OpenDNS Updater Issue
Over the past several days, the OpenDNS updater window pops up every 30 minutes or so with a message under the Using OpenDNS? row stating "No. Learn how to setup OpenDNS." Also, no IP address is shown … it’s like the updater does not see that I am connected to the internet (which I am).
If I click on Update Now, the issue resolves – within a few seconds of clicking, if not immediately. If I just wait five minutes, the issue resolves. (And my IP address is also correctly noted) If I go to OpenDNS.com/welcome when the error message appears, I get the return that I am using OpenDNS.
OpenDNS is setup on my router, and no changes have been made to my network. I have been using the updater since before version 2.2.1 was released, which is already several years ago. This issue just presented itself with no changes.
There is no loss of internet connection, everything is humming along when the updater window pops up. I submitted a ticket 48 hours ago, but have not heard anything back.
-
"it’s like the updater does not see that I am connected to the internet"
No, it isn't. The Updater says that you're not using OpenDNS which is totally different from not being connected to the internet. And your issues are not related to the Updater which only outputs the symptoms of your real issue.
"no changes have been made to my network"
How can you know? You cannot know unless you're God herself!
Let me guess: your ISP introduced IPv6 connectivity recently, and now your DNS traffic randomly goes out sometimes over IPv4 (to OpenDNS) and sometimes over IPv6 (to your ISP's DNS). There could be other problems as well, but as you didn't post any measuring results, I can only guess, because I'm not God and not a prophet.
If you want to know more, then copy & paste the complete plain text outputs of the following diagnostic commands to here:
nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com.
nslookup whoami.akamai.net."I submitted a ticket 48 hours ago, but have not heard anything back."
Yeah, it takes up to 72 hours to get a response from OpenDNS - and within business days only. And occasionally it takes longer when there are too many tickets in the queue. For such easily solvable issues it's anyway quicker to post in the community section of the forum.
Ok, you posted in the DNS-O-Matic forum section, no idea why...
Your issue is in no way related to DNS-O-Matic, because you even don't seem to use it. -
Rotblitz ...
"it’s like the updater does not see that I am connected to the internet"
No, it isn't. The Updater says that you're not using OpenDNS which is totally different from not being connected to the internet. And your issues are not related to the Updater which only outputs the symptoms of your real issue.
Actually, it is exactly like that. When, on occasion, I have needed to use my hotspot for internet access (which is not configured with OpenDNS), the updater shows a valid IP address and also recognizes I am not using OpenDNS. In this case, there is NO IP address shown, which would only happen if you did not have an internet connection.
"no changes have been made to my network"
How can you know? You cannot know unless you're God herself!
Since I control my network, I am 100% certain no changes have been made since the last firmware update on my router (Netgear R7000) about six weeks ago. No settings were changed prior to or after the firmware upgrade. My router is properly configured to use OpenDNS servers, and I have a paid account through which I control a number of filtering/security parameters for my entire network. So, as far as my network is concerned, I am god.
Let me guess: your ISP introduced IPv6 connectivity recently, and now your DNS traffic randomly goes out sometimes over IPv4 (to OpenDNS) and sometimes over IPv6 (to your ISP's DNS). There could be other problems as well, but as you didn't post any measuring results, I can only guess, because I'm not God and not a prophet.
My ISP introduced IPv6 several years ago. At that time, I discovered I could either enable IPv6 on my router for geek bragging rights, or use OpenDNS for web filtering, etc, which for now only works over IPv4. Since network security was paramount, I disabled IPv6 on the router. So this, again, is 100% not the issue.
Ok, you posted in the DNS-O-Matic forum section, no idea why...
Your issue is in no way related to DNS-O-Matic, because you even don't seem to use it.You are correct on this one point. I misread/misunderstood the forum topic area and confused "DNS Updater" with "DNS-O-Matic" which are not (exactly) the same thing.
-
"Actually, it is exactly like that" - No.
"In this case, there is NO IP address shown, which would only happen if you did not have an internet connection."
This is wrong. It only indicates that the Updater was unable to obtain information about your IP address. It does not indicate that there is no internet connection.
"Since I control my network, I am 100% certain no changes have been made"
So say that you did make any changes. But that does not mean there were no changes! Even worse, you not making any changes is most likely the culprit of your issue, as almost if someone comes up saying that they didn't make any changes.
"I disabled IPv6 on the router. So this, again, is 100% not the issue."
Agreed. This and more to be proved with the command outputs you didn't post. :(
Because these are missing, I'm not able to help any further... -
I don't want to belabor the point here, but you are clearly not reading what I wrote:
1) IF I connect to my mobile hotspot, and open the OpenDNS updater ... there is an IP address noted and the notation that I am not using OpenDNS. This is correct and expected behavior. When for brief periods through the day - lasting no more than 15-30 seconds in general ...
1) the updater window pops up and has no IP address noted
2) the updater states I am not using OpenDNS
3) the internet is connected
4) the opendns welcome page acknowledges that I am using opendns
5) the whole thing self-resolves in 15-30 seconds
6) this is new issue
... all points to some kind of communication issue between the updater software and opendns.
Regarding control of the network -- I am the only one with the credentials to access the router's configuration pages. I have a ridiculously long and secure password, and regularly check for "intruders" (none have ever entered here). There were no changes. And there were certainly no changes between Monday, March 6 and today. This issue first presented on Friday. The issue did not present on Sunday or Monday, and started up again on Tuesday.
How is this possibly anything at my end? Most likely, it isn't.
Do you work for OpenDNS?
-
Also ...
To get the data you are asking for ...
nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com.
nslookup whoami.akamai.net.... I would need to capture it at the exact moment of the error. For better or worse, I don't have enough time between when the window pops up and it self resolves to run any tests. It self-resolves that quickly.
That said, it is annoying and needs to stop. :-)
-
No, I do not work for OpenDNS, and no, your conclusions do not hold true. I'm tired of expanding on this.
But you decided to receive no help from me further. You'll soon be hearing about your ticket from staff anyway. They will request similar things from you as I did, to run diagnostics.
"I would need to capture it at the exact moment of the error."
No, you don't. Any snapshot at any time most likely would do it already.
-
Yes, I would need to capture it at the moment of the error. Since 95% of the time, the updater is reporting all is normal. In order to see if there was an issue that could be resolved at my end, you would need to capture information while in the error state.
Further, since all other indicators (opendns website, the testing of filtered sites, etc.) all show OpenDNS is actually working correctly it is almost certainly an issue is with the OpenDNS updater.
As you are not an OpenDNS employee, I think it is actually a bit out-of-turn for you to be requesting diagnostics from individuals who - from what I can see - are under the impression that you are actually technical support.
-
Oh, and I did post in the right forum after-all. Since the first option in the settings for the OpenDNS updater is "Send DNS-O-Matic" updates - something I knew from setting up the software years ago, but haven't checked in some time since I have not encountered any issues until this week. Hopefully someone from OpenDNS will respond to me who can actually provide some guidance as to what the issue is.
-
If you have the option "Send Dns-O-Matic updates" checked, you actually must configure OpenDNS as a service at DNS-O-Matic, else updates cannot take effect. If you did not configure at DNS-O-Matic, there is no reason to check this option.
See also https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/227987807
But as you refuse collaboration and know everything better and in fact don't want to get help, I'm outta here. You have a pending ticket, so wait for response.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
9 comments