Making own nameserver

Antigd · January 5th, 2007, 2:04 AM

I have just purchased a domain name from surpassdomains.com and was hoping to direct it a private webserver I have.

I know there is the A {ADDRESS} but I would like to see if this actually works.

Im using a distrobution of linux running BIND. I think I made all the necessary edits to the configuration files and done all that correctly.

Question is, it usually takes up to 48 hours to update the DNS? Or how does it exactly go with a custom nameserver?

Thanks for any help.

JakeSee · January 5th, 2007, 6:40 PM

Because the nameservers are cached at various DNS servers around the world, when there is a change in the nameservers, the DNS servers won't know and they will reply with the outdated IPs.

Only after some time later e.g. 48 hours or some other TTL, then they will refresh the cache to query your domain again.

But if you are just adding a NEW A record, the change should be almost immediate because they query the same (name) servers for the new A record.

Antigd · January 5th, 2007, 11:59 PM

Is there any way to check to make sure the nameserver is up and everything is ok?

When I do a run an nslookup on my unix box on the domain, it gets a nameserver timeout...

I hate waiting and not knowing if it hasn't been updated or if its a problem on my end.

Antigd · January 6th, 2007, 12:32 AM

Crud, sorry for the double post, I was unable o find a way to edit my previous post.

As for the caching, it just caches the IP of the nameserver? Or does it have to cache any files made to the nameserver? If changes to any of the config files takes place, will I have to wait the cycle again to re-cache if the changes have done anything?

If that is the case, does anyone know of a bullet proof way of editing the nameserver so no errors are made lol?

**cowboy** · January 6th, 2007, 1:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antigd

Is there any way to check to make sure the nameserver is up and everything is ok?

You can add entries to your client machines HOSTS file. It will point directly to the IP# and if your nameserver is working correctly it will deliver your page. You can also add ftp and mail variations as well, ie.:

the.server.ip.number your.domain
the.server.ip.number www.your.domain
the.server.ip.number ftp.your.domain
the.server.ip.number mail.your.domain

after DNS has completed you can remove them.

This also makes an easy way to test new sites before you change nameserver information for a domain.

Antigd · January 6th, 2007, 1:57 AM

Hmmm, wow thats pretty clever.

Got a little problem doing that though. My webserver is on the same box as the nameserver.

But I tried it anyways and pointed my clients HOSTS file to point the domain at the nameservers IP, and I got the index page of my webhost (woot!).

But to make sure, I turned off my webserver, changed the nameserver's zone file to point it at google, and restarted it. To my dismay, I got a 404. So I'm guessing its my nameserver?

January 5th, 2007, 2:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Antigd Registered User Fresh Surpasser Joined in Apr 2005 4 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 0 times	Making own nameserver I have just purchased a domain name from surpassdomains.com and was hoping to direct it a private webserver I have. I know there is the A {ADDRESS} but I would like to see if this actually works. Im using a distrobution of linux running BIND. I think I made all the necessary edits to the configuration files and done all that correctly. Question is, it usually takes up to 48 hours to update the DNS? Or how does it exactly go with a custom nameserver? Thanks for any help.

January 5th, 2007, 6:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
JakeSee Registered User Comfy Contributor Joined in Jun 2005 Lives in Singapore Hosted on Pass15 120 posts Gave thanks: 2 Thanked 0 times	Because the nameservers are cached at various DNS servers around the world, when there is a change in the nameservers, the DNS servers won't know and they will reply with the outdated IPs. Only after some time later e.g. 48 hours or some other TTL, then they will refresh the cache to query your domain again. But if you are just adding a NEW A record, the change should be almost immediate because they query the same (name) servers for the new A record. __________________ Regards, Jake See Pass15: http://www.vuox.com Last edited by JakeSee; January 5th, 2007 at 6:41 PM..

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January 5th, 2007, 11:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
Antigd Registered User Fresh Surpasser Joined in Apr 2005 4 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 0 times	Is there any way to check to make sure the nameserver is up and everything is ok? When I do a run an nslookup on my unix box on the domain, it gets a nameserver timeout... I hate waiting and not knowing if it hasn't been updated or if its a problem on my end.

January 6th, 2007, 12:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
Antigd Registered User Fresh Surpasser Joined in Apr 2005 4 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 0 times	Crud, sorry for the double post, I was unable o find a way to edit my previous post. As for the caching, it just caches the IP of the nameserver? Or does it have to cache any files made to the nameserver? If changes to any of the config files takes place, will I have to wait the cycle again to re-cache if the changes have done anything? If that is the case, does anyone know of a bullet proof way of editing the nameserver so no errors are made lol?

January 6th, 2007, 1:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
Antigd Registered User Fresh Surpasser Joined in Apr 2005 4 posts Gave thanks: 0 Thanked 0 times	Hmmm, wow thats pretty clever. Got a little problem doing that though. My webserver is on the same box as the nameserver. But I tried it anyways and pointed my clients HOSTS file to point the domain at the nameservers IP, and I got the index page of my webhost (woot!). But to make sure, I turned off my webserver, changed the nameserver's zone file to point it at google, and restarted it. To my dismay, I got a 404. So I'm guessing its my nameserver?

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