SOA records

[Nate Campi]

On Sat, Feb 02, 2002 at 08:53:19PM -0800, Andy Townhill wrote:
> 
> If I have a primary name server that has had the serial number in the SOA
> record changed to 2002012301 after an A record
> has been modified, can anyone give a reason(s) why a tertiary name server
> will still show an old SOA serial number (in fact
> a very old number). The DNS records therefore made in the primary are not
> being reflected in the tertiary, which is a bit of
> a pain - so any ideas would be appreciated.

Andy,

It's generally a good idea to share the domain name and DNS servers you
need help with, often we can nail down the trouble right away.

If the nameserver that's not updating has a serial number higher than
2002012301, it will not transfer the zone. Check the logs. If it's not
that, try to transfer the zone from the master (when logged into the
slave) using dig or nslookup. If you can - check the BIND config on the
slave, check the logs. If you can't transfer the zone, see if you can 
query the master for info it's authoritative for (SOA of the zone in
question is fine). If you can query it successfully but not transfer the
zone, check to make sure you allow transfers from the master to that
slave. By default BIND doesn't restrict zone transfers, but your master
may be more restrictive by configuration.

TCP traffic to your nameserver might be restricted too, don't forget to
check that if your BIND config looks correct on both servers.

Also notice the recurring advice: check your logs. More often than not,
BIND will tell you what's wrong, you just have to listen ;)
-- 
Duties: hostmaster at lycos.com & root at wired.com

Hardware /nm./: the part of the computer that you can kick. 
 
Pencil and paper /n./: an archaic information storage and transmission
device that works by depositing smears of graphite on bleached wood
pulp. More recent developments in paper-based technology include
improved `write-once' update devices which use tiny rolling heads
similar to mouse balls to deposit colored pigment. All these devices
require an operator skilled at so-called 'handwriting' technique.
   - From the Jargon File.