Why doesn't `dig` show records?

Question

Every time I use dig I get a vague feeling that I'm not really sure whether it's giving me correct data.

Now I've used it like this:

# dig socialimpactportfolio.com

; <<>> DiG 9.8.4-rpz2+rl005.12-P1 <<>> socialimpactportfolio.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 35289
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;socialimpactportfolio.com.     IN      A

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
socialimpactportfolio.com. 1799 IN      SOA     dns1.name-services.com. info.name-services.com. 2002050701 10800 3600 604800 3600

;; Query time: 121 msec
;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8)
;; WHEN: Thu May 22 14:01:03 2014
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 103

As you can see, there is no ANSWER section, despite the fact that there's a working website on that domain.

Why?

I'd really like a program that simply shows all the DNS records in the most non-confusing manner.

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered May 27 '14 at 12:21

13

Your query is incorrect, or to put it differently - no, there is no entry for socialimpactportfolio.com. Dig is telling you about the problem.

The domain works in the browser, because it will helpfully try and add the www. prefix, and lo and behold:

dig www.socialimpactportfolio.com
...
www.socialimpactportfolio.com. 1783 IN  CNAME   kochi-9186.herokussl.com.

If you are looking for a tool that will somehow show you the complete zone - I think you're out of luck.

answered May 27 '14 at 12:21

Felix Frank

3,063
1
15
22

Could you please explain what you mean by a "complete zone"? – DBedrenko May 27 '14 at 16:16
http://serverfault.com/questions/138949/list-all-dns-records-in-a-domain-using-dig – nobody May 27 '14 at 16:49

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 27 '14 at 12:20

3

I just checked, that domain doesn't have an A record, so your dig output is correct. The website is located under www..socialimpactportfolio.com, i.e. www.socialimpactportfolio.com, which again points (two chained CNAMEs) to amazonaws.com.

answered May 27 '14 at 12:20

Thomas

129
4

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 27 '14 at 12:28

Getting NOERROR and yet no ANSWER SECTION is telling you that the domain name does exist, but has no records of the specified type. In fact a domain name can exist without having any records at all, and that is different from returning NXDOMAIN, though in many cases applications will treat them the same.

In both cases a SOA record is included such that the client will know how long that answer may be cached.

A domain with no records at all can have subdomains, which do have records.

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 27 '14 at 12:27

It says it all in the dig output:

status: NOERROR
QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1

No errors, you did 1 query, there were no answers, the response was from an authoritative nameserver.

If you search for all records for that zone, you will find more information:

PS C:\Users\Administrator> nslookup -type=all socialimpactportfolio.com
Server:  UnKnown
Address:  fe80::1

Non-authoritative answer:
socialimpactportfolio.com       MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = eforwardct2.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = eforwardct3.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = eforwardct.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com
        primary name server = dns1.name-services.com
        responsible mail addr = info.name-services.com
        serial  = 2002050701
        refresh = 10800 (3 hours)
        retry   = 3600 (1 hour)
        expire  = 604800 (7 days)
        default TTL = 3600 (1 hour)
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns4.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns3.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns2.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns1.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns5.name-services.com

socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns5.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns4.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns3.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns2.name-services.com
socialimpactportfolio.com       nameserver = dns1.name-services.com
dns1.name-services.com  internet address = 98.124.192.1
dns2.name-services.com  internet address = 98.124.197.1
dns3.name-services.com  internet address = 98.124.193.1
dns4.name-services.com  internet address = 98.124.194.1
dns5.name-services.com  internet address = 98.124.196.1

Why doesn't `dig` show records?

4 Answers4