Note: this is a followup to an earlier question after further investigation.
The issue (so far) seems to be isolated to a Win2003 DNS server (though I haven't tried other server-types)
The questions is also (as of 2010-02-24) open as an MSDN Forum post here but I was hoping that somebody might be able to help test against other server-types.
I'm coming across a rather strange DNS problem (Server = Win2003)
I have already started investigating direct with my ISP, and we've come across a strange issue as listed below.
NOTE: These result Occasionally work somehow (Tests are best performed just after clearing the Win2003 DNS cache)
To start with, if we look at the nameserver records for wilmot.me.uk, we get:
>>> nslookup -q=cname mail.wilmot.me.uk
Non-authoritative answer:
wilmot.me.uk nameserver = primary-dns.co.uk
wilmot.me.uk nameserver = secondary-dns.co.uk
Now, there are two records in particular that are of interest.
>>> nslookup -q=cname mail.wilmot.me.uk
Non-authoritative answer:
mail.wilmot.me.uk canonical name = wilmot.me.uk.mail.aaisp.net.uk
>>> nslookup -q=cname mail2.wilmot.me.uk
Non-authoritative answer:
mail2.wilmot.me.uk canonical name = C.mail.aaisp.net.uk
Now the problem SEEMS to be that the local Windows 2003 DNS Server is not correctly following the CNAME data.
Using the following commands:
>>> nslookup -d2 -q=a mail.wilmot.me.uk.
>>> nslookup -d2 -q=a mail2.wilmot.me.uk.
we can see that:
mail.wilmot.me.uk returns an NXDOMAIN result
However:
mail.wilmot.me.uk returns a NOERROR result (as expected) with IP addresses.
It would APPEAR that the CNAMEs are not being correctly followed.
Oddly enough, both of the following return as expected.
>>> nslookup -q=a wilmot.me.uk.mail.aaisp.net.uk.
>>> nslookup -q=a C.mail.aaisp.net.uk.
If anyone can help shed any light on this (even by confirming "Yes it causes problems in xxx OS" or "Seems to work fine in yyy OS", that would be great.
The log-data below shows that the Win2003 doesn't even attmpt to resolve the wilmot.me.uk.mail.aaisp.net.uk.
CNAME in the first instance
DNS Server log file creation at 24/02/2010 15:07:34 UTC
Message logging key (for packets - other items use a subset of these fields):
Field # Information Values
------- ----------- ------
1 Date
2 Time
3 Thread ID
4 Context
5 Internal packet identifier
6 UDP/TCP indicator
7 Send/Receive indicator
8 Remote IP
9 Xid (hex)
10 Query/Response R = Response
blank = Query
11 Opcode Q = Standard Query
N = Notify
U = Update
? = Unknown
12 [ Flags (hex)
13 Flags (char codes) A = Authoritative Answer
T = Truncated Response
D = Recursion Desired
R = Recursion Available
14 ResponseCode ]
15 Question Type
16 Question Name
20100224 15:07:36 D80 EVENT The DNS server has started.
---
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 00F421D0 UDP Rcv 10.0.0.102 0001 Q [0001 D NOERROR] PTR (1)2(1)0(1)0(2)10(7)in-addr(4)arpa(0)
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 00F421D0 UDP Snd 10.0.0.102 0001 R Q [8085 A DR NOERROR] PTR (1)2(1)0(1)0(2)10(7)in-addr(4)arpa(0)
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 00F42C80 UDP Rcv 10.0.0.102 0002 Q [0001 D NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 02349AE0 UDP Snd 192.36.148.17 a992 Q [0000 NOERROR] NS (0)
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 02344000 UDP Snd 128.63.2.53 b3cb Q [0000 NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:45 5A4 PACKET 017E9FF0 UDP Rcv 192.36.148.17 a992 R Q [0084 A NOERROR] NS (0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 017C7430 UDP Rcv 128.63.2.53 b3cb R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 02344000 UDP Snd 195.66.240.130 4caf Q [0000 NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 01706E30 UDP Rcv 195.66.240.130 4caf R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 02349AE0 UDP Snd 156.154.102.3 c5a7 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 01CF9870 UDP Rcv 156.154.102.3 c5a7 R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 02349AE0 UDP Snd 81.187.30.41 afb9 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 00F76370 UDP Rcv 81.187.30.41 afb9 R Q [0084 A NOERROR] A (11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 02344000 UDP Snd 81.187.30.41 bc45 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 01C1C6D0 UDP Rcv 81.187.30.41 bc45 R Q [0384 A NXDOMAIN] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:46 5A4 PACKET 01C1C6D0 UDP Snd 10.0.0.102 0002 R Q [0384 A NXDOMAIN] A (4)mail(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
---
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 02343550 UDP Rcv 10.0.0.102 0001 Q [0001 D NOERROR] PTR (1)2(1)0(1)0(2)10(7)in-addr(4)arpa(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 02343550 UDP Snd 10.0.0.102 0001 R Q [8085 A DR NOERROR] PTR (1)2(1)0(1)0(2)10(7)in-addr(4)arpa(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F421D0 UDP Rcv 10.0.0.102 0002 Q [0001 D NOERROR] A (5)mail2(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F42C80 UDP Snd 81.187.30.41 42d0 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (5)mail2(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 02311E70 UDP Rcv 81.187.30.41 42d0 R Q [0084 A NOERROR] A (5)mail2(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F42C80 UDP Snd 194.83.244.131 8601 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 0179F2F0 UDP Rcv 81.187.81.33 8601 R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F42C80 UDP Snd 195.66.240.130 8601 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 0179FDA0 UDP Rcv 195.66.240.130 8601 R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 02349AE0 UDP Snd 194.83.244.131 3e6d Q [0000 NOERROR] A (4)auth(13)secondary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 01B36A50 UDP Rcv 81.187.81.32 3e6d R Q [0080 NOERROR] A (4)auth(13)secondary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 0234C590 UDP Snd 81.187.81.32 284a Q [0000 NOERROR] A (4)auth(11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 01E12130 UDP Rcv 81.187.81.32 284a R Q [0084 A NOERROR] A (4)auth(11)primary-dns(2)co(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F42C80 UDP Snd 81.187.30.42 f980 Q [0000 NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 020E0CF0 UDP Rcv 81.187.30.42 f980 R Q [0084 A NOERROR] A (1)C(4)mail(5)aaisp(3)net(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:49 5A4 PACKET 00F421D0 UDP Snd 10.0.0.102 0002 R Q [8081 DR NOERROR] A (5)mail2(6)wilmot(2)me(2)uk(0)
20100224 15:07:57 D80 EVENT The DNS server wrote version 567 of zone data-utilities.co.uk to file data-utilities.co.uk.dns.
---
Worked for me no problem on OS X 10.6:
Server 2003 DNS has been around a while, I kind of doubt there's an incompatibility but I guess it's possible. If there is one it's not an OS issue but an MS DNS <--> "Other DNS" server issue. The DNS server doesn't know/care about the OS of the requestor or the DNS server it's querying.
I think you're going to have to look at the DNS logs from your server and see if your ISP can review them with you and/or look at their own logs to see what they are returning to DNS queries for your domain.
Make sure you disable EDNS on the W2k3 box. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832223
I have seen a DNS server not resolve when DNS others do and usually it's a forwarding issue. In this case I do not have fwder's on my DNS and it fails for me but works when I change to an ISP's DNS server nearby. I would remove any forwarders if you have them setup on the DNS server in any case.
I tested from the US using my internal MS Server 2008 DNS, it fails consistently but with 2 different results:
Google DNS server resolves it fine:
Finally from a client's internal MS Server 2003 DNS I also got NXDomain:
*** oddjob.xyzassociates.com can't find mail.wilmot.me.uk: Non-existent domain
Hope that helps out a bit.
I don't believe that you'll find that anyone (regardless of OS) will experience this issue unless they query your internal dns server. For the sake of argument I tried and successfully resolved usind Mac 10.6, Ubuntu Server 9.10, Windows 7, and Windows XP from 4 different networks using three different DNS servers. They all resolved correctly.
I took a look at the other question you referenced and noticed that box2.data-utilities.co.uk does not resolve this domain.
Is there a chance that you don't have mail.wilmot.me.uk defined correctly on your local dns server and your local dns server is deferring incorrectly?
That appears to be the case since I'm seeing both NXDOMAIN and NOERROR referenced in your examples.
You've posted a lot of data so forgive me if I'm reading it incorrectly.
EDIT: One other thing, I believe that if your dns server provides the mapping for a domain name you'll get NOERROR. And if it hands it off to another server you'll get NXDOMAIN and then NOERROR from the final dns server.
Also, I'm running dns servers locally on Windows 2003, Windows 2008 and Ubuntu 9.10. We compare notes on Windows2003 dns if needed.