Certbot --apache -d failed. status 400. DNS problem: NXDOMAIN looking up A for xxx - check that a DNS record exists for this domain

Please fill out the fields below so we can help you better. Note: you must provide your domain name to get help. Domain names for issued certificates are all made public in Certificate Transparency logs (e.g. crt.sh | example.com), so withholding your domain name here does not increase secrecy, but only makes it harder for us to provide help.

My domain is:
itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link

I ran this command:
certbot --apache -d iTOP-Prod-WEB01.dxcmss-asean.link -v

It produced this output:
Challenge failed for domain itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link
http-01 challenge for itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link

Certbot failed to authenticate some domains (authenticator: apache). The Certificate Authority reported these problems:
Domain: itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link
Type: dns
Detail: DNS problem: NXDOMAIN looking up A for itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link - check that a DNS record exists for this domain; DNS problem: NXDOMAIN looking up AAAA for itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link - check that a DNS record exists for this domain

Hint: The Certificate Authority failed to verify the temporary Apache configuration changes made by Certbot. Ensure that the listed domains point to this Apache server and that it is accessible from the internet.

My web server is (include version):
Server version: Apache/2.4.58 (Ubuntu)

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS

My hosting provider, if applicable, is:
(a) domain dxcmss-asean.link purchase on NameCheap
(a) web server hosted on AWS

I can login to a root shell on my machine (yes or no, or I don't know):
yes

I'm using a control panel to manage my site (no, or provide the name and version of the control panel):
no

The version of my client is (e.g. output of certbot --version or certbot-auto --version if you're using Certbot):
certbot 2.9.0

Hi @sheuhann,

I suspect the quote above is likely the issue.
I haven’t had time to verify to be sure.

Edit
https://letsdebug.net/itop-prod-web01.dxcmss-asean.link/2315866

2 Likes

Hi @sheuhann,

I now believe there is Geo Blocking happening.
Here are a couple of links showing evidence

Here are some informational links to read

2 Likes

Managed to fix it.
Was due to .htaccess hardening preventing the ".well-known-xxx" directory and correspondences files creation in the web root directories.
Temporary disable .htaccess. the certificate request works.

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