Our app service domain was set to auto renew but did not renew as expected and expired 4 days ago.

Hello Kevin Brown,

**Thank you for submitting your question on Microsoft Q&A.

Auto-Renewal Failure: Key Insights**

The auto-renewal likely failed due to an issue with the domain verification process, as suggested by your Note 3 about the SSL certificate. Even when auto-renew is enabled in Azure, registrars like GoDaddy require periodic domain ownership verification. If this process stalls, as it did here, the SSL certificate won’t renew automatically, indicating a verification problem that prevents the domain from being renewed regardless of Azure’s renewal request.

Sequence of Events

1. Domain was registered through Azure.
2. Auto-renew was activated in the Azure portal.
3. SSL certificate failed to auto-renew weeks before expiration, signaling a verification issue.
4. The domain reached its expiration date (7/14/2025), and auto-renewal failed due to the verification problem.
5. GoDaddy sent a post-expiration notification to your contact email.
6. You manually renewed the domain, likely re-verifying ownership in the process.

Recommended Actions

1. Manually renew your SSL certificate now, ensuring domain verification is successful to avoid future renewal issues.

My primary concern is the domain not renewing and the notification of failure being several days after expiration and coming from a non-azure source that looked more like a scam then a legitimate renewal.

The SSL we got notified before expiration that it failed and "fixed" it immediately, that one was a bit of an annoyance but not the same level of concern as a domain renewal failing and not sending any notification until the 3rd party does after the domain already expired.

Thank you for your response, Kevin Brown.

This is a critical concern, and your observations are valid. The scenario you described missing a domain renewal due to delayed and unclear notifications, especially from sources that appear suspicious poses a real threat to your business and online presence. Compared to the SSL renewal process, where you received timely alerts and resolved the issue quickly, the gap in domain renewal communication is evident.

The main issues include:

• Delayed Notification: Notifications arriving days after expiration put your site at risk and limit your response time.
• Unreliable Notification Source: Messages from non-Azure sources that resemble scams undermine trust and can lead to missed or mishandled renewals.
• Lack of Advance Warning: Not receiving pre-expiration alerts for your domain, unlike the SSL certificate, is a major weakness.

To effectively mitigate these risks, I recommend the following actions:

1. Confirm Your Domain Registrar: Identify and verify the actual provider handling your domain registration.
2. Update Contact Information: Ensure your registrar account details are current to guarantee you receive renewal notifications.
3. Set Multiple Renewal Reminders: Take advantage of registrar options to schedule several alerts before expiration.
4. Enable Auto-Renewal: Activate auto-renewal to prevent accidental lapses if it suits your needs.
5. Clarify Azure’s Role: Understand Azure’s involvement and limitations in your domain management process.
6. Implement Internal Tracking: Establish a system for monitoring all domain and certificate renewals within your team.

Hi,

Since it seems you lost context between the original message and my follow-up, the issue is as follows.

• We have an Azure App Service Domain
• The domain in question was NEVER registered anywhere other than Azure. We registered the domain I believe 4 years ago specifically for use by azure services.
• We have an Azure App Service Certificate
• Both are set to Auto-Renew in Azure
• Both failed to Auto-Renew
• I did not complain about the SSL cert as there are minimal long term risks there and the messaging was appropriate even if the cause was suspect.
• We do not have a 3rd party registrar related to the domain that we have any access to.
• Azure should not need me to manually verify we own the App Service Domain when renewing the App Service Certificate.
• Azure should not need me to manually verify we own the App Service Domain when renewing the App Service Domain
• Azure should not fail to renew a domain because the SSL certificate did not renew as one of your responses seemed to indicate, while the cert relies on the domain, the domain does not rely on the cert.
• I can't think of any reason for a domain to not be able to pass an auto-renew other than a declined payment or legal issue. (not the case here)
• It is a major problem that Azure did not notify me of the failure to renew the App Service Domain through standard Azure messaging channels.
• It is an even bigger problem that we did not get any notification until after the expiration and it came from what appeared to be an unrelated 3rd party attempting to convince us to switch registrars (I THINK "wild west domains" or similar which I believe is a GoDaddy subsidiary that handles registrations for partners, in this case Azure. But I may not be remembering correctly as this is now nearly a month ago and I don't believe I'd saved the email)

I forgot to note. This instance of the issue has been resolved, we renewed both manually we are concerned about a significant flaw in how Azure handles domains registered through azure that could lead to serious security and operational concerns for our company if we continue to use Azure for domain registration if the flaw is not addressed by Microsoft.