DNS errors Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent

Support
1

avowebworks.ca
The domain is working but with MX toolbox DNS check I now have errors:

ERROR:
Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent: dns1.p03.nsone.net
WARNING:
Local NS list does not match Parent NS list
Name Servers are on the Same Subnet
SOA Serial Number Format is Invalid

When I ahsed the chatbot ASK Netlify I get this answer:
The SOA (Start of Authority) record is a type of DNS record that contains information about a domain’s DNS zone. The SOA record includes a “serial number” field, which is used to track changes to the DNS zone.

The serial number in an SOA record should be in a specific format. If you’re seeing an error message that the “SOA Serial Number Format is Invalid”, it means that the serial number in your domain’s SOA record doesn’t match the expected format.

However, as a user of Netlify, you don’t have direct control over the SOA record of your domain. The SOA record is managed by Netlify (or NS1, which is the DNS provider that Netlify uses). An SOA record will already exist for a domain if you have delegated it to Netlify.

If you’re seeing an issue with the SOA record, it might be a good idea to reach out to Netlify support for further assistance. They can check the SOA record for your domain and help resolve any issues.

Could you have a look at these issues and help resolve them please?

Thank you

2

Hi, @avowebworks. If you want all of these reported issues fixed, you would need to stop using Netlify DNS entirely. However, you can ignore them all if you choose as well. I’ll explain what each one means and why it is being reported below.

Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent: dns1.p03.nsone.net

That report above is wrong and explain why it is wrong below.

Local NS list does not match Parent NS list

This is happening for the same reason as the error above. The two lists are in different orders. This is the name server list from the WHOIS data:

Name Server: dns1.p03.nsone.net
Name Server: dns2.p03.nsone.net
Name Server: dns3.p03.nsone.net
Name Server: dns4.p03.nsone.net

This is the list from the authoritative name servers for the ca top-level domain:

avowebworks.ca.		3600	IN	NS	dns2.p03.nsone.net.
avowebworks.ca.		3600	IN	NS	dns3.p03.nsone.net.
avowebworks.ca.		3600	IN	NS	dns1.p03.nsone.net.
avowebworks.ca.		3600	IN	NS	dns4.p03.nsone.net.

The lists are the same name servers but the WHOIS order is sequential (1 to 4) while the authoritative name server list is out of order (2, 3, 1, 4 instead of 1, 2 ,3 ,4).

If you want to fix this, you would do so at the registrar not at Netlify. The registrar controls this order not Netlify. However, you can ignore it as the reported errors are false and the two lists do match (just in different orders).

Name Servers are on the Same Subnet

This is true:

dns1.p03.nsone.net.	86400	IN	A	198.51.44.3
dns2.p03.nsone.net.	86400	IN	A	198.51.45.3
dns3.p03.nsone.net.	86400	IN	A	198.51.44.67
dns4.p03.nsone.net.	86400	IN	A	198.51.45.67

All IP addresses above are in this CIDR: 198.51.44.0/23 and that is one subnet. The only way to fix it is to stop using Netlify DNS entirely.

SOA Serial Number Format is Invalid

This is false because the format used is valid. The SOA record is using serial number that is a Unix timestamp:

avowebworks.ca.		3600	IN	SOA	dns1.p03.nsone.net. domains+netlify.netlify.com. 1663541500 43200 7200 1209600 3600

That timestamp is 1663541500 above and this is a valid format. The DNS checker wants a SOA record serial number in the format of YYYYMMDDHHSS which is also a valid timestamp. Both are valid but the DNS checker is incorrectly stating the unix timestamp is invalid. The unix timestamp is valid and the DNS checker itself is wrong here.

There is no way to change the format of this timestamp except to not use Netlify DNS but, again, that warning is wrong and can safely be ignore.

If there are questions about any of this, please let us know.