Lifecycle cleanup reviews zones after their qualifying service or delegation changes. Begin in observation or notification mode, then enable removal only after the classifications match your retention policy. A DNS timeout is not proof that a domain has been abandoned.
IN THIS ARTICLE
01 Understand what can be removed
The current lifecycle service protects imported and legacy DNS by default. Automatic remote deletion is restricted to zones the onboarding service actually created, with current ownership and policy checks. Cleanup does not delete WHMCS domain registrations or hosting accounts.
Use this separation to preserve domains that still carry email, verification records or another active service. A cancelled hosting subscription does not establish that all DNS for the same name should disappear.
02 Review the policy first
- Open DNS Manager > Lifecycle cleanup and review the listed zones, origins, states and reasons.
- Configure the grace periods and retained deleted-zone period. The supplied controls accept positive day counts, and grace is measured from a recorded first observation.
- Start with notification-only behaviour. Run or schedule the scan and investigate the classifications without enabling remote removal.
- Use package protection and narrowly scoped policy overrides for zones that must remain. Record why an exception exists.
- After checking representative cases, enable actual cleanup using the explicit confirmation required by the screen.
How do I confirm that a zone is eligible for lifecycle cleanup?
Inspect the current WHMCS owner and qualifying items, rather than relying only on an old mirror row. Check whether the zone is imported, protected, locked by another operation or still associated with an active service. Review the timestamp and reason that started its grace period.
If the reason changes, do not treat an earlier unrelated observation as permission to remove the zone immediately. Nameserver and entitlement evidence can change while a customer is migrating.
03 Run and audit removal
A manual removal run requires its own confirmation when removal rules are active. Keep the queued job reference and inspect the outcome. Do not repeatedly run cleanup to force a protected zone through the safeguards.
Before final retirement, confirm backups and any deleted-zone recovery policy. Recovery depends on retained data and valid provider authority; it is not a guarantee that every deleted zone can always be recreated.
04 Keep support informed
Document grace periods and explain warning messages in your customer terms or service guidance. For a disputed cleanup, record the zone, customer, qualifying service, first-observation time and policy reason. Those details are more useful than a general report that DNS stopped working.