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I have a server running Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS with apache2.4 and a VirtualHost that should connect my domain to a given subfolder /var/www/html/mysite.com/public_html

My problem is that when I try to open my domain in a browser I get the error 

ERR_NAME_RESOLUTION_FAILED

Now, I'm fairly new to having my own server, but to me "in principle" everything looks fine:

apache2ctl -S tells me that my VirtualHost configuration is okay.

The DNS configuration looks good, for example, https://mxtoolbox.com/ returns the correct Nameservers.

What is especially confusing is that I have set up Reverse DNS for the IP address of my server such that it points to my domain. This Reverse DNS works perfectly, although my domain itself doesn't work.

When I call the IP address of my server it shows me successfully the index.html file that lies in the /var/www/html/mysite.com/public_html folder. This folder is only specified in the VirtualHost

mysite.com.conf

file. I checked this by changing the folder and the file.

Therefore, when I call the IP of my sever in my browser he is able to connect this to mysite.com and the corresponding folder+file. But when I call my domain directly I get an error. ( I used additionally NSLOOKUP XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX to verify that I get mysite.com. However, when I try NSLOOKUP mysite.com I get "mysite.com was not found by Unknown").

What could be the cause for this error?

jak
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  • There is a near-infinite number of things that could be wrong. An easy way to see what is wrong is to check why it's not working. But doing that requires knowing what domain it is, and you chose not to tell us that. I will never understand why people insist on hiding information _while asking for help to publish it_. – Calle Dybedahl Mar 12 '17 at 10:48
  • @CalleDybedahl Thanks for your comment. Yes, of courses, there a lot of things that could go wrong. My problem is that I have no idea how I can look for the error, because everything seems to work fine... well except for the fact that my site does not show up. My domain is http://physicsinsider.com (I didn't knew it is okay to post my own domain here). – jak Mar 12 '17 at 14:27
  • @CalleDybedahl My main problem is really that I have no idea which part could be configured wrongly. I find it really confusing that the reverse DNS works, but my domain isn't. I have several other sites/domains running without any problems on the same server with exactly the same setup. I also deleted everything and started from scratch 4 times, but my domain remains unavailable. – jak Mar 12 '17 at 14:35
  • It seems to be working fine. I get a PHP info page, which at the bottom states: "Hello World PI Connected successfully" – Michael Hampton Mar 12 '17 at 18:54

1 Answers1

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The reverse resolution has no impact on the forward one (and the reverse resolution for a website has no practical benefit).

The forward resolution seems to be ok, see this Zonemaster report. Your problem may be limited to the system from which you do the DNS resolution, as other remote testing website all show your website as up and reachable.

Patrick Mevzek
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