When you encounter a situation where your website is down and displaying DNS-related errors such as the name not being resolved or an IP cannot be found, it can be frustrating and concerning. However, there is a helpful approach you can take to investigate the issue. By reading the WHOIS results for your domain name, you can gain insights into its current status and address any potential problems related to its registration or configuration.
WHOIS provides information about your domain registrar, registration status, and contact details. Checking the WHOIS results allows you to understand the status of your domain from a technical perspective and identify any issues that might be causing the DNS errors, thereby helping you take appropriate action to resolve the problem and restore access to your website and emails.
The common error is DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
. However, Chrome may show ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED domain.tld's server IP address could not be found This site can’t be reached
.
Firefox will have the error We can’t connect to the server at domain.tld
.
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NOTE: These errors are the result of the browser being unable to look up an IP address to visit for a given domain name. There can be several root causes that result in this error. Investigate using the dig and whois commands.
- Replicate the error by confirming that you are unable to view the website in your browser
- Confirm that the issue is registration related, and not due to an issue with the hosting
- From a Linux command prompt, Mac Terminal, or WSL on Windows run the following command
dig domain.com
REPLACE: domain.com with the actual domain name. - Alternatively, you can check this from the Google Admin Toolbox: Dig or Dig web interface by simply inputting the domain in question and searching
TIP: If this is registration related, you will receiveNo Results
in the Answer section of the command output.
- From a Linux command prompt, Mac Terminal, or WSL on Windows run the following command
Check Domain
- From a Linux command prompt, Mac Terminal, or WSL on Windows run the following command
whois domain.com
REPLACE: domain.com with the actual domain name. - Alternatively, you can check this from ICANN, who.is, or Whois.com
- If the WHOIS check returns that the domain is not registered, reach out to our Billing team to assist with registering a new domain name, if needed
- Review the example below to understand the relevant parts of a whois search
EXAMPLE:whois domain.com
- From this output, you'll be checking a few key pieces of information.Registrar URL:
- Tells who the domain's registrar is. If Tucows, use the Provider Search to determine if Web Hosting Hub is the reseller.Registry Expiry Date:
- Shows domain expiration date.Domain Status:
- Depending on the registrar, different statuses may appear here indicating trouble with the domain registration. Some common domain statuses are listed next.OK
- There are no registration-related issues with the domain.Domain Status:clientDeleteProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
- A block of statuses similar to the one below, which indicates the domain's status is OK but locked at the registrar.ClientHold
- Indicates an issue with the domain registration and the registrar should be contacted. - If the domain is listed as clientHold and Web Hosting Hub is the registrar, please reach out to our Billing team to resolve the clientHold