G_Hosa_Phat's questions

I'm probably just being dense about this, but I am trying to set up an ACME DNS server on my local network (publicly accessible) to handle the DNS-01 challenges required to automate the renewal/reissuing of Let's Encrypt SSL certificates for my domain. I believe I have the server itself operational, but I'm running into confusion/roadblocks when it comes to actually getting the DNS set up properly for the domain and its authorization subdomain.

Reading the documentation, it states that I need to add:

• NS record for auth.example.org pointing to auth.example.org (this means, that auth.example.org is responsible for any *.auth.example.org records)
• A record for auth.example.org pointing to 198.51.100.1

My domain is registered with GoDaddy, but the DNS is hosted elsewhere. I have set up the A record with the DNS host to point to my ACME DNS server (and have all the routing set up in my firewall to access it), but trying to get the NS record added/set up is proving to be quite a challenge. According to my DNS host, they can't simply add the NS record to the zone file b/c it causes an infinite loop of DNS lookups.

Current DNS query (auth.example.org. 86400 IN A 198.51.100.1):
Client -> query goes to Registrar Company (GoDaddy)-> GoDaddy delegated the zone to [MyDNSHost] -> [MyDNSHost] DNS servers display the A record 198.51.100.1

DNS query with NS record (auth.example.org. 86400 IN NS auth.example.org.):
Client -> query goes to Registrar Company (GoDaddy)-> GoDaddy delegated the zone to [MyDNSHost] -> [MyDNSHost] DNS servers delegates the subdomain to auth.example.org -> and then it returns to the beginning and loops infinitely

This makes sense to me, but I'm left wondering exactly what to do to take the next step. I logged into my GoDaddy account and went to the domain's DNS management page. I can add an NS record, but it's for the entire example.org domain, not just the auth.example.org subdomain.

I tried to "Add Forwarding" for the subdomain, but that lets me know that it's going to "automatically update the domain to GoDaddy default nameservers if it's not currently using [them]", which is not what I want.

The only things I can think to do at this point are:

1. Create a whole new zone for the auth.example.org subdomain with my current DNS host with the NS record pointing back to itself, but that seems like it's going to cause similar "looping" problems.
2. Try to get GoDaddy to add the subdomain without changing the name servers (or charging for another domain name).

I'm sure I'm just missing something, but I'm not sure what that "something" could be at this point. Before I go trying to make a bunch of changes that end up causing the DNS resolution for my domain to fail, I just want to know to whom I should be directing my efforts to get the required NS record created? GoDaddy or [MyDNSHost]?

I've deployed BGInfo from SysInternals to all of our servers, both physical and virtual. However, a few of our servers have multiple hostnames to support "backward compatibility" with some of our legacy software systems after a server was replaced or its functions were merged with another server. In some cases, this may include several "alternate" hostnames that go back several years.

EXAMPLE:

Alternate Hostname (original computer): NT-PROD
Alternate Hostname (files/services merged from a retired server): NT-DATA
Alternate Hostname (hardware failure = new computer): PRODUCTION-07
Current Computer Name (physical server migrated to virtual): PRODUCTION-21

Using the basic WMIC to get the computer name just returns the current name specified in the System Properties, while doing an NSLOOKUP on the server's IP address apparently does the same thing. Is there a way I can actively retrieve all the DNS hostnames to which this specific server will respond for inclusion in my BGInfo wallpaper?

I suppose I could create a text file (or something) that BGInfo could check for alternate hostnames, but I'm trying to make this as "idiot-proof" as possible so I don't forget to update/apply any future DNS changes, or accidentally overwrite something with incorrect information. I readily admit that I'm not "fluent" in PowerShell scripts or more complex WMIC queries, but I would guess that's where we're headed.