Automated DNS Server Testing
Every 15 minutes, full testing is performed on each publicly listed Tier 2 server. The results and history of this testing may be viewed from here. You can view either Tier 1 or Tier 2 server results, and filter the display based on region. This information may be helpful in choosing reliable servers near you.
In addition, you may test a new or unlisted Tier 2 server for functionality. Note that your server must respond to public queries to perform this test. Visit the test page and enter your IP or hostname, then select the type of server you have.
The following tests will be performed for all servers:
- Connectivity: verify we can reach your server
- Reply size test: please visit https://www.dns-oarc.net/oarc/services/replysizetest for complete information
- Port randomness test: please visit https://www.dns-oarc.net/oarc/services/porttest for complete information
- OpenNIC root zone: confirms that you are using OpenNIC's root hints file, rather than the standard ICANN hints
- dns.opennic.glue: All Tier 1 and Tier 2 servers should have this zone configured in their DNS server setup
- OpenNIC TLD zones: checks all available TLDs to confirm you are resolving queries for each
- ICANN queries: if you are running a Tier 2, we want to confirm that you allow recursive lookups to answer queries for ICANN domains
After the test completes, you will get a pass/fail status. Feel free to perform this test as often as needed while configuring your server. Once your server passes all tests, and if you are willing, it may be considered for addition to the list of official servers.
The code used for validating server operation is also used to run automated daily status checks. Once every 12 hours, the results are sent to the reports mailing list. The results of these tests affect the active status of the servers listed on Tier 2 and will cause the dns.opennic.glue zone to be regenerated. If your server is marked as 'temp outage' and you believe this is in error, please contact Shdwdrgn on IRC to manually verify your server's accessibility.