Troubleshooting DNS Issues with AI After Setting Up Nginx on Ubuntu - Quick Fix

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 [email protected]
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.