# Can't resolve DNS for sa-update



## chigurh (Mar 23, 2012)

Hi,

When I run [CMD=]sa-update -D[/CMD] I get errors such as -

```
Mar 22 21:04:13.306 [95732] dbg: channel: update directory /var/db/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org
Mar 22 21:04:13.306 [95732] dbg: channel: channel cf file /var/db/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org.cf
Mar 22 21:04:13.306 [95732] dbg: channel: channel pre file /var/db/spamassassin/3.003002/updates_spamassassin_org.pre
Mar 22 21:04:13.318 [95732] dbg: channel: metadata version = 1240925
Mar 22 21:06:43.339 [95732] dbg: dns: query failed: 2.3.3.updates.spamassassin.org => query timed out
Mar 22 21:09:13.360 [95732] dbg: dns: query failed: mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org => query timed out
channel: no 'mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org' record found, channel failed
Mar 22 21:09:13.360 [95732] dbg: diag: updates complete, exiting with code 4
```

MIRRORED.BY

```
# test mirror: zone, cached via Coral
#http://buildbot.spamassassin.org.nyud.net:8090/updatestage/
http://daryl.dostech.ca/sa-update/asf/ weight=5
http://www.sa-update.pccc.com/ weight=5
http://sa-update.secnap.net/ weight=5
```

[CMD=]dig[/CMD] shows 

```
dig mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org

; <<>> DiG 9.6.-ESV-R5-P1 <<>> mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 59409
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;mirrors.updates.spamassassin.org. IN   A

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
spamassassin.org.       1799    IN      SOA     ns.hyperreal.org. pmc.spamassassin.apache.org. 2012032200 86400 3600 2678400 3600

;; Query time: 604 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Mar 22 21:15:07 2012
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 123
```

AND


```
dig 2.3.3.updates.spamassassin.org

; <<>> DiG 9.6.-ESV-R5-P1 <<>> 2.3.3.updates.spamassassin.org
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 44812
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;2.3.3.updates.spamassassin.org.        IN      A

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
spamassassin.org.       1799    IN      SOA     ns.hyperreal.org. pmc.spamassassin.apache.org. 2012032200 86400 3600 2678400 3600

;; Query time: 551 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Mar 22 21:16:38 2012
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 121
```

Not sure what needs to be done here.


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## SirDice (Mar 23, 2012)

> *How does it work?*
> 
> When looking for an update, sa-update reverses the version and makes a DNS TXT query for <version>.<channel>. ie: Running 3.1.1's sa-update, the default updates.spamassassin.org channel causes a DNS lookup for 1.1.3.updates.spamassassin.org. The query is for a TXT record containing the update number, which should be a monotonically increasing value. Assuming an update is necessary, sa-update will then read the MIRRORED.BY file (downloading it first if necessary from the URL found in a DNS TXT record mirrors.<channel>).



http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/PublishingRuleUpdates


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## chigurh (Mar 25, 2012)

It is fixed now. Looks like sa-update fails if router DNS is set to Google Public DNS or openDNS. Changed my DNS and it worked.


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