GitHub Pages DNS check fails for peaksel.az despite correct DNS records

[pikseliok]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Pages

Body

Hello,

I’m trying to connect my custom domain, peaksel.az, to my GitHub Pages site, but GitHub Pages continues to report a DNS error. I have been troubleshooting this for two days and have repeatedly checked the DNS records and Pages settings. The same error persists.

Repository: https://github.com/pikseliok/piksel.iokk
GitHub Pages domain: pikseliok.github.io
Custom domain in Pages settings: peaksel.az
Alternate name: www.peaksel.az
DNS provider: Cloudflare

The exact error shown in Repository → Settings → Pages is:

Both peaksel.az and its alternate name are improperly configured
Domain's DNS record could not be retrieved.
(InvalidDNSError)

Here is what I have checked:

A records for the apex domain

Cloudflare’s authoritative nameserver, cheryl.ns.cloudflare.com, returns all four GitHub Pages IPv4 addresses for peaksel.az:

185.199.108.153

185.199.109.153

185.199.110.153

185.199.111.153

I also queried Google DNS (8.8.8.8), which returned the same four addresses.

CNAME for the www alternate name

The authoritative Cloudflare nameserver returns:

www.peaksel.az CNAME pikseliok.github.io

Google DNS resolves www.peaksel.az through that CNAME to the same four GitHub Pages IPv4 addresses.

Nameservers and Cloudflare proxy

The domain’s nameservers resolve to Cloudflare:

cheryl.ns.cloudflare.com

jaxson.ns.cloudflare.com

The GitHub Pages records are set to DNS only in Cloudflare, with the proxy disabled.

IPv6 and DNSSEC checks

An AAAA query for peaksel.az returned no AAAA record. A DS query returned the .az zone’s SOA in the authority section and no DS record for peaksel.az.

Pages settings and retry

I removed peaksel.az from the repository’s Pages settings and added it again to trigger a fresh DNS check. GitHub briefly showed “DNS check is in progress,” but the check then returned the same InvalidDNSError. I have repeated the relevant checks over the last two days and continue to get the same result.

The DNS responses I receive from Cloudflare’s authoritative nameserver and Google DNS match the GitHub Pages configuration I expect. Could someone help identify why GitHub Pages cannot retrieve or validate the domain’s DNS records? Is there another DNS record or Pages setting I should check, or could the domain validation be stuck on GitHub’s side?

I can provide the exact PowerShell query outputs and a screenshot of the Pages error if needed.

Thank you.

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[PrithwishDas101]

Since you've already checked the authoritative nameserver and Google DNS, I wouldn't keep changing the A records just to see if the error disappears.

One thing I'd double-check is the repository's CNAME file and the Pages settings together. The custom domain should be the exact hostname you're configuring, without https://, a path, or any extra text.

I'd also try the full trace for both the apex and www records, just to confirm there's no unexpected delegation or response along the way. If those results are consistent with what you've already posted, it may be worth leaving the domain attached and collecting the DNS outputs plus the Pages API response for GitHub to investigate.

Repeatedly removing and re-adding the domain might just restart the validation or certificate process, so I'd avoid doing that again unless GitHub's documentation or support specifically recommends it.