R53 is set up but site still returns DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

Same problem for me, NS are correct, settings are correct, NS can be found, A record is set correctly, yet I get stuck with a "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN" error when opening the address/domain.

there are now 3 posts about this issue from today, seems like AWS has some problem going there...

Hi,

I don't know anything about the YouTube tutorial, but I did notice the following about your configuration:
~ You have two hosted zones named homs.com.my, created by two different accounts.
~ One hosted zone was created in December of 2018. The hosted zone ID starts with Z2DHA. The name servers for this hosted zone are the name servers that are associated with your domain registration.
~ The other hosted zone was created yesterday, March 5th, 2020. The hosted zone ID starts with Z2LZM. This hosted zone is not in use--the name servers are not associated with your domain registration. This hosted zone includes the alias records that I would expect to see for a configuration that is routing traffic to CloudFront.
~ The name servers in the hosted zone that you created yesterday aren't synchonized as they should be. The NS record has the name servers that are associated with your domain registration and with the other hosted zone, but Route 53 assigned a different set of four name servers to the new hosted zone. If you want to use the new hosted zone, you'll want to update the name servers in the NS record, but I don't recommend it. See below.
~ The hosted zone that was created yesterday includes an alias record for which the type is CNAME and the alias target is a CloudFront distribution. When you create a Route 53 alias record that routes traffic to a CloudFront distribution, you create a record with a type of A and, optionally, a second record with a type of AAAA. Here's the documentation about the Type field for an alias record:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/resource-record-sets-values-alias.html#rrsets-values-alias-type

The fastest way to fix this is to update the hosted zone that someone created in 2018 with the records that you created yesterday in the new hosted zone. If you update the domain registration to use the name servers for the new hosted zone, the change will take up to two days to take effect because some DNS resolvers have cached the names of your name servers.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the explanation. I do have a few follow-up questions:

• Where do you think the Dec 2018 is hosted? It is in exabytes?
• According to the client, the NS in exabytes is the same as the ones in the new zone, Z2LZM. And I think this has been done way before Thursday (See the attached file). So the DNS resolvers should have been updated, right?
• We do have a DNS Zone in LightSail, with the same NS. Is this the 2018 one? If so, do you have any tips on how we can either:

1. Use Apex address to map to the Cloudfront, OR
2. Preferably, redirect the apex address to www (https://homs.com.my to https://www.homs.com.my) ?

Thank you

Thanks again

Hi,

The hosted zone that was created in December of 2018 is another Route 53 hosted zone. Sorry, I don't understand the reference to "exabytes."

The name servers in the NS record for the newer hosted zone, Z2LZM, match the name servers for the domain registration. However, those are not the name servers that Route 53 assigned to the hosted zone, so DNS resolution is mostly going to fail. If you want to use the newer hosted zone, you'll need to update the name servers in the NS record to match the name servers that Route 53 assigned to the hosted zone, and you'll need to update the domain registration to use those same name servers. This will take up to two days to take effect.

If you decide to go that route, here's how you do it:

Here's how to fix that:

1. Get the name servers that Route 53 assigned to the hosted zone when you created it. See "Getting the Name Servers for a Public Hosted Zone" in the Route 53 Developer Guide:
   https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/GetInfoAboutHostedZone.html

2. Update the NS record to use the four name servers that you got in step 1. See "Editing Records":
   https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/resource-record-sets-editing.html

3. Update the domain registration to use the four name servers that you got in step 1. See "Adding or Changing Name Servers and Glue Records for a Domain":
   https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/domain-name-servers-glue-records.html

I don't know much about Lightsail, but I think their documentation explains how to use Route 53 as the DNS service for your Lightsail instance.

To route internet traffic from homs.com.my to www.homs.com.my, you can create a Route 53 alias record. Create the www record first, then create the record for the zone apex. For the alias target, choose the www record.

Scott

Hi Scott,

There are only 2 Hosted Zones that I can see, Z2LZM... and Z0891..., and I don't see Z2DHA... which is why I'm quite confused. I think the Z2DHA... is the DNS Zone in Lightsail created by my client to host the wordpress site at that time.

Anyway, I've somehow figured out how to do what I want to do using a workaround. So my next question is:

If I create a new Hosted Zone in R53, then update the NS in the domain registration (which is exabytes) to match with the ones in the new zone, will my site be inaccessible for 2 days until the new DNS record is updated?

Thanks

Hi,

The two Route 53 hosted zones that I'm talking about were created by two different AWS accounts. I have a Lightsail instance, and, if I recall correctly, creating that instance didn't create an additional Route 53 hosted zone in my account.

If you create a new hosted zone and you update the domain registration for your domain to use the new name servers, the amount of traffic that the domain is getting determines whether the domain becomes unavailable during the process. DNS resolvers cache the names of your name servers for two days, but if no one is accessing your website, then no DNS resolvers have cached those name servers. The Route 53 Developer Guide has an overview of how DNS works, including the part about resolver caching. See "How Amazon Route 53 Routes Traffic for Your Domain":

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/welcome-dns-service.html#welcome-dns-service-how-route-53-routes-traffic

There's also detailed information about how to make Route 53 the DNS service for your domain, and changing from one Route 53 hosted zone to another is essentially the same thing. We have separate processes depending on whether your domain is currently active. For more information, see "Making Amazon Route 53 the DNS Service for an Existing Domain":

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/migrate-dns-domain-in-use.html

Scott

I should have closed this earlier, but I think I found a workaround to solve this issue. Thanks