Update: We managed to switch DNS server back to Cloudflare and this resolved the issue. Old OVH DNS records had a TTL of 1h.

What We Learned / How We’ll Avoid This in the Future

This incident highlighted key weaknesses in our domain and DNS management processes, particularly during registrar/operator transitions. To avoid similar issues in the future, we are implementing the following improvements:

• Avoid default DNS resets: We will ensure that when changing domain operators or making registrar-level changes, we explicitly check and preserve current nameserver settings to prevent unintended resets.

• Secondary access to critical tools: We will set up alternative access methods to our status page to avoid getting locked out during DNS-related outages.

These measures aim to reduce the risk of similar disruptions in the future.

Services Affected

• Public website (https://printunion.eu)

• Email communication (@printunion.eu addresses)

What Happened

On August 6, 2025, Print Union experienced a significant outage affecting both our website and email services. The incident was triggered by a change in domain operator, which unexpectedly reverted our DNS settings to default OVH nameservers. This resulted in our domain no longer pointing to the correct infrastructure.

As a result, customers were unable to access our website, and all incoming and outgoing email communication was interrupted. Compounding the issue, we were unable to access our external status page due to its authentication mechanism relying on a “magic link” sent to our (now inaccessible) support email address.

Resolution

• After identifying that our domain was pointing to default OVH nameservers, we attempted to manually recreate our DNS configuration by updating OVH DNS records to match our previous Cloudflare DNS setup.

• All necessary A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records were re-entered based on our Cloudflare backup.

• Once the OVH DNS settings matched our original configuration, DNS propagation began (~1–2 hours).

• As DNS propagates, website and email services gradually resume to normal operation.

We’re having some trouble with email server and web server. We’re working to fix the problem as quickly as we can. We’ll share another update shortly.