automatically determining an IP address corresponding to the message server for configuring records of a domain name server;

sending at least a unique user identifier and the IP address to the selected registrar'"'"'s transfer process; and

indicating to the user that transfer of registrars has been initiated.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the acts of:

using the unique user identifier for verifying that the user has appropriately initiated the transfer of the existing domain name; and

upon verification, using the existing domain name for automatically configuring the message server.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein sending the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s transfer process assists in setting up a mail exchange (MX) record and an “

A”

record that points to the IP address, both of which reside on the domain name server.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the established communication launches a registrar'"'"'s transfer website unique to the configuration tool, wherein the user inputs information including one or more of a billing address, existing domain name to transfer, payment information, user name or company name.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the act of verifying that the user has appropriately initiated transfer of the existing domain name further includes acts of:

receiving an indication that the user has finished using the registrar'"'"'s transfer website; and

receiving an indication that at least a portion of the registration information was accepted.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the portion of the registration information accepted is payment information, and wherein the payment information is a credit card.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein a UI of the configuration tool is presented to the user that abstracts the user from the established communication with registrar'"'"'s transfer process, the method further including the acts of:

receiving user input for configuring registration information including one or more of a billing address, the existing domain name to be transferred, payment information, user name or company name;

sending the registration information to the registrar'"'"'s transfer process; and

based on the registration information, receiving an indication from the registrar that either the transfer process has been initiated or the transfer process failed.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the list of registrars is retrieved from a centralized expandable database with a permanent URI such that the configuration tool does not need to be updated over time as changes are made to the list of registrars.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the list of registrars is in an XML format.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the top-level domain extension represents one or more of a commercial organization, an educational organization, a country code, a non-profit organization, a governmental organization, a military organization and a network provider.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the message server is one of an email server or web server.

33. In a messaging system, a computer program product for implementing a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to a new domain name can be appropriately routed by utilizing a configuration tool that assists a user in registering the new domain name with a domain name registrar, the computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, can cause the messaging system to perform the following:

receive a user request to acquire a new domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

based on the top-level domain extension, retrieve a list of registrars capable of registering the new domain name;

receive user input selecting a registrar from among the list of registrars for registering a desired domain name;

based on the selected registrar, automatically establish a communication with the selected registrar'"'"'s signup process;

automatically determine an IP address corresponding to a message server, the IP address used for configuring records of a domain name server; and

send at least the IP address and a unique user identifier to the registrar'"'"'s signup process.

34. The computer program product of claim 33, further comprising computer executable instructions that can cause the messaging system to perform the following:

use the unique user identifier for verifying that the user has appropriately obtained the desired domain name; and

upon verification, use the desired domain name for automatically configuring the message server.

35. In a messaging system, a computer program product for implementing a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to an existing domain name can be appropriately routed to a message server by utilizing a configuration tool for configuring the messaging system using an existing domain name, the computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, can cause the messaging system to perform the following:

receive a user request to use an existing domain name for configuring a message server, the existing domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

automatically determine that the existing domain name is maintained by a registrar within a list of registrars, each registrar in the list being capable of interacting with a configuration tool used in configuring the message server;

automatically establish a communication with the registrar'"'"'s update process;

automatically determine an IP address corresponding to the message server, the IP address used for configuring records of a domain name server;

send at least a unique user identifier and the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s update process; and

use the existing domain name for automatically configuring the message server.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein sending the IP address to the registrar'"'"'s update process assists in setting up a mail exchange (MX) record and an “

A”

record that points to the IP address, both of which reside on the domain name server.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the list of registrars is retrieved from a centralized expandable database with a permanent URI such that the configuration tool does not need to be updated over time as changes are made to the list of registrars.

38. In a messaging system, a computer program product for implementing a method of automatically configuring system devices such that messages corresponding to an existing domain name can be appropriately routed to a message server by utilizing a configuration tool that assists a user in transferring registrars used to maintain the domain name, the computer program product comprising one or more computer readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, can cause the messaging system to perform the following:

receive a user request to use an existing domain name for configuring a message server, the existing domain name corresponding to a top-level domain extension;

automatically determine that the existing domain name is not managed by a registrar within a list of registrars, each registrar within the list being capable of interacting with a configuration tool used in configuring the message server;

based on the top-level domain extension for the existing domain name, retrieve one or more registrars capable of maintaining the existing domain name from the list among the list of registrars;

receive user input selecting a registrar from among the one or more registrars for transferring the existing domain name;

based on the selected registrar, automatically establish a communication with the selected registrar'"'"'s transfer process;

automatically determine an IP address corresponding to the message server for configuring records of a domain name server;

send at least a unique user identifier and the IP address to the selected registrar'"'"'s transfer process; and

indicate to the user that transfer of registrars has been initiated.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein a UI of the configuration tool is presented to the user that abstracts the user from the established communication with registrar'"'"'s transfer process, the computer program product further comprising computer executable instructions that can cause the messaging system to perform the following:

receive user input for configuring registration information including one or more of a billing address, the existing domain name to be transferred, payment information, user name or company name;

send the registration information to the registrar'"'"'s transfer process; and

based on the registration information, receive an indication from the registrar that either the transfer process has been initiated or the transfer process failed.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the list of registrars is retrieved from a centralized expandable database with a permanent URI such that the configuration tool does not need to be updated over time as changes are made to the list of registrars.