# Newly self-hosted Discourse instance down (DNS?)
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [April 16, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078 "2017-04-16T21:03:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/1 "2017-04-16T21:03:01Z")
I recently moved my Discourse instance ([forum.fortelabs.co](http://forum.fortelabs.co/)) to self-hosted (on a Digital Ocean droplet following the migration instructions exactly).
It’s worked fine for about a month, but today it is down and I have no idea where to begin troubleshooting. I think it probably involves SSH, but all I know is what I did in the migration instructions.
Could someone please help me, or point me in the right direction?
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/2 "2017-04-16T21:10:00Z")
Out of disk space? Out of memory? Does a command line rebuild help? I suggest contacting [https://www.literatecomputing.com](https://www.literatecomputing.com) for support as needed.
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### Author:  [@Lee\_Ars](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lee_Ars)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/3 "2017-04-16T21:12:00Z")
DNS lookups for `forum.fortelabs.co` shows that it’s a CNAME for `buildingasecondbrain.hosted-by-discourse.com`, which I’m guessing is one of @codinghorror et al’s boxes.
@fortelabs, check the [fortelabs.co](http://fortelabs.co) DNS provider settings and make sure you’ve got an A record for `forum` that points to the correct IP address.
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/4 "2017-04-16T21:58:14Z")
How do I find the correct IP address? I logged into Digital Ocean and it says the “public IP address” is 159.203.116.191, but going to that address in the browser just opens a registration page, so I don’t think it’s right.
Just tried to enter it in GoDaddy anyway and it said "Enter either @ or a valid host name such as: “subdomain.domain.tld”
---
### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/5 "2017-04-16T22:04:38Z")
> [@Lee\_Ars](#):
>
> DNS lookups for [forum.fortelabs.co](http://forum.fortelabs.co) shows that it’s a CNAME for [buildingasecondbrain.hosted-by-discourse.com](http://buildingasecondbrain.hosted-by-discourse.com)
Maybe it changed the last hour, but no:
```
;; ANSWER SECTION:
forum.fortelabs.co. 3599 IN CNAME fortelabs.co.
fortelabs.co. 3599 IN A 50.63.202.1
```
50.63.202.1 is a GoDaddy IP address, so this looks like a DNS issue indeed, since GoDaddy is not hosting your forum - just the DNS.
So what you should do is go into GoDaddy DNS control panel and change the IP address for the `@` entry to 159.203.116.191.
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/6 "2017-04-16T22:07:21Z")
I’m working with a programmer friend, and he says it looks like my migration to DO didn’t actually take place, and my community kept using the Discourse-hosted instance, which just shut down today.
Is there any way to recover a backup for Discourse-hosted instances @codinghorror ? I have no problem paying for support, but I have a sinking feeling that I just lost my database. My friend says time is of the essence.
I’ll contact literatecomputing now just in case.
---
### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/7 "2017-04-16T22:11:16Z")
I changed it just now to @, which I think is why it’s pointing to the root domain.
I already tried entering the IP address in the “points to” section, but it just says ""Enter either @ or a valid host name such as: “subdomain.domain.tld”
---
### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/8 "2017-04-16T22:12:57Z")
> [@fortelabs](#):
>
> and he says it looks like my migration to DO didn’t actually take place, and my community kept using the Discourse-hosted instance
Well, 159.203.116.191 _does_ end up at a box which _thinks_ it’s [forum.fortelabs.co](http://forum.fortelabs.co), but it’s _also_ an unconfigured Discourse instance… seems like your backup hasn’t been imported properly.
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### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/9 "2017-04-16T22:14:02Z")
> [@fortelabs](#):
>
> I already tried entering the IP address in the “points to” section, but it just says ""Enter either @ or a valid host name such as: “subdomain.domain.tld”
You should change the type for that record from CNAME to A.
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/10 "2017-04-16T22:17:46Z")
Ok, just did that, but I think the bigger issue now is that entering 159.203.116.191 in a browser takes me to an unconfigured instance, which makes me think I didn’t complete the migration properly.
I think my community continued to use the Discourse-hosted version, and it just got culled today as part of regular maintenance.
Just crossing my fingers there’s a backup of the data somewhere…
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### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/11 "2017-04-16T22:22:13Z")
> [@fortelabs](#):
>
> Just crossing my fingers there’s a backup of the data somewhere…
If you did perform a migration, you have downloaded an export and uploaded it again into your new instance, right? So then the export should still be somewhere on your computer, and/or on the new instance?
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/12 "2017-04-16T22:26:56Z")
I followed these official installation instructions exactly (I thought), but I don’t see anything about downloading the instance, nor is there anything in my saved files on my computer, which I keep very organized.
>
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### Author:  [@michaeld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/michaeld)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/13 "2017-04-16T22:32:20Z")
> [@fortelabs](#):
>
> I followed these official installation instructions exactly
Yes, you followed the _installation_ instructions, so now you have a brand new forum.
You didn’t _migrate_.
Your only bet is that [@team](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/team) still has a backup lying around.
---
### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/14 "2017-04-16T22:33:47Z")
Damn, I think you’re right. I was so happy that I was able to follow the instructions, I forgot about the actual migration part.
Crossing my fingers for [@team](https://meta.discourse.org/groups/team) to come through for me …
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/15 "2017-04-16T23:43:05Z")
Sure but business hours aren’t for a while. It’s Sunday.
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/16 "2017-04-17T00:49:32Z")
Yes of course, sorry to bother you!
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### Author:  [@mpalmer](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mpalmer)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/17 "2017-04-17T01:35:11Z")
Hi Tiago,
I have a copy of your site backup from the date the site was marked for decommissioning. I’ll contact you via e-mail to arrange for its transfer.
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### Author:  [@fortelabs](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fortelabs)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/18 "2017-04-17T02:08:02Z")
YES! Awesome, thank you so much.
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### Author:  [@mpalmer](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mpalmer)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/19 "2017-04-17T03:05:18Z")
The backup has been transferred, so we can call this done.
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### Author:  [@mpalmer](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mpalmer)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/newly-self-hosted-discourse-instance-down-dns/61078/20 "2017-04-17T03:05:23Z")