DNS zone does not exist, but whm won't allow add

[jndawson]

This is bizarro world stuff.

We had a staffer add a webhosting account for customer.tld, but somehow didn't create the zone record (she has no idea what she did). DNS is on someother.hostingcompany.tld, and customer wants to keep mail on someother.hostingcompany.tld and move web to us.

Here is what was (apparently) done:

1. Website is set up and staffer creates new subdomain dev.customer.tld.
2. Staffer goes to 'Edit MX entry' to add MX record. The MX record created is customer.tld.
3. Customer's actual MX is mx.customer.tld. 'Edit MX Entry' results in the record not changing and this error:

MX Entry Editor
Saved MX for zone customer.tld.db
Looking at writing to : [customer.tld]
customer.tld  0  [IMG]https://cp1.ipns.com:2087/cPanel_magic_revision_1404400272/green-status.gif[/IMG]: Added Record

Writing zone files.......[customer.tld]...Failed to change serial number for customer.tld.

There is no customer.tld.db file.
4. Staffer tries adding MX records for dev.customer.tld. Same results:

MX Entry Editor
Saved MX for zone dev.customer.tld.db
Looking at writing to : [customer.tld] Looking at writing to : [dev.customer.tld]
mx.customer.tld.  0  [IMG]https://cp1.ipns.com:2087/cPanel_magic_revision_1404400272/green-status.gif[/IMG]: Added Record

Writing zone files.......[dev.youngkidzdental.com]...Failed to change serial number for dev.youngkidzdental.com.

5. There are no zone files for customer.tld nor for dev.customer.tld, although they are listed in the 'Edit MX Entry' pulldown.
6. Running /scripts/killdns customer.tld resulted in this result:

Unable to remove zone customer.tld from the Bind configuration (named.conf) on cp1.
The zone was possibly removed earlier on cp1.
Unable to remove zone customer.tld from the Bind configuration (named.conf) on cp4.
The zone was possibly removed earlier on cp4.
Unable to remove zone customer.tld from the Bind configuration (named.conf) on cp2.
The zone was possibly removed earlier on cp2.
Unable to remove zone customer.tld from the Bind configuration (named.conf) on cp3.
The zone was possibly removed earlier on cp3.

7. Running /scripts/add_dns --domain=customer.tld

No valid IP specified. Using 11.22.33.44
Sorry, the domaincustomer.tld is owned by another user (customer)

8. Flushed DNS, restarted DNS, Yelled at DNS. No actions worked.
9. Tried to add a new entry (again) and received same results:

Add a DNS Zone
Results of adding zone customer.tld
Sorry, the domain customer.tld is owned by another user (customer)

So, what/where/how can we remove the phantom records and fix this?

 

[cPanelMichael]

We had a staffer add a webhosting account for customer.tld, but somehow didn't create the zone record (she has no idea what she did). DNS is on someother.hostingcompany.tld, and customer wants to keep mail on someother.hostingcompany.tld and move web to us.

Hello,

This is the first issue that must be addressed. Please try adding a zone for this domain name via:

"WHM Home » DNS Functions » Add a DNS Zone"

Ensure ownership of the zone matches the account username. If this fails, check for an entry for this domain name in the /etc/userdomains file:

grep $domain /etc/userdomains

Do you see any entries in this file for the domain name?

Note: If you are using cPanel version 56, please temporarily run "/scripts/updateuserdomains" after manually adding a new zone due to a bug that's scheduled for resolution in the near future (CPANEL-5899).

Thank you.

 

[jndawson]

Hello,

This is the first issue that must be addressed. Please try adding a zone for this domain name via:

"WHM Home » DNS Functions » Add a DNS Zone"

I should have added that we tried the completely obvious steps. Same result as trying to edit MX records.

Ensure ownership of the zone matches the account username.

There is no zone; that's the issue as described above.

If this fails, check for an entry for this domain name in the /etc/userdomains file:

grep $domain /etc/userdomains

Do you see any entries in this file for the domain name?

We already checked that as well. customer.tld and dev.customer.tld were both listed and owned by customer. We removed those from the file over the weekend and prior to your post and were able to create a proper zone.

Note: If you are using cPanel version 56, please temporarily run "/scripts/updateuserdomains" after manually adding a new zone due to a bug that's scheduled for resolution in the near future (CPANEL-5899).

That had no affect on the file, either before we pulled the zones from /etc/userdomains and afterward.

Thanks for the response - hopefully this can provide some guidance for others dealing with this.

 

[cPanelMichael]

We already checked that as well. customer.tld and dev.customer.tld were both listed and owned by customer. We removed those from the file over the weekend and prior to your post and were able to create a proper zone.

Hello,

I'm happy to see you were able to create a proper zone after making that modification. Is the issue now addressed, or are there any additional problems?

Thanks!

 

[jndawson]

Hello,

I'm happy to see you were able to create a proper zone after making that modification. Is the issue now addressed, or are there any additional problems?

Removing the entries from /etc/userdomains corrected the issue; haven't had any before or since. If we ever find out how our staffer was able to create a zone without creating a zone, we'll pass that on.

Thanks.