Here you'll find all parameters that you need to check when your domain is inaccessible.

Checking WHOIS

You may find more information about your domain in Whois database. Here is an extract about .com domain:

• 1. Has my domain expired ?

Expiration date

In the example above, the expiry date is 8th February 2005.
=> Expiration Date: 08-feb-2005

STATUS of domain

- Correct Status:

REGISTRAR-LOCK : Protection against the theft.
ACTIVE : Transfer is possible.
OK : Transfer is possible.

- Status that may cause problems:

REGISTRAR-HOLD: Domain expired, DNS are blocked.
REDEMPTIONPERIOD: Domain expired more than 15 days ago. For €150 +VAT, you have the possibility to change the status.
PENDING-DELETE: Domain will be deleted within 15 days.
INACTIVE: Dns are inactive..org and .biz domains: minimum 2 DNS are required.
REDEMPTION: Your .be domain has expired more than 30 days ago. For €24.80 +VAT, you have the possibility to change status if your domain is hosted at OVH.

TradeTransmission

• 2. Is my DNS configuration correct?

In our example, the domain has OVH's Dns:

Name Server: ns11.ovh.net
Name Server: dns11.ovh.net

The modification date must have more than 48 hours in order to make sure that the domain has all the DNS displayed.

=> Updated Date: 21-jan-2004

3. Is my domain responding to ping?

Open a terminal and use ping command to check if domain responds:

ping domain.com
PING domain.com (213.186.33.24): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 213.186.33.24: icmp_seq=0 ttl=59 time=6.3 ms

=> The domain responds, and its IP is 213.186.33.24 (IP of hosting service).

ping: unknown host domain.com => DNS are inactive.

ping : Request timed out => This is a network problem.

Checking DIG

You may use dig command to receive technical data of your domain. Here is the link to the script using this command : http://www.kloth.net/services/dig.php
An example for Domain.com

dig domain.com A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
domain.com. 83111 IN A 213.186.33.34 ;;

AUTHORITY SECTION:
__domain.com. 83111 IN NS dns.ovh.net.
domain.com. 83111 IN NS ns.ovh.net.

There are two DNS and IP (type "A")

If you have a domain at OVH, hosted on a shared hosting, go to step 5, otherwise go to step 6 if your domain is hosted on a dedicated server.

5. My DNS configuration is correct and my domain hasn't expired.What shall I do?

Log into Manager, choose section 'Domains&DNS' , 'DNS zone' and check all fields:

domain.com MX 1 mx3.ovh.net. => First MX server
domain.com MX 5 mx4.ovh.net. => Second MX server (it may be mx0.ovh.net, mx1.ovh.net, mx2.ovh.net, redirect.ovh.net or other, if POP accounts are not managed in OVH)
domain.com A 213.186.33.18 => your hosting IP address (it cannot be 213.186.33.102 or 213.186.33.99 or 212.27.32.132 - IP of DNS)
www.domain.com CNAME domain.com. => Redirection of www.domain.com to domain.com
If those fields are missing, you,you won't have access to www.domain.com
ftp.domain.com CNAME rallye-nord.com.
ftp2.domain.com CNAME anonymous.ftp.ovh.net.
mail.domain.com CNAME ns0.ovh.net.
pop3.domain.com CNAME ns0.ovh.net.
smtp.domain.com CNAME ns0.ovh.net.
irc.domain.com CNAME irc.ovh.net.
news.domain.com CNAME news.ovh.net.
cgi.domain.com CNAME ns1.ovh.net.
audio.domain.com CNAME audio.ovh.net.
imp.domain.com CNAME imp.ovh.net.
squirrel.domain.com CNAME squirrel.ovh.net.
sqwebmail.domain.com CNAME sqwebmail.ovh.net.

2. Your domain is registered on dedicated server:

To check DNS configuration use Zone Check Afnic. This tool works also for other domains than .fr: http://www.afnic.fr/outils/zonecheck/form.

Enter your domain and required DNS, the program will inform you about any problems with configuration.