I am having problems with either bind or httpd on my machine using virtualmin pro. The machine is running on Fedora Core 3.
It will sometimes fail to load a page if www is included in the URL, and then all of a sudden it will work, and then it starts failing without the www.
I have tried to fix this over and over.
I am lost!!! Are these domains and httpd.conf setting up right?
thanks,
Howard
Hey Howard,
Sounds like a DNS problem.
First off, see what the world thinks your DNS servers are using whois:
whois domain.tld
Look for the section labeled "Domain servers in listed order:"
Then find out if both of those are responding quickly and accurately for your www.domain.tld:
host www.domain.tld ip.of.first.ns
host www.domain.tld ip.of.second.ns
If both of those respond quickly and correctly…then we’ll need to dig a bit deeper, but I bet one of those will fail. Then you’ll just have to solve the DNS problem. We can help you do that once we establish what’s going on exactly.
I tried that and got a quick reply. With the lines as follows:
Using domain server:
Name: 65.111.170.155
Address: 65.111.170.155#53
Aliases:
I assume the #53 is the DNS port. The world is seeing the name server as ns.helvawebhost.com and ns1.helvawebhost.com, which is right.
Hey Howard,
You should have one more line on that output, which is the key to whether the query actually worked or not:
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ host virtualmin.com 70.86.4.238
Using domain server:
Name: 70.86.4.238
Address: 70.86.4.238#53
Aliases:
virtualmin.com has address 70.86.4.238
That last line is where we get our answer–all of the other stuff is identifying the name server. A wrong answer will look like:
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ host notvirtualmin.com 70.86.4.238
Using domain server:
Name: 70.86.4.238
Address: 70.86.4.238#53
Aliases:
Host notvirtualmin.com not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
But it’ll also be quick. 
Like this?
Using domain server:
Name: 65.111.170.155
Address: 65.111.170.155#53
Aliases:
www.texasfrightmareweekend.com has address 65.111.171.250
Is it possible to use the same ip address for both nameservers? Or does it HAVE to be a different IP address. Plus, if the other IP is on the same machine is that a huge issue?
Yep. That’s what we’re looking for.
Ok, so DNS is not to blame. On to other possibilities.
Are there any errors in the error_log in the domain owners ~/logs directory when problems occur?
Any errors in /var/log/httpd/error_log?
Anything funny looking in the kernel log (I’m grasping a bit, as I can’t think of many causes for the symptoms you’re seeing) that might indicate memory or NIC hardware problems? (Kernel log can be seen using the command “dmesg”)
In his logs file I see nothing other than some bad links like robot.txt and some missing files he linked to from other sites.
In the kernel log, I see nothing but boot messages. All things look like it found a mouse, it set up eth0 etc.
Does this matter from the httpd error log?
Cannot find module (NET-SNMP-EXTEND-MIB): At line 0 in (none)
Nope, that error (along with about a dozen others that surround it) is a PHP bug, but it’s harmless.
But, I’ve found your problem:
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ whois texasfrightmareweekend.com
…
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.FREEDOM-HALL.NET
NS.FREEDOM-HALL.NET
…
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ host texasfrightmareweekend.com NS1.FREEDOM-HALL.NET
host: couldn’t get address for ‘NS1.FREEDOM-HALL.NET’: not found
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ host texasfrightmareweekend.com NS.FREEDOM-HALL.NET
host: couldn’t get address for ‘NS.FREEDOM-HALL.NET’: not found
Your nameservers for this domain don’t resolve:
[[virtualmin@www public_html]]$ host NS1.FREEDOM-HALL.NET
Host NS1.FREEDOM-HALL.NET not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
You’ve either gotta make those ns1 and ns names resolve on freedom-hall.net, or you’ve gotta update your registrar to point somewhere else for this domain.
Actually that domain is a bad example.
Except for him, (and I have others doing the same) everybody is on ns.helvawebhost.com and ns1.helvawebhost.com
This is what I get from whois for helvawebhost.net
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.HELVAWEBHOST.COM
NS1.HELVAWEBHOST.COM
[[root@sp4691 howard]]# host helvawebhost.net ns.helvawebhost.com
Using domain server:
Name: ns.helvawebhost.com
Address: 65.111.170.155#53
Aliases:
helvawebhost.net has address 65.111.171.248
host helvawebhost.net ns1.helvawebhost.com host: couldn’t get address for ‘ns1.helvawebhost.com’: not found
ns1 I defined in the bind server utilities as 65.111.171.250
It is appropriately named at godaddy, the registrar. I just changed from 65.111.170.155 which is still the same NIC card, but I thought maybe it wasn’t working due to a repeat of the same IP. Excuse my ignorance but I am new to this.
If you want to pop into my server let me know, and I will email you the info. I don’t use the default port for virtualmin.
Thanks