Process of regaining your domain again due to nonpayment for VPS

My domain is:
j1m3.xyz

I ran this command:
sudo certbot --nginx

It produced this output:

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

My web server is (include version):
nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu)

The operating system my web server runs on is (include version):
Ubuntu 20.04

My hosting provider, if applicable, is:
Linode

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 1.32.0

I had configured my domain previously with cerbot but due to non-payment my VPS was shut down. I've since paid any outstanding balances and I am up and running again with a new IP and I re-created my website. http://newipaddress.xyz When trying to get https for my new IP address I get the above error. My guess is b/c the previous site points to a IP address I am no longer at, I've been assigned a new one by Linode. What's the best route in getting this fixed? Go through Linode? Or is there a better way?

The VPS and the domain don't have anything to do with each other. If your domain hasn't expired, update your DNS records to point to the new IP address. If your domain has expired, your have other problems than payment for the VPS.

11 Likes

The domain does not seem to be expired, but I don't know all of the middle menhumans

5 Likes

Thanks, that's clears up a lot. My domain doesn't expire to next year so it is something misconfigured on my end. I thought I had everything set up correctly but maybe not. I just did this earlier today so maybe the DNS changes haven't fully updated yet. Thanks!

1 Like

Right now it looks like you have two A records pointing to different IP addresses. It's highly unlikely that this is a correct configuration:

 dan@Dan-MacBook-Pro-2013  ~  dig j1m3.xyz

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> j1m3.xyz
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40804
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;j1m3.xyz.			IN	A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
j1m3.xyz.		20	IN	A	34.196.254.27
j1m3.xyz.		20	IN	A	52.204.121.99

;; Query time: 31 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Dec 01 19:31:45 EST 2022
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 69
11 Likes

I see the DNS A records changing kind of fast

$ nslookup
> server dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Default server: dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address: 198.51.44.1#53
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 50.18.120.10
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 184.72.19.87
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 35.247.66.204
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.83.160.150
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 35.247.66.204
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.83.160.150
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 54.241.68.193
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 184.72.19.87
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 35.247.66.204
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 54.241.68.193
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.83.11.4
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 184.72.19.87
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.168.30.71
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 54.241.246.27
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.83.160.150
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 34.168.247.115
> j1m3.xyz
Server:         dns1.p01.nsone.net.
Address:        198.51.44.1#53

Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 54.241.246.27
Name:   j1m3.xyz
Address: 184.72.37.151
>
6 Likes

edit: wait a second! I recognized the server dns1.p01.nsone.net from your lookup! I screwed up and changed my DNS settings over at dynadot after my Linode shutdown and that was the servers I was using via Netlify, I think. It was a placeholder for the site while I get things back in order. I should have thought about that. :confused: I am going to change that back now. Thanks for the help.

My previous IP address at Linode was: 45.33.98.228. Any other IP's I am totally unaware of. The new one isn't listed in either of these either. Thanks!

1 Like

Since Let's Encrypt offers Domain Validated (DV) Certificates, when using HTTP-01 Challenge it means that LE make challenges each IP that DNS resolves for the Domain Name.

So one must have proper control over the Domain Name.

8 Likes

Thanks again all for the help/probing, it probably saved me from making matters worse. :sweat_smile: ...that was my problem (misconfigured settings in my dynadot account).

4 Likes

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