Is Change Domain Name" function a good idea for domain admins who may be tempted to test it just because it’s there?
How to remove it from the Admin menu?
But what if they in fact change their domain name?
Then they can ask me to create a new one.
I have had a few people want to have a shorter version of their long domain name, or to refresh their brand a bit, but they always wanted to keep the old one - websites already listed in search engines, email addresses in use and on stationery etc.
However, I have had 2 clients ask me to modify a domain name and they didn’t realise that the new name had to be registered and delegated before anything else could happen.
We also have an issue is that .com.au and .net.au domain names have to be derived from the business name and not as an abbreviation, There are also rules around getting .asn.au and .org.au , so you can’t just expect to change your domain name very easily.
I would also be a bit freaked if a domain on my server suddenly vanished and a completely new one - even if the names were related, suddenly was in it’s place.
Perhaps it’s a common thing elsewhere?
That sort of defeats the purpose of being your own admin, doesn’t it? Frankly, if I didn’t have the ability to add or change domain names, I wouldn’t use the service at all.
Add and change are two completely different things.
For me at least, the Manager is usually the web developer initially, they they hand it over to the business owner or appointed staff member - they are the people that I would worry about. Also small business owners that are so used to doing every thing on their own, people that keep trying to improve their WordPress site by injecting HTML code instead of using the proper tools.
In your case, you would probably be the server owner / manager, and would need and use those capabilities.
Just out of curiousity, how many of your clients have used the Change Domain Name feature without at least discussing it with you fist?
I have three friends that use my server. I don’t micromanage a thing. They do whatever they want with it. If they need help or break something, I help them fix it.
If you want to micromanage your clients that pay to use your service, that’s entire your right. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t pay for a service that I had no control over and had to go running to somebody just to change a domain name.
In fact, I can’t think of any service on earth that operates that way.
So, client decides to rename their domain from whatever.com.au to whatever.com and all of a sudden loses contact with the domain as they hadn’t both bought the new name and delegated it to my server. "Who they gonna call? "
I do have a play server that I let one of my web developer friends play with, it’s so easy to revert to previous snapshot if it gets in a tangle, but my production server with over 40 business clients on it, I guard that as much as I can.
Different approach for different situations. Keep in mind too, that the people that might stuff it up are usually the people that will try to blame anybody else.
I have been hosting for over 20 years and have never had a client want to replace a working domain name with a new one and lose their old website and email addresses. At the very least they would still want the old website to redirect to the new one and the old email addresses to also be redirected - which means the old domain still needs to be functional.
So yeah, how can I disable it on my server?
You. It’s called “customer support”. That is how every web hosting service on earth that I am aware of operates.
But it’s your call if you want to limit your customers by micromanaging what they can and cannot do. I think you can disable that by creating a new default server template. I’ll look and see if I can find it.
EDIT: Found it.
If the default account plan, you can change whether or not they can change the domain name.
My point is that they will need assistance just as your mates do if they mess it up.
I would rather prevent a disaster before it happens, though there is a temptation to see who might be silly enough to use it! 
I was hoping to just remove it from domain Admin rather than from the system, but as I doubt that I will ever need to use it, I can do it that way for now. Thanks.
That does not remove it from the system. It’s in Account Plans, which obviously does not apply to root. It’s for your domain owner users.
For what it’s worth – which may or may not be of use to @Joe and the Virtualmin folks – I agree with @Randomz here. The only time a user of mine has used this feature I had to go back and fix what they broke. I would much rather they come to me first so that I can “micromanage” their stupidity in advance where it will take much less (unpaid) time and effort, and result in a better educated user.
If you don’t want users to have it, disable it! Everything is configurable.
Thanks Joe, I just checked.
This thread didn’t go the way I expected – years ago I tried the “rename domain (virtual server)” and something failed… I ended up having to edit config files with vim…
But, I understand both locking it down and opening it up… the problem with me is CHARGING… it’s a terrible character trait (especially for a business owner) but I hate to charge, hate to bill, hate to send invoices, HATE IT… but, I love to help, love to consult, love the challenge of solving a problem… love networking and protocols and BSD sockets (I digress) so I’ve ended up helping for FREE so many MANY times…
I keep saying I should quit web hosting… but… I enjoy it… so (slowly) over the last 3-4 years I’ve dropped all the clients that were having a hard time paying… only keeping those who didn’t complain when I billed them… I know, I should see a therapist…
Much the same here!
I tested it too, but changed it to a domain that I didn’t have registered so it wasn’t ever going to work, but then I changed it back again and it was like it had never happened, so I have to admit that once again I am in awe of the amazing programming happening here.
I have still turned it off though. 
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