Troubleshooting DNS Issues with AI After Setting Up Nginx on Ubuntu

Background

After completing the setup of Nginx on an Ubuntu server, it is expected that accessing the domain should yield a confirmation message indicating successful configuration.

Following the guidelines provided in the DigitalOcean article on installing Nginx, we anticipated seeing the message:

“Success! domain.com server block is working!”

However, upon attempting to access domain.com we encountered an error:

“This site can’t be reached. domain.com took too long to respond.”

This message indicates a potential issue with the domain’s DNS configuration or the server’s accessibility. To resolve this, we systematically verified various configurations.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Process

Step 1: Confirm the A Record

Log into your registrar account (in our case GoDaddy) and navigate to the DNS management section for your domain.
Check the A Record: Ensure that the A record points to your droplet’s IP address, in our case 209.97.189.227.

Step 2: Check Nginx Configuration

Connect to your server: ssh user@your.ip.add.ress
Navigate to the Nginx configuration directory: cd /etc/nginx/sites-available
Open your domain’s configuration file: sudo nano domain.com
Verify the server block configuration. Ensure it contains the following:

server {

    listen 80;

    server_name domain.com www.domain.com;
    root /var/www/domain.com/html;

    index index.html;

    location / {

    try_files $uri $uri/ =404;

}

Test the Nginx configuration: sudo nginx -t
Restart Nginx: sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 3: Verify Domain Access

Open a web browser and enter your domain: http://domain.com
If the domain still shows an error, check DNS propagation using a tool like DNS Checker to ensure your domain points to the correct IP globally.

Conclusion

Following these troubleshooting steps allows identification y and resolution of issues preventing domain access after setting up Nginx. By ensuring proper A record configuration, verifying Nginx settings, and checking DNS propagation, you can successfully achieve a working server block for your domain.