Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!RIMFAXE.DIKU.DK!thorinn
From: thorinn@RIMFAXE.DIKU.DK (Lars Henrik Mathiesen)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains
Subject: BIND problem with "sparse" MX records
Message-ID: <9103071054.AA11777@rimfaxe.diku.dk>
Date: 7 Mar 91 10:54:29 GMT
References: <"1f[h2.1$8@smurf.sub.org>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: inet
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 33


   From: smurf!urlichs@ira.uka.de  (Matthias Urlichs)

   I had the following MXes in the primary record for domain sub.org:

   foo.bar	MX 90    some.forwarder
   *	MX 100   some.other.forwarder

   > bar.sub.org
     [ problem - host not found ]
   > plugh.bar.sub.org
     [ problem - no information ]

   What gives?

From RFC 1034 (Domain Concepts and Facilities):

     Wildcard RRs do not apply:

	- When the query name or a name between the wildcard domain and
	  the query name is know to exist.

So your nameserver does what it's supposed to. (It's not a bug, it's a
feature :-).

   Workaround: Add explicit MXes for bar.sub.org and *.bar.sub.org, pointing to
	       some.other.forwarder.

Well, that's life.

--
Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark      [uunet!]mcsun!diku!thorinn
Institute of Datalogy -- we're scientists, not engineers.      thorinn@diku.dk