How long is the update delay when changing nameserver delegation, and how can I test the change

delegationdomain-name-system

I just changed our delegated name sever though our registrar (MelbourneIT, if it's important).

The updated nameserver value shows in the whois report – does this mean that the update has completed?

If not, how long should I expect to wait for the change to complete?

The domain is a com.au.

Best Answer

First, find out the nameservers for com.au:

$ dig com.au ns
[snip]
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      audns.optus.net.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      udns3.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      dns1.telstra.net.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      udns2.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      udns4.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns1.audns.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      udns1.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns3.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns3.melbourneit.com.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      au2ld.csiro.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns1.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns4.ausregistry.net.au.
com.au.                 86400   IN      NS      ns2.ausregistry.net.au.
[snip]

Then check a sample of those nameservers to see if they have the new delegation for your domain. E.g., for theage.com.au:

$ dig @ns1.audns.net.au. theage.com.au ns
[snip]
theage.com.au.          14400   IN      NS      ns1.fairfax.com.au.
theage.com.au.          14400   IN      NS      ns2.fairfax.com.au.
[snip]

and

$ dig @ns3.melbourneit.com. theage.com.au
[snip]
theage.com.au.          14400   IN      NS      ns1.fairfax.com.au.
theage.com.au.          14400   IN      NS      ns2.fairfax.com.au.
[snip]

If any of the nameservers show the old delegation, then the update is still propagating.

"dig" is your friend when it comes to DNS; spend some time learning how it works, and how the DNS system works. (I should take a bit more of that advice myself -- I still don't think I've got a complete understanding of DNS.)

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