Hello all...

 

I have been trying to ignore this for some time now but it's happening too often now. My docker NZBHydra has historically had some issues contacting the number of indexers that I have but never really enough to impact Sonarr. Now Sonarr has been hard locked searching for anything because 'all' indexers are failing to report back. How NZBHydra is 'offline' is perplexing and I can only assume that Hydra is not 'responding' is due to the 5 indexers being 'offline' and thus Sonarr shits the bed. Oh and Sonarr also notes that 'All indexers are offline for the past 6h' and thus stops searching for anything anymore. 

 

Hydra will blackball an indexer and after I reenable said indexer, it starts working as it should. 

I tried to sidestep Hydra and setting up sonarr to directly contact my 'main' indexer and the funny thing is that when I tested the connection it was good, but when trying to Save it, it complained about DNS. 

Emby also fails to resolve one site when trying to manually pull thumbnails.

 

So I dont think the issue is with a singular Docker but rather DNS. 

 

So what is my setup? Unraid points to my router(pfSense) and pfSense doesnt have any special settings for the DNS Resolver. 

 

The DNS servers its currently pointing to is 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. 

 

While writing this I decided to change those settings to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8. Perhaps this is the fix... but if you have anything else you could suggest, I am all ears

Most likely a  docker resolv.conf issue.

the /etc/resolv.conf is the config file for dns servers between containers devices and machines...
 

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It sounds like your issue revolves around DNS resolution and potentially network configuration across your Unraid server and Docker containers. Here's a breakdown of potential causes and solutions:

 

1. Diagnose DNS Configuration

Since DNS resolution issues seem to be affecting multiple Docker containers (NZBHydra, Sonarr, Emby), the problem is likely at the Unraid server or Docker network level.

Verify DNS Resolution on Unraid

From the Unraid terminal, test DNS resolution directly:

 

try termianl comand run: 

nslookup google.com

dig google.com

 

 

2. DNS Configuration on Unraid

*Unraid web UI make sure dns is set to 

Ensure Unraid's DNS is properly configured:

Go to Settings > Network Settings in the Unraid web interface.

Confirm that DNS settings are set to reliable servers:

Primary: 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare)

Secondary: 8.8.8.8 (Google)

Apply changes and reboot the server to ensure changes take effect.

 

3. Configure DNS for Docker Containers

Docker containers may not inherit the host's DNS settings. To force proper DNS resolution for containers:

Edit the Docker daemon configuration file:

Go to Settings > Docker in Unraid.

Under "Docker custom network DNS server", add 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8.

*Sometimes a network reload helps here:
 

/etc/rc.d/rc.docker restart

 

4. Check DNS in NZBHydra and Sonarr Containers

Confirm that the containers themselves can resolve DNS:

 

docker ps

docker exec -it [nzbhydra_container_name] /bin/bash

Test DNS resolution:

nslookup google.com

confirm the resolv conf in the docker
 

cat /etc/resolv.conf

If this fails:

Check /etc/resolv.conf inside the container to ensure proper DNS servers are listed.

Force DNS settings for the container in the Unraid Docker UI under "Extra Parameters"

--dns=1.1.1.1 --dns=8.8.8.8

or replace the conf file...

 

5. Reevaluate pfSense DNS Configuration

Although pfSense typically forwards DNS requests without issue, some configurations can inadvertently block or misroute DNS traffic:

Test DNS Resolver:

Log in to pfSense and go to Diagnostics > DNS Lookup.

Verify that queries for google.com and other domains resolve correctly.

Bypass pfSense Resolver:

Temporarily set Unraid to use external DNS servers directly (e.g., 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8) instead of pointing to pfSense.

 

6. Additional Steps

Test Connectivity to Indexers

From the NZBHydra container, test connectivity to indexers:
 

curl -v [indexer_url]

If the test fails, it may indicate that DNS or network routing to the indexer is blocked.

Review NZBHydra Logs

Check NZBHydra's logs for specific DNS or connection errors:

Go to NZBHydra > Logs.

Look for entries related to indexer failure or DNS issues.

Configure Docker with Static IPs

To avoid potential conflicts, ensure your Docker containers have static IPs:

Create a custom Docker network in Unraid.

Assign static IPs to containers like NZBHydra and Sonarr.

 

7. Verify Changes

After implementing these steps, test the system:

Check NZBHydra's indexers for connectivity issues.

Monitor Sonarr to confirm it can perform searches without issue.

Test Emby's functionality for thumbnails to confirm DNS resolution is fixed.

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by bmartino1
typo

I forgot to mention that I also have issues when trying to 'check' for updates from unraid itself so I think it's safe to say it not limited to docker. Thanks for the thought though.

 

Thus far I am not seeing any errors since modifying the DNS servers in the router. 

 

Again. Thank you for your thoughts on this.