DNS INT REV partial 1x weight measured

DNS partial. BIND is answering but returning no records

Connected to INT_IP:53, no useful content though...

Events

330

Pts per check

1.4

Pts missed

458.3

Teams hit

6/13

Authority mappings

Which work roles, knowledge units, and EWU courses this error pattern touches. Hover for context, click to drill in.

DCWF roles: CE-442 Network Technician CS-462 Control Systems Security Specialist CS-521 Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist IT-441 Network Operations Specialist IT-451 System Administrator

Knowledge Units: CD-BNW Basic Networking CD-NSA Network Security Administration CD-OSC Operating Systems Concepts

EWU courses: CSCD240-S26 CSCD240 CSCD330 CSCD380 CSCD434 CSCD470

What the message means

The scoring engine reached port 53 and got a DNS response, but the response had no useful data (NOERROR with empty answer, or NXDOMAIN for the query). BIND is up, but your zone files are missing, empty, or don't contain the name the engine is querying.

Why the service is down

Zone file is present but has no records (just SOA/NS).
Wrong domain name. you configured team<M> when the engine queries team<N>.
Zone not loaded. named.conf syntax error prevented it from being pulled in.
Reverse zone missing altogether (PTR queries return no records).

Commands in order

1. 1. Ask BIND itself for the record

dig @127.0.0.1 team<N>.ncaecybergames.org A

Expect

ANSWER SECTION with the A record

Interpret and next

Empty answer = zone present but record missing. NXDOMAIN = zone not loaded.
2. 2. List loaded zones

rndc zonestatus team<N>.ncaecybergames.org 2>&1 || named-checkconf

Expect

Zone appears with 'state: loaded'

Interpret and next

Error = zone file path wrong in named.conf, or file doesn't parse.
3. 3. Inspect the zone file

# Path is in named.conf; usually /etc/bind/db.team<N> cat /etc/bind/db.team<N>

Expect

SOA + NS + A records; serial looks like YYYYMMDDNN

Interpret and next

Empty or SOA-only = add the A records you need.
4. 4. For reverse DNS

dig @127.0.0.1 -x 192.168.<N>.12

Expect

PTR record

Interpret and next

No PTR = your reverse zone file is missing PTRs. Add them in /etc/bind/db.192.168.<N>.
5. 5. Bump SOA serial after edits, reload

# Bump YYYYMMDDNN (increment the 'NN' at end) rndc reload

Expect

zone reloaded

Interpret and next

Don't forget the serial. BIND caches based on it.

Decision tree

Answer each question to route to the right fix.

Q: Does dig return ANY answer for the expected name?

Yes: Content may be correct. Check if scoring engine expects different casing or FQDN.

No:

Q: Does `rndc zonestatus` show the zone loaded?

Yes: Record missing in zone file. add it.

No: Fix named.conf include / zone file path.