DNS Troubleshooting

Fix DNS configuration issues including CNAME setup, propagation delays, conflicting records, and verification failures

SitemapHost requires a CNAME record pointing your subdomain to cname.sitemaphost.app. This page helps diagnose and fix common DNS configuration issues.

Verifying Your DNS Configuration

Before troubleshooting, check what DNS currently resolves for your subdomain:

# Check CNAME record
dig sitemap.yoursite.com CNAME +short

# Expected output:
# cname.sitemaphost.app.

If you see the expected output, your DNS is configured correctly. If not, read on.

Alternative verification methods

# Using nslookup
nslookup -type=CNAME sitemap.yoursite.com

# Using host command
host -t CNAME sitemap.yoursite.com

# Check all record types
dig sitemap.yoursite.com ANY +short

CNAME Record Not Found

Symptom: dig returns no results or NXDOMAIN.

Cause: Record not created yet

Add a CNAME record in your DNS provider:

TypeNameTargetTTL
CNAMEsitemapcname.sitemaphost.appAuto

Note: For the "Name" field, most DNS providers only require the subdomain part (sitemap), not the full hostname (sitemap.yoursite.com). Check your provider's documentation.

Cause: Wrong record name

Common mistakes with the record name:

IncorrectCorrectIssue
sitemap.yoursite.comsitemapSome providers auto-append the domain
sitemap.yoursite.com.sitemapTrailing dot causes double domain
SITEMAPsitemapCase usually doesn't matter, but use lowercase
www.sitemapsitemapDo not include www prefix

Cause: Record created on wrong domain

If you manage multiple domains, verify the CNAME was added to the correct domain's DNS zone. A CNAME for sitemap.yoursite.com must be added to the yoursite.com zone.

DNS Propagation Delays

Symptom: You just added the CNAME record but verification fails.

DNS changes propagate through the global DNS system. While most changes are visible within minutes, full propagation can take up to 24 hours.

Check propagation status

Use a DNS propagation checker to see if your record is visible worldwide:

# Check from Google's DNS
dig @8.8.8.8 sitemap.yoursite.com CNAME +short

# Check from Cloudflare's DNS
dig @1.1.1.1 sitemap.yoursite.com CNAME +short

If one resolver shows the record but another does not, propagation is still in progress.

Speed up propagation

  • Lower TTL before changes -- If you set the TTL to a low value (e.g., 60 seconds) before making changes, propagation is faster
  • Flush local DNS cache -- Your local machine may cache old results:
# macOS
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

# Windows
ipconfig /flushdns

# Linux
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

Retry verification

After confirming the CNAME is visible on public DNS resolvers, retry verification:

curl -X POST https://dash.sitemaphost.app/api/domains/domain_abc123/verify \
  -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Conflicting DNS Records

Symptom: CNAME record exists but verification still fails, or the sitemap loads a different site.

A or AAAA records on the same subdomain

DNS does not allow a CNAME to coexist with other record types on the same name. If you have an A or AAAA record for sitemap.yoursite.com, the CNAME will be ignored.

Check for conflicting records:

dig sitemap.yoursite.com A +short
dig sitemap.yoursite.com AAAA +short

If these return IP addresses, delete the A/AAAA records and keep only the CNAME.

TXT records on the same subdomain

Some DNS providers also prevent CNAME coexistence with TXT records. If you have TXT records on the exact same subdomain, consider moving them or removing them.

Cloudflare-Specific Issues

If you use Cloudflare for your domain's DNS, there are specific configurations to watch for.

Orange cloud (proxy) must be disabled

SitemapHost's SSL provisioning requires direct DNS resolution. Cloudflare's proxy intercepts this.

  1. Go to DNS > Records in your Cloudflare dashboard
  2. Find the CNAME record for sitemap
  3. Click the orange cloud icon to switch it to grey cloud (DNS only)
  4. Save
Before: sitemap  CNAME  cname.sitemaphost.app  (Proxied - orange)
After:  sitemap  CNAME  cname.sitemaphost.app  (DNS only - grey)

CNAME flattening

Cloudflare may "flatten" CNAME records at the zone apex (root domain). This does not apply to subdomains like sitemap.yoursite.com and should not cause issues.

Check Cloudflare DNS is authoritative

Ensure your domain's nameservers are properly pointing to Cloudflare:

dig yoursite.com NS +short
# Should show Cloudflare nameservers like:
# ada.ns.cloudflare.com.
# bob.ns.cloudflare.com.

DNS Provider-Specific Guides

GoDaddy

  1. Go to My Products > your domain > DNS
  2. Click Add under Records
  3. Type: CNAME, Name: sitemap, Value: cname.sitemaphost.app
  4. TTL: Default (or 1 hour)
  5. Click Save

GoDaddy note: GoDaddy may append your domain to the Name field. If it shows sitemap.yoursite.com in the list, that is correct.

Namecheap

  1. Go to Domain List > Manage > Advanced DNS
  2. Click Add New Record
  3. Type: CNAME Record, Host: sitemap, Target: cname.sitemaphost.app
  4. TTL: Automatic
  5. Click the checkmark to save

Google Domains / Squarespace Domains

  1. Go to DNS > Resource records
  2. Click Create new record
  3. Type: CNAME, Host name: sitemap, Data: cname.sitemaphost.app.
  4. TTL: 3600
  5. Click Save

Note the trailing dot in the Data field for Google Domains. This indicates an absolute domain name.

AWS Route 53

  1. Go to Hosted zones > your domain
  2. Click Create record
  3. Record name: sitemap, Record type: CNAME, Value: cname.sitemaphost.app
  4. TTL: 300
  5. Click Create records

Vercel DNS

  1. Go to your project's Settings > Domains
  2. This is for your frontend domain. For the sitemap subdomain, manage DNS at your registrar
  3. Add a CNAME record at your registrar pointing sitemap to cname.sitemaphost.app

Root Domain vs Subdomain

SitemapHost requires a subdomain (e.g., sitemap.yoursite.com), not a root domain (e.g., yoursite.com). Root domains cannot use CNAME records per the DNS specification.

If you want sitemaps at the root level, you have two options:

  1. Use a subdomain (recommended) -- sitemap.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
  2. Add a redirect -- Redirect yoursite.com/sitemap.xml to sitemap.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml using your web server or CDN

Verification Keeps Failing

If you have confirmed the CNAME is correct, propagation is complete, and no conflicting records exist, try these steps:

  1. Delete and re-add the domain in SitemapHost
  2. Wait 30 minutes and re-verify (Cloudflare DNS-over-HTTPS caches may need to expire)
  3. Check from SitemapHost's perspective -- SitemapHost uses Cloudflare DNS-over-HTTPS (dns.cloudflare.com/dns-query) for verification. Test what Cloudflare sees:
curl -s "https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query?name=sitemap.yoursite.com&type=CNAME" \
  -H "Accept: application/dns-json" | python3 -m json.tool

If this returns the correct CNAME, verification should succeed. If not, the record may not have propagated to Cloudflare's resolvers yet.

Next Steps