Zone file not updating after adding CNAME record via API

Charlie Hampton

• July 24, 2026 16:53

I'm running into an issue where CNAME records added through the UAPI ZoneEdit::add_zone_record call aren't showing up in the actual zone file on disk, even though the API returns a success response with a valid serial number.

Setup:

• WHM/cPanel 118.0.x
• DNS Clustering enabled (2 nodes, standalone powerdns used as backend on the secondary)
• Domain in question: example.com (not a reseller account)

What I've tried:

1. Added the record via whmapi1 and via the cPanel UI directly — same result.
2. Confirmed the API response shows status: 1 and a new serial.
3. Checked /var/named/example.com.db on the primary — the record is not present.
4. Ran /scripts/dnsqueue manually to force a sync — no change.
5. Restarted named — no change.
6. Checked /usr/local/cpanel/logs/error_log — nothing relevant around the timestamps.

Question:
Is there a known issue with zone edits not being flushed to disk when clustering is active, or could this be a caching layer (e.g., PowerDNS backend) masking the write? Has anyone run into dnsadmin silently failing to propagate a single record type (CNAME specifically — A and MX records update fine)?

Any pointers on where else to check logs, or a way to force a full zone re-sync per-domain rather than server-wide, would be appreciated.

Thanks!

• 

  cPRex Jurassic Moderator

  • July 24, 2026 17:25

  Hey there!  At least the behavior is consistent between the API calls and UI, so we can rule out an issue with the actual process.

  /var/log/messages should show errors related to the zone so that's always a good place to start looking.

  Does this command show anything odd with the zone file itself?  Just replace "domain.com" with the actual domain you're using.

  named-checkzone domain.com /var/named/domain.com.db

  If all is well it should say something similar to this:

  zone domain.com/IN: loaded serial 2026061201
  OK

  but it will tell you a specific line number if there are errors.

  0

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