dig Queries - Different Answers

[Barry Finkel]

I wrote:

> I have two zones in DNS, and when I query for a record that was
>> recently removed from each zone I get a different response.
>> One query gives me NXDOMAIN and one gives me NOERROR.  I thought that
>> the NOERROR reply meant that I queried for an "A" record; that record
>> does not exist but another record for the same name exists.  But I
>> cannot find another record with that name in the zone.  Why the
>> difference in the answer packets?
>> 
>> britaine% dig calendar.et.anl.gov
>> 
>> ; <<>> DiG 8.3 <<>> calendar.et.anl.gov 
>> ;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
>> ;; got answer:
>> ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 4
>> ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0
>> ;; QUERY SECTION:
>> ;;      calendar.et.anl.gov, type = A, class = IN


And Ronan Flood <R.Flood at noc.ulcc.ac.uk> replied:

> Suggests to me that there is some xxx.calendar.et.anl.gov record,
> so the label calendar exists but with no RR attached.


That was the case.  There is a CNAME record in the et.anl.gov zone:

     test.calendar           1D IN CNAME     harrison

Thanks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barry S. Finkel
Computing and Information Systems Division
Argonne National Laboratory          Phone:    +1 (630) 252-7277
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