I use Cloudflare free DNS for 2 different domain names. One of these I use DNS-O-Matic to dynamically update the IP address when it changes (DNS-O-Matic is a DDNS updater that can update multiple places at once). The other domain has a hardcoded static IP address.
About half an hour ago, I was using the domain with the hardcoded IP, and all of a sudden it starts redirecting me to the IP address for the other domain.
I checked the logs at DNS-O-Matic, and it had triggered an update with Cloudflare at the exact the same time this started happening.
I logged into Cloudflare, and sure enough the IP address for the hardcoded domain name had changed. I manually changed it back and disabled DNS-O-Matic for the time being just to be safe.
I’ve been using this DNS setup for years without change, so I suspect there was a glitch with either Cloudflare or DNS-O-Matic. I’ve emailed DNS-O-Matic to see if they can check their logs.
At this point, I don’t know where the glitch occurred. It could be one of two places:
Cloudflare. When DNS-O-Matic sent an IP update to Cloudflare, it was messed up on Cloudflare’s end and updated a domain it shouldn’t have.
DNS-O-Matic. When it sent an IP update to Cloudflare, it was sent to the wrong address.
Is there anyway for me to know where the problem occurred? Has anyone else experienced any DDNS problems with Cloudflare today?
I found the audit logs in Cloudflare, and I do see when the update occurred this morning. In the Cloudflare audit log, the name and zone is the hardcoded domain name that should not be changed.
In DNS-O-Matic, the domain is still listed as the dynamic domain.
I think this is a Cloudflare problem. Here’s my logic…
In order to issue an update, DNS-O-Matic needs to know the domain name. DNS-O-Matic does not have the hardcoded domain name listed anywhere in my account, so it shouldn’t be able to update something if it doesn’t know what it is. Correct?
I think the Cloudflare API (which is what DNS-O-Matic uses to update the IP address), received a request to update the dynamic domain, but instead updated the hardcoded domain.
The API doesn’t use hardcoded domain names. It goes by ID numbers. So D-O-M needs you to tell it which domain and DNS record you’re updating, fetch that Zone ID, and the DNS entry ID, and update that.
If you didn’t hardcode those identifiers, then something at D-O-M is getting the incorrect information for your domain name and DNS entry.
Thanks for the reply. With this new information, I am now suspecting it is a DNS-O-Matic issue. Here’s a screenshot of the configuration options in DNS-O-Matic
One of the odd things is that DNS-O-Matic is suppose to update the IP address for the www2 hostname of dynamicdomain.com
Instead, it updated the IP for the naked domain (not sure if that’s the term) of hardcodeddomain.com It completely left the www host alone, and there actually isn’t even a www2 host for hardcodeddomain.com
Here is what the audit log from Cloudflare looks like:
{
“Content”: “IP that shouldn’t be getting sent to this domain”,
“Name”: “hardcodeddomain.com”,
“Old content”: “Correct IP that shouldn’t be changed”,
“Proxied”: false,
“Ttl”: “1”,
“Type”: “A”,
“Zone id”: “redacting just to be safe”,
“Zone name”: “hardcodeddomain.com”
}
I’ve made a few redactions just to be on the safe side.
Do you think there’s anymore sleuthing I can do on my own? Or do I need to wait for DNS-O-Matic to get back to me?
Waiting for them is your best bet, as I don’t think there’s more you can do from your end. Here’s the result of my scripted API request I send on an hourly basis to update my subdomain’s IP address:
{
“Content”: “new IP address”,
“Name”: “sub.example.com”,
“Old content”: “old IP address”,
“Proxied”: false,
“Ttl”: “1”,
“Type”: “A”,
“Zone id”: “my zone id”,
“Zone name”: “example.com”
}
As an added note, if my IP address doesn’t change, my script still runs, but nothing happens, so it doesn’t show up in the Audit Log.
I have been having this exact same issue since 13 March. I contacted DNS-O-Matic support over a week ago and have not received a response yet. My issue is slightly different in that a dynamic DNS update is updating the wrong sub domain.
Today, my problem evolved, I have another DNS-O-Matic account that updates a 3rd sub-domain, and today, this 3rd IP was updated on the original subdomain.
Definitely seems like a DNS-O-Matic problem, I’ll report back if I ever hear back from them.
I have exact problem as you have described. It just updated the wrong zone for some unknown reasons. I emailed dnsomatic, but heard no response at all. I don’t think they are active to listen to the users.
Finally heard back from DNS-O-Matic, here is what they said:
There is a change in March 2019 at our end that could explain the issue you’re facing. And currently, our engineer is looking into an issue with DNS-O-Matic and Cloudflare.
I will be in touch with you when I hear back from them or if we require any additional information.
So they know there is a problem, just no fix for it yet.