A vendor has requested that we Flush the DNS cache, how do I do this and are there any ramifications?
Symptom
- You need to flush the DNS cache
Applies to
- EZproxy
Resolution
If you need the flush the DNS cache, please follow these steps:
- If you are self-hosted, please contact your EZproxy Administrator.
- If you are hosted, please contact OCLC Support.
Clearing the DNS Cache is a process that has some ramifications you should be aware of prior to us “clearing the cache:"
1. In the case of EZproxy “the cache” is located in the ezproxy.hst file. This file is used as a map of sorts to remember previous access and provide that route anytime the resource is accessed in the future. This file can only be accessed when the EZproxy service is stopped meaning a small outage for your server. Additionally, this file also has a memory of items no longer in the config.txt/ezproxy.cfg files, if there are links accessing this data that are no longer supported by configuration in the config.txt they will no longer work once this file is deleted.
2 To minimize the collateral damage, we will not be deleting the file in its entirety, we will be removing only lines referencing the Vendor's resources. Once the deletions are made for all the Vendor's references there may be some latency experienced above what is normal as the file rebuilds all the new data as the Vendor's resources are accessed. As stated above any references not currently supported by active stanzas in the config.txt/ezproxy.cfg will no longer work.