networking dns ai_generated true

NXDOMAIN: Host example.invalid not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

ID: networking/dns-nxdomain

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
90%Fix Rate
92%Confidence
70Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
any active — — —

Root Cause

The DNS server authoritatively responded that the queried domain name does not exist. Unlike SERVFAIL, this is a definitive answer: the domain is not registered, is misspelled, or the DNS zone does not contain the requested record.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 92% success Verify the domain name spelling and check if the DNS record exists 
    1. Double-check the hostname for typos
2. Query with dig: dig example.com A +trace
3. Check the authoritative nameservers: dig example.com NS
4. If it is a subdomain, verify the record exists in the zone: dig sub.example.com A @ns1.example.com
5. If the domain was recently registered, wait for propagation (up to 48h for new TLDs)
6. Check WHOIS for domain registration status: whois example.com
  2. 95% success Create the missing DNS record in the zone 
    1. Log into your DNS provider or zone management interface
2. Add the A/AAAA/CNAME record for the hostname
3. Verify the record was published: dig hostname @authoritative-ns
4. Wait for TTL expiry on caches that have cached the NXDOMAIN
5. Flush local DNS cache: sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches or sudo resolvectl flush-caches

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Switch to a different public DNS resolver expecting the domain to resolve 90% fail

    NXDOMAIN is an authoritative answer propagated by the domain's nameservers. All recursive resolvers will return the same NXDOMAIN because the record genuinely does not exist in the authoritative zone.

  2. Retry the query repeatedly hoping for a different result 95% fail

    NXDOMAIN is a definitive negative answer, often with a negative TTL. Retrying produces the same result until the domain is actually created or the record is added to the zone.

Error Chain

Leads to:
Preceded by:
Frequently confused with: