Do DNS records update automatically when you add a domain you own to a Netlify site?

[technicaltidbits]

I bought a custom domain for my site (“Site A”) through Netlify.

Then I built a new website (“Site B”) and I like it better than the first site. So I decided I want the domain to point to Site B now, not Site A. I removed the domain from Site A and added it to Site B, but when I go to the domain, I still go to Site A.

Should I wait until tomorrow for the changes to take effect? I’m very new to all this.

(I’d prefer not to share my URL here as my website has personal information)

ETA: I just found out that I can only see the new site in a private window.

[gregraven]

@technicaltidbits Welcome to the Netlify community. If you can see your site in a private window, you are probably experiencing a local caching issue.

And by the way, if you have private information, one of the last places you want to put it is on the Internet in a web page. Just saying.

[technicaltidbits]

@gregraven In the hours since posting this I realized that I probably worded this wrong. I have my first name and a link to my Twitter account on my page, that’s all.

How do I address the caching issue?

[gregraven]

You’ll have to clear your browser cache for starters. If you’re on VPN, that might have a cache, too.

[technicaltidbits]

I’ve done that with Firefox but I still see the old site. I asked someone else to view my site and they still see the old site, too. They have to do a force reload to pull up the new site.

I noticed that the DNS record’s value for my domain still points to the Netlify subdomain for Site A…could this be the issue?

[technicaltidbits]

This is what I see

reverent-joliot-7af216.netlify.app is the Netlify subdomain for site A. I thought this would update once I removed the domain from Site A and added it to Site B

[gregraven]

So I’m clear, technicaltidbits.net is your custom domain name?

It used to point to a Netlify subdomain that was NOT reverent-joliot-etc?

You now want it to point to reverent-joliot-…?

The Netlify DNS servers for reverent-joliot-… are dns1.p08.nsone.net and etc?

These Netlify DNS servers are different from what you had previously set for your custom domain?

[technicaltidbits]

Yes, technicaltidbits.net is my custom domain name.

I want it to point to awesome-benz-5a350b.netlify.app. This is the subdomain for Site B, the site that I want the custom domain to point to.

reverent-joliot…is the subdomain for Site A, the site that I no longer want the custom domain to point to.

[gregraven]

Have you tried deleting everything and starting over? It seems you could also have simply put the new files in the existing Netlify subdomain, but presumably you have a reason for not doing that.

[technicaltidbits]

Nope, but I think I will.

I didn’t know how to put the new files in the subdomain; like I said, still learning about all this. Thanks for your help though

[jen]

Thanks for chiming in, @gregraven!

@technicaltidbits, did you get things figured out? Just so you know (and there’s really no way you would know this without us telling you), the NETLIFY record that was pointing to your old subdomain did change to point to the new subdomain. It’s a confusing thing in our UI that the value you see stays as the first subdomain you set it to.

In the future, if you want to verify which custom domain a Netlify subdomain is pointing to, you can usually:

1. Navigate to the Netlify subdomain URL, so awesome-benz... in this case
2. Open the dev console > “Network” tab > first request > “Response” headers
3. Check the link header in your dev console:
   
   

But also please always feel free to drop in here and ask questions!

[technicaltidbits]

@jen Thank you so much for responding.

Still have one problem though. When I visit https://technicaltidbits.net, I see this:

But when I visit https://www.technicaltidbits.net, I see the new site:

Any reason for this?

[jen]

That is weird! Could you please send an x-nf-request-id?

[luke]

Hi, @technicaltidbits, I also get a 301 redirect for technicaltidbits.net (no www) when I test:

$ curl -svo /dev/null https://technicaltidbits.net/  2>&1 | egrep '< (HTTP/|location)'
< HTTP/2 301
< location: https://www.technicaltidbits.net/

Is it possible that the previous site there installed a service worker for that domain? If so, you might need to delete the service worker from your local browser to resolve this.

If that isn’t the issue, as Jen mentioned before, the x-nf-request-id header would be helpful for us to troubleshoot further.

[technicaltidbits]

@jen @luke This is the x-nf-request-id I see when I visit https://technicaltidbits.net: 19d9eaae-68cf-4277-833c-0b3230442daf-361783.

[technicaltidbits]

@luke I did delete the service worker for this domain and it loaded the new site for technicaltidbits.net! Not sure if this means the problem’s totally resolved now though…

[luke]

Hi, @technicaltidbits, the x-nf-request-id of 19d9eaae-68cf-4277-833c-0b3230442daf-361783 specific to an HTTP request which occurred on Mon May 11 21:44:54 UTC 2020.

If you were still seeing that x-nf-request-id after that date, it must have come from the service worker.

I’m glad to learn it is working now though. If there are other questions about this, please let us know.