This site can’t be reached / DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

hackerkatt

Hello,

I hope someone can shed some light on my issue, I'm at my wits end and ether need a sanity check or consider my first dance with Vivaldi a failure. To be clear, I'm not having this issue with Chrome or Firefox.

My problem: For a specific URL I enter www.<thetargetsite>.com and get an error page; This is not a constant issue for every URL I try, only this one domain. So I, of course, figured it's a DNS resolution issue.

Full disclosure, the "BAD" url is one that I had set up as a test in migrating a website from GoDaddy to a DigitalOcean Droplet. I first copied the website over and set up a temp DNS entry site.test.mydomain.com in my DNS Zone (@Cloudflare). I verified that the site was reachable and fully functional, not counting the SSL cert or course. Removed the temp DNS entry on my domain's DNS Zone management. Switched to GoDaddy and changed the DNS entry to point to the DigitalOcean Droplet. And the hilarity ensued.

This site can’t be reached

Check if there is a typo in site.test.mydomain.com.

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

When I enter www.<thetargetsite>.com I get the error page. Sometimes, but not always, the URL in the address bar changes to the wrong URL in the error, and sometimes it does not, leaving what I typed. I gave plenty of time for any DNS caching to clear.

I use linux as my daily driver (last 18 years). I run PiHole w/ Unbound (x2) via two Proxmox servers in my home network. I use a Mikrotik CCR as my edge router (years working with in WISP networks).

My router does not accept DNS requests, have any Cached Static entries nor do I have any NAT Rules that forces a redirect to some other DNS Server

Steps I've taken:

Flushed DNS on both of my local dns servers. Since I've disabled systemd-resolved on my workstation, there is no dns caching on my local machine to flush
Commented out my local DNS entries in my /etc/resolv.conf and point only to 1.1.1.1 for testing
Ensured I haven't missed a DNS A or CNAME record entry for the domain/target url. (I manage the dns zone at GoDaddy for the <thetargetsite>.com domain)
Cleared ALL cookies and cache in Vivaldi
Closed all tabs in Vivaldi, closed and restarted Vivaldi
Rebooted my workstation

What does Cloudflare resolve to? My default DNS that is set in /etc/resolv.conf

nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com
Server:         1.1.1.1
Address:        1.1.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
www.<thetargetsite>.com        canonical name = <thetargetsite>.com.
Name:   <thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

ALL GOOD!

What does Google DNS resolve to if I specifically point to Google to resolve?

dig @8.8.8.8 www.<thetargetsite>.com

tonyd@deepthot:~$ dig @8.8.8.8 www.<thetargetsite>.com

; <<>> DiG 9.18.1-1ubuntu1.3-Ubuntu <<>> @8.8.8.8 www.<thetargetsite>.com
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 17200
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.<thtargetsite>.com.              IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.<thetargetsite>.com.       1800    IN      CNAME  <thetargetsite>.com.
<thetargetsite>.com.           10800   IN      A       160.153.xx.xx

;; Query time: 48 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Sun Feb 12 11:04:37 MST 2023
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 75

ALL GOOD!

for good measure & clearity, my local dns

dig @10.0.2.11 www.<thetargetsite>.com

tonyd@deepthot:~$ dig @10.0.2.11 www.<thetargetsite>.com

; <<>> DiG 9.18.1-1ubuntu1.3-Ubuntu <<>> @10.0.2.11 www.<thetargetsite>.com
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 32761
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.<thetargetsite>.com.              IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.<thetargetsite>.com.       1773    IN      CNAME  <thetargetsite>.com.
<thetargetsite>.com           10773   IN      A       160.153.xx.xx

;; Query time: 4 msec
;; SERVER: 10.0.2.11#53(10.0.2.11) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Sun Feb 12 11:06:44 MST 2023
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 75

Again ALL GOOD!

So everything resolves as expected for any resolver I point to. So I honestly don't think it's a DNS resolution issue with either my local dns or public dns and think it has to be some sort of caching issue with Vivaldi.

Thanks for your insight

TD

Pathduck

@hackerkatt Hello and Welcome to the Vivaldi Community

It certainly seems like you know enough about troubleshooting DNS stuff yourself

But these NXDOMAIN errors seem to be very common in (Chromium) browsers and a quick web search shows that no-one really has any good idea what causes them or how to fix it apart from doing the obvious stuff (clearing cache, flushing DNS etc).

So first, there's the general troubleshooting guide:
https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/troubleshoot/troubleshooting-issues/

After that, here are some tools in Vivaldi that might help:

The "Secure DNS" (DoH) settings at:
chrome://settings/security
Far as I know, having DoH enabled will (at least on Windows) try to detect your "preferred provider" and change to DoH using that. So in your case we can assume since you have CF set in your resolve.conf, it will try to use that.

So try to turn it off, and see if it works better using the OS DNS resolve directly. Presuming you want more control of your local network DNS resolution, then DoH is best left off.

Doing a lookup and trying to clear host cache:
vivaldi://net-internals/#dns

Logging networks events:
vivaldi://net-export
You can examine the events and look for DNS requests.

DoctorG

@hackerkatt said in This site can’t be reached / DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN:

site.test.mydomain.com

Test your DNS each:
nslookup site.test.mydomain.com

nslookup site.test.mydomain.com localhost

nslookup site.test.mydomain.com 1.1.1.1

nslookup site.test.mydomain.com 8.8.8.8

All the same IPs as a result?

hackerkatt

Hey @DoctorG

I'm confident the issue is not DNS propagation. As I showed in my initial post, the public dns resolvers are up to date. But to reinforce my conclusion and answer your question:

Appreciation

# localhost DNS
### The first result is expected.  I'm so tired of fighting with the broken systemd-resolved out of the box and since I run my own local redundant DNS resolvers, I always disable systemd-resolved.service and dnsmasq

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com localhost
;; communications error to 127.0.0.1#53: connection refused


# Public DNS
tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com
Server:         1.1.1.1
Address:        1.1.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com 1.1.1.1
Server:         1.1.1.1
Address:        1.1.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com 8.8.8.8
Server:         8.8.8.8
Address:        8.8.8.8#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com 9.9.9.9
Server:         9.9.9.9
Address:        9.9.9.9#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com 1.0.0.1
Server:         1.0.0.1
Address:        1.0.0.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

tonyd@deepthot:~$ nslookup www.<thetargetsite>.com 8.8.4.4
Server:         8.8.4.4
Address:        8.8.4.4#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.<thetargetsite>.com
Address: 160.153.xx.xx

DoctorG

@hackerkatt For a test please:
Open vivaldi://net-internals/#dns
Hit "Clear host cache"
Try resolve your domain in "Domain lookup" field now.

hackerkatt

Cleared host cache...

Result:

Resolved IP addresses of "www.<thetargetsite>.com": ["160.153.xx.xx"].
No data on which protocols are supported.

I opened a new tab and entered the target url. I get the same error page, no page load and as before, the url has been changed. Nowhere can I find, locally or on the target DigitalOcean droplet, a firewall rule redirect, DNS record at GoDaddy, etc that would result in a redirect to a different domain.

DoctorG

@hackerkatt said in This site can’t be reached / DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN:

160.153.xx.xx

Can you reach the site by http://160.153.xx.xx/

DoctorG

@hackerkatt Do you use SecureDNS, that can fail?
Check internal Vivaldi page at chrome://settings/security

Perhaps (only for a test!) this can solve it.

in Settings → Privacy
- do disable "Phishing and Malware Protection"
- do disable "DNS to Help Resolve Navigation Errors"
Restart Vivaldi

rickberon

This post is deleted!

AMDphreak

I get this same error but with Bing.com, so my default search engine almost never works the first time. I have to sit and refresh the page until it magically starts working on refresh 3, 7, or however many times it takes.

I have used various Chromium browsers and never had this problem on any of them. I've used Chrome for 8 years or so.

DoctorG

@AMDphreak Do you use a VPN/Proxy?
Do you use a special DNS setting in Linux network settngs?
Do you use a Secure DNS setting in vivaldi://settings/security ?