Website not staying online

[nathhenry3]

I am currently seeing my site up and running about 70% of the time. I have tested it on multiple devices (phones and desktops included) on multiple networks. It’s a static site with a single form - caddysdrainage.nz. On several occasions it has worked on one device but not another at the same time.

Any ideas as to what sort of diagnostics I could run? I don’t think it’s an issue with my domain provider, which is separate (1stdomains.nz).

Thanks!

[perry]

hey there,

this is the site i am seeing:

when the site doesn’t load, are you seeing any error messages at all? can you describe in more detail what happens when the site doesn’t load?

[nathhenry3]

I think most messages have been along the lines of ‘DNS server not responding’, and the message comes up instantly. So it could be a domain issue, but I know that 1stdomains.nz is using Netlify’s name servers (i.e. *..nsone.net). I will keep checking and update you if I find other messages.

Thanks for your help!

[perry]

do you mind sharing a screenshot or similar with your full dns setup? it does indeed sound like something to do with that.

You shouldn’t really be seeing those kind of errors if everything is configured correctly

[nathhenry3]

I’ve attached two screenshots - one from Netlify and one from 1stdomains. Is this what you were after?

Thanks again

[luke]

Hi, @nathhenry3, I am showing Netlify DNS configuration active and working at this time.

Did the errors stop for you as well? If so, the issue could have been the previous DNS configuration still being seen by some services due to the time to live (TTL) values in previous DNS records (not the new NS records for the Netlify DNS):

[Common Issue] How do time to live (TTL) values affect changes to DNS records?

How do time to live (TTL) values affect changes to DNS records? People often ask why the changes to DNS (Domain Name System) records are not taking effect. The answer to this often involves a core mechanism of how DNS functions - the “time to live” (TTL) values for the DNS records themselves. This topic is here to answer those questions! You might make a DNS record change, double check that it is working for you, but Netlify or Google’s DNS still shows the previous DNS record. Why don’t …

If there are other question or if you still see any issues, please let us know.

[nathhenry3]

Unfortunately the errors have been occurring randomly on different devices for over a week now, so I don’t think it is a TTL issue. On occasion the website takes a long time to load also - around 20-30 seconds on a broadband connection.

It has been observed working on one device but not another on the same network simultaneously, multiple times. Normally it fixes itself after a few hours but then goes out again after a few hours. I currently cannot access it on either my phone or PC - Chrome’s error message is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN - the server IP address cannot be found.

[luke]

Hi, @nathhenry3, it sounds like there are two issues - slow page loads and the site not working due to DNS issue.

It is the DNS issue that I want to address first. My preferred troubleshooting tool for DNS issues is a command line tool named dig. There is a guide to accessing it on several types of operating systems here:

https://help.dyn.com/how-to-use-binds-dig-tool/

When the site is unavailable, a DNS looking using dig with the +trace option would be helpful. The issue here is that I need this output from an affected system, not from my own system where the issue cannot be reproduced.

Here is what I see currently:

$ dig www.caddysdrainage.nz +trace

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> www.caddysdrainage.nz +trace
;; global options: +cmd
.			86685	IN	NS	m.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	b.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	c.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	d.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	e.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	f.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	g.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	h.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	i.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	a.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	j.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	k.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	NS	l.root-servers.net.
.			86685	IN	RRSIG	NS 8 0 518400 20200404050000 20200322040000 33853 . jgVIb7r5J7foy9t3A+luueg5AjUm6ExkpigGoj5TTP9VIGn3cU+WXuFQ aQk8PvOWWKgsQ7P5zjoZ5d+bKzB4bV6xZ+T9QeXsC/thGY6UL1q6GAZt pyuhRX0Ka8pt9ufg4n5mnRWOObC25YidvMDuw0c/ZteO07qCeQ7krE3L CDXxSyxX18gZUvYg2c+VEXlfywBckDrUIo8WCK2Qlp266AyYW67o1f5z awhMO+E9kEdJm3NHyag/lyzQrMGh79NCqIWV/bGkfQb9ZUEX+8fcI5RB t/hJ6d/Gsvy/BLNlIThNtysnTw9NOLnBKtXWpu6qxInBQErMZY2iaPgF x7Hzjw==
;; Received 525 bytes from 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8) in 17 ms

nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns7.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns6.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns1.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns3.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns2.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns5.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns4.dns.net.nz.
nz.			86400	IN	DS	5029 8 1 483115A784FA8CF8C8910D7A19B66949B42F67EA
nz.			86400	IN	DS	5029 8 2 983251E9BB3309C81B075E44C0A1DDFD0A10057FF1E3A4C4CD014372 A673A644
nz.			86400	IN	DS	45320 8 1 BB940C35D63821617ADFC8A3A9CF3D859AF3C202
nz.			86400	IN	DS	45320 8 2 2921EABC7D5EF803F53135974E30D2F3C970156A7553782F737CAE99 6AA5F90A
nz.			86400	IN	RRSIG	DS 8 1 86400 20200404170000 20200322160000 33853 . D9SIPd3OdB1fcBWLRh0Wb9fZmCkMDAAHFsEYn7rTo9apR0ZyrNEfr1c1 uJZFdRTRBNKiHstDJMit0SHVA0fSOVCIrLXzbyJuWAsLr7rkq6v2EdHY WgD3QUeFZCR3nHfa0J5GqKRCA6akUGsQwZjXku/MTESW+swGJ6FHH6Ph e5rUcXFsNMR5SuOAeT/OtleXTNg1KXYVG7lJhoe8TTiVVOSIlge348PP OvYEOXF0Av3BJ+vLBsIAKf4sn2EUICZPQeaj+Xj9ZoI1KQG+Cz8otjOb novgdC6Iu50oFopqw1A08+DMmzAesqvKkG6e/ACWA5LMW5E2RDAXg1+K V2ihjA==
;; Received 947 bytes from 192.33.4.12#53(c.root-servers.net) in 42 ms

caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns1.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns2.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns3.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns4.p07.nsone.net.
a0n9p70cfqsttp8p7nuha5oua810bo30.nz. 3600 IN NSEC3 1 1 5 9C0F8EDB20238F6D A2ONBQ8IRIGNF138RJ0VU393D9F34AQ4  NS SOA RRSIG DNSKEY NSEC3PARAM
20okro9463p36q3tmil5qtoqq39cpnt3.nz. 3600 IN NSEC3 1 1 5 9C0F8EDB20238F6D 258VN9SVPO273SOFDE30B3QC6VGKLEFD  NS DS RRSIG
a0n9p70cfqsttp8p7nuha5oua810bo30.nz. 3600 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 3600 20200330164820 20200322092628 40813 nz. daVUg4LPyoHZ9+7RKqlKMFt9r9iz9bJUE6ClnwA6LPpdkHm81jond6rw jl2OUaPwUPNhuFYsjb2WG060pl+bO+l35nPRl6ojL/UPSFUZ/ZIgthYj cpsJRfkrWbpbxfkno0rDQpCVFPUmkOzPEvZiKFk9zZcj9WBWVDlwyZ9b AKI=
20okro9463p36q3tmil5qtoqq39cpnt3.nz. 3600 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 3600 20200331072008 20200322092628 40813 nz. IJ0YOk7BVqdtqwXy7AC1PGoreBfNjM8L5vcF3mzYdzNiNqZsB6ITX+os nSxMKc0HFMYAVFwE98bC8KGpMkPhvIsMi//ZYzWarX5kCQPOKnDdbUXD saCBr4SUCf/lga+8dwLCxWiJXPbFOWyzSQkgT8z3xDJez/tes66Oq8IO HSY=
;; Received 638 bytes from 185.159.197.130#53(ns5.dns.net.nz) in 40 ms

www.caddysdrainage.nz.	20	IN	A	104.248.78.23
;; Received 66 bytes from 198.51.44.71#53(dns3.p07.nsone.net) in 18 ms

Walking that through in steps, it show my query going to a Google DNS server (8.8.8.8) and getting a list of the the top-level DNS servers, that is this response here.

My system then queried one of those root servers (c.root-servers.net) was given a list of the name servers for all domain end in nz. My system then queried one of those name servers (ns5.dns.net.nz) and was give a list of name servers for all domains ending in caddysdrainage.nz. Those are the same name servers as found in the Netlify DNS configuration for this domain.

Finally, one of those name servers is queried (dns3.p07.nsone.net) and I get back an IP address of 104.248.78.23 which is for a Netlify ADN/CDN node closest to me geographically.

Would you please run this same query on a local system when error is occurring? The query is this one:

dig www.caddysdrainage.nz +trace

Would you also then please post the results here?

The output of the traced lookup will (usually) highlight exactly where the failure is occurring. If it does, we can narrow the troubleshooting to get this issue resolved.

[nathhenry3]

Hi Luke, thanks for your help. I have an update: the site may be fixed after I added another CNAME record explicitly for ‘caddysdrainage.nz’, and not just for ‘www.caddysdrainage.nz’. See attached screenshot.

So far the site has been up 100% of the time we’ve tested it, but obviously no negatives does not necessarily mean it’s perfect. Could this be the reason the site was down around 50% of the time?

In any case, I tried the dig trace. Here’s my output (I had to specify one of the root-DNS servers as I thinky my OS uses an unbound DNS sever):

dig www.caddysdrainage.nz +trace @a.root-servers.net

; <<>> DiG 9.11.3-1ubuntu1.11-Ubuntu <<>> www.caddysdrainage.nz +trace @a.root-servers.net
;; global options: +cmd
.			518400	IN	NS	a.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	b.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	c.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	d.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	e.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	f.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	g.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	h.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	i.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	j.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	k.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	l.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	NS	m.root-servers.net.
.			518400	IN	RRSIG	NS 8 0 518400 20200405170000 20200323160000 33853 . bkUX17nWiSfp9gDS4AFHPwd4468tGKA6sjEy2/3GW7nRGqCyAaXnJXmU a+zOVIbPLIBNoGY4vt0580bYQuKR5+KygXXujXqiJ4rF1PqfSFPrGm0A /Jhsl63ndZfFLJxdvkEWN2vBKndeXgIg2lP2dUukItRrkkpOK2E3ayBm eFBJfMgPo7cmcPhultOhLO1s/sYPRzpmBBEGLpKzeRmfJlq3ZXdgpDjy 2a6g5j0HE8CATGY5aGvak6pPGdQF2wVKDti2pqpX23WFLK59QGclDimD MVlrZQfSgG1cBTDjoPdrtZAkdB9aK0cBd21TaTpmmWbrPBCXC9h/cb9s k5XVCA==
;; Received 1097 bytes from 2001:503:ba3e::2:30#53(a.root-servers.net) in 208 ms

nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns1.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns5.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns4.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns3.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns6.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns2.dns.net.nz.
nz.			172800	IN	NS	ns7.dns.net.nz.
nz.			86400	IN	DS	5029 8 1 483115A784FA8CF8C8910D7A19B66949B42F67EA
nz.			86400	IN	DS	45320 8 1 BB940C35D63821617ADFC8A3A9CF3D859AF3C202
nz.			86400	IN	DS	45320 8 2 2921EABC7D5EF803F53135974E30D2F3C970156A7553782F737CAE99 6AA5F90A
nz.			86400	IN	DS	5029 8 2 983251E9BB3309C81B075E44C0A1DDFD0A10057FF1E3A4C4CD014372 A673A644
nz.			86400	IN	RRSIG	DS 8 1 86400 20200405170000 20200323160000 33853 . w7Ho7bOQX2RJIrDogyF7gwrTDB4OGtj/IRx9B49pqr788co2OTvQN/NY ThxSea3DugcOLjzNM2JqjQNGtzc7wrEhh/nhXuCVQk8QR4u3AKCxaN0A XTjum/3zewl8ai8oilG3K1nAswTChXkGq9dCPaq8fk/ZB/DA9ZR7ky44 amA159waqvTOm2/RMlw39E27B8QNeETF231NOibbebPaTYA/aFC5rGXM pb+QGKQo3hUyDU2urD6wOoeRf6xxWCp5wmbwDVQ+rQ7fHzDmTgPdaO3X PVbsaYugqKjKVC0tPSaE/+XA2sF95NR007LXoztI1xT2SKQuoEWgortu scQ6BQ==
;; Received 947 bytes from 2001:503:ba3e::2:30#53(a.root-servers.net) in 245 ms

caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns3.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns1.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns2.p07.nsone.net.
caddysdrainage.nz.	86400	IN	NS	dns4.p07.nsone.net.
a0n9p70cfqsttp8p7nuha5oua810bo30.nz. 3600 IN NSEC3 1 1 5 9C0F8EDB20238F6D A2ONBQ8IRIGNF138RJ0VU393D9F34AQ4  NS SOA RRSIG DNSKEY NSEC3PARAM
a0n9p70cfqsttp8p7nuha5oua810bo30.nz. 3600 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 3600 20200330164820 20200322092628 40813 nz. daVUg4LPyoHZ9+7RKqlKMFt9r9iz9bJUE6ClnwA6LPpdkHm81jond6rw jl2OUaPwUPNhuFYsjb2WG060pl+bO+l35nPRl6ojL/UPSFUZ/ZIgthYj cpsJRfkrWbpbxfkno0rDQpCVFPUmkOzPEvZiKFk9zZcj9WBWVDlwyZ9b AKI=
20okro9463p36q3tmil5qtoqq39cpnt3.nz. 3600 IN NSEC3 1 1 5 9C0F8EDB20238F6D 258VN9SVPO273SOFDE30B3QC6VGKLEFD  NS DS RRSIG
20okro9463p36q3tmil5qtoqq39cpnt3.nz. 3600 IN RRSIG NSEC3 8 2 3600 20200331072008 20200322092628 40813 nz. IJ0YOk7BVqdtqwXy7AC1PGoreBfNjM8L5vcF3mzYdzNiNqZsB6ITX+os nSxMKc0HFMYAVFwE98bC8KGpMkPhvIsMi//ZYzWarX5kCQPOKnDdbUXD saCBr4SUCf/lga+8dwLCxWiJXPbFOWyzSQkgT8z3xDJez/tes66Oq8IO HSY=
;; Received 668 bytes from 194.146.106.54#53(ns7.dns.net.nz) in 33 ms

www.caddysdrainage.nz.	20	IN	A	54.206.19.82
;; Received 66 bytes from 198.51.44.7#53(dns1.p07.nsone.net) in 34 ms

Thanks very much!