"Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent" and SOA

squaredot

New Member
I currently have a DNS zone's NS entries set to "auto" in the ZoneEdit interface, which appears to add dns1.zoneedit.com and dns2.zoneedit.com to the NS/SOA entries for the domain. This DNS zone's root has dns1.zoneedit.com and dns2.zoneedit.com set with the registrar.

If I do a SOA lookup on the root - squaredot.net - when the domain is pointed at ZoneEdit nameservers dns1 and dns2, it returns that primary DNS server as being dns0.zoneedit.com, along with dns1 and dns2 listed as other NS entries. If I attempt to add dns0.zoneedit.com to my registrar's list of authoritative DNS servers, the registrar's interface says that dns0 can't be added, with the error message "Nameserver not available".

Is there a way to rectify this discrepancy?

It may be unrelated and due to another configuration difference, but certain mail hosts seem to not deliver mail to my MX properly when this discrepancy is present. I currently have my domain switched to another DNS provider with SOA/parent agreement and no other changes ... mail appears to flow properly.

I appreciate any feedback anyone can offer. Thank you!
 

El.

Administrator
Staff member
dns0 cannot be added as an authoritative name server. It is a master name server that contains the zone information given to our dns1 and dns2 name servers. Mail issues have nothing to do with not delegating to dns0. If you see issues with receiving email, we request that you provide bounce or header information from the failed emails to help us determine what the issue may be.
 

squaredot

New Member
If you see issues with receiving email, we request that you provide bounce or header information from the failed emails to help us determine what the issue may be.

This is a big part of what's impacting diagnosing my issue. I only know that the expected emails don't arrive. Most of the non-delivered mail are 2FA requests from major sites (Apple, Steam, etc) Some are automated system messages. I have not yet had any of the sites or vendors provide any diagnostic information, so it's quite difficult for me to follow up from that side of things.

When I use mxtoolbox's "find problems" scan to look at potential problems with the dns/mx/etc records, one of the errors I get is "Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent" when my domain is directed at dns1/2.zoneedit.com. Even if this issue isn't necessarily related, is it possible to resolve this warning? If it is, what configuration would I need in place?

I am a more than a bit puzzled, as I wouldn't think DNS differences would cause this. I can only say that when I do use a different DNS provider with nearly identical entries, mail is delivered. The warning I reference is one of the few things that shows up when I am looking for differences between config between my use of the 2 DNS providers.

I do appreciate the time you took in responding to my original post. Thank you for your comments.
 

El.

Administrator
Staff member
Hello. Sorry, it is not possible to resolve the " "Primary Name Server Not Listed At Parent" warning because it is the way our DNS network is set up. It does not impact how the MX record for the domain name resolves because public and network name servers are getting the information from the listed name servers on the WHOIS. They should not be querying the master name server. (And, even if they were able to, they would get the same MX information for the domain name). I have noticed that your MX record here at ZoneEdit points to an IP address. It should point to a host name, not an IP address.
 

El.

Administrator
Staff member
Please look at the VERBOSE OUTPUT message on the ZONEFILE CHECK page of your account. You can get to that via the CHECK link under the TOOLS tab of your account page for the domain name.
 

squaredot

New Member
I have noticed that your MX record here at ZoneEdit points to an IP address. It should point to a host name, not an IP address.

Thank you for your insightful and gracious response. This does appear to be the root cause of my issue. Interesting that the vast majority of mail was still being delivered. Answering random forum posts can be quite the prospect - I truly do appreciate the time you took to respond to my issue.
 
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