GOV.AZ (Government.az) is a special domain zone reserved for the naming of Internet information resources of state bodies.
According to the decision No. 91 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated March 31, 2006, the administration of the GOV.AZ domain, the registration of *.GOV.AZ subdomains, as well as the activity of the DNS of the GOV.AZ domain is carried out by the Special Communications and Information Security State Agency of the Special State Protection Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Domain registration in the GOV.az zone
The State Body to administer the domain name in the zone *gov.az to the Internet information resource t applies in written form to the Special State Protection Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AZ1066, Baku city, Lermontov street, 68) about the registration and use of the third-level *.GOV.AZ domain. At the same time, the state body must fill out the registration form for the domain name from the address in the specified link and send it to the executive body in electronic form. https://www.gov.az/domqeydiyyat.php
Administration of the domain is carried out only if both of the above-mentioned applications are submitted.
The subscriber body must inform the State Agency of Special Communication and Information Security of Special State Protection Service about (changing the name and structure of the organization, changing the address of the workplace, changing the responsible persons, unplag the AZSTANET network, etc.) the changes in the registration information of its subscribers in a timely manner.
Duration of domain administration
A decision on domain registration is made within 5 working days after both applications are received by the executive body and the employee of the requesting body (organization) determined by the respondent is informed about the decision.
Two or more applications for the same domain name
When two or more applications for registration of the same domain name are received on the same working day, the domain name is given to the institution that made the first application. Other authorities applying for the same domain are notified within 5 working days about the need to choose a new domain name.
Cancellation of domain name
*If the .GOV.AZ subdomain is not installed on DNS servers by the requesting authority within 30 days after registration, the registered domain is canceled. After that, the applicant body can re-apply for domain registration on general grounds.
The domain name may be revoked if the government agency refuses the domain name allocated to it through an official application.
If the rules of domain registration are regularly violated by the state body (subscriber), each member of the Coordination Council or GOV.AZ domain administrator can raise the issue of canceling the management of that subdomain by the owner body.
Defining a domain name
When determining the domain name, it is recommended to take the name of the requesting state authority as the basis. As a domain name, an abbreviated name of the organization or a word reflecting its activity should be chosen. The domain name should be short, memorable and consistent with international practice. Names in Azerbaijani and English languages can be chosen as domain names.
The Special State Protection Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan is not responsible for disputes that may arise in connection with the use of trademarks, property rights or names of other organizations by the applicant body during domain name registration.
When choosing a domain name, the following requirements must be met:
- The domain name must contain at least 3 letters;
- The address of the Internet information resource should not be too long;
- Combinations of letters and numbers should not be used in the address of the Internet information resource;
- The Internet information resources of the subordinate institutions of state bodies must use the low-level domain of the Internet information resource of the state body.
Restrictions on the AZSNET network
- Using the AZSNET network to carry out non-self commercial activities;
- Personal interests and goals, any kind of commercial advertising;
- Engaging in activities that may harm the security and national interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
- Engaging in activities prohibited by the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
- To connect information systems, communication networks and personal computers to the Internet, which constitute a state secret and contain restricted service information, as well as restricted access information.
"Whois" lookup – domain lookup service
Whois is translated from the English word "Who is". Whois is an open systems interoperability network protocol. The main purpose of the service is to allow users to check whether their domain names are in use and to obtain registration information about the domain administrator. *The search for domains for the GOV.az zone is conducted through the website https://www.gov.az. In the "Domain Information" section of the site, you can check the registration data of the web segment of the State Institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including whether the selected domains are already in use.
About the list of newly registered domains : Information is provided in the "Last 10 registered domains" section located in the "footer" on the right side of the https://www.gov.az web resource.
Detailed information on the classification of state institutions and information resources is provided in the central part of the first page of the web resource https://www.gov.az.
An explanation of DNS records
- Note A – used to connect the domain name to the IP address of the server;
- MX record - is the type of registration used for the Mail Service. It is used to connect the mail service of the domain to the IP address of the mail server;
- PTR record - Combines a host's IP address with a legitimate name. If the IP specified in the MX record does not have a PTR record, it will not be possible to receive mail sent to other mail services. PTR record contains IP addresses, TTL and hostname;
- SOA record - This record contains the full name of the domain, the name of the DNS server, the names of the zone administrators;
- SRV record - Specifies the port and protocol through which domain-specific services are received. The SRV font is used only when the Active Directory service is available;
- CNAME record - This record type is used to add multiple hostnames to a single IP address.
About the time to take effect (TTL) of DNS records
TTL – Specifies the cache refresh time specified for DNS servers.
Sample default TTL times for the above entries are shown below:
SOA - 86400 seconds
NS - 86400 seconds
A - 3600 seconds
MX - 3600 seconds
CNAME – 3600 seconds