DomainWhois returns status = error for some tlds

[Luxaaa]

Hello,

i am trying to use the DomainWhois endpoint of the WHMCS internal API to check if a domain is available for registration. This is my code:

$res = localAPI('DomainWhois', array(
                'domain' => $domain
            ));

 

My problem now is, that this is returning 

{
      "result": "success",
      "status": "error",
      "whois": null
}

 

for some tlds, for example .lol, .xyz (i did not tested all). it does not matter if the checked domain is registered or not. The tld pricing and registrar module are configured for the tlds in WHMCS.

I am using the latest WHMCS 8.8.

 

Is this a known issue? Is there a solution or any other way to check domain availability in my own addon module?

 

best regards
Luca

[RadWebHosting]

Be sure to check that your whois servers are up to date in /resources/domains/whois.json

[Luxaaa]

2 hours ago, radwebhosting said:

Be sure to check that your whois servers are up to date in /resources/domains/whois.json

Thanks for your answer. 
I checked the file (its named dist.whois.json btw). I also copied the file from the latest WHMCS bundle. It still does not work.

[RadWebHosting]

Hi you should not modify the dist.whois.json file because this file will consistently be overwritten by system updates.

Create the whois.json file in the same folder to record additional whois servers/responses as well as overwriting any of the default values of the dist.whois.json file. This is where the whois servers and expected response values would originate.

[Luxaaa]

9 hours ago, radwebhosting said:

Hi you should not modify the dist.whois.json file because this file will consistently be overwritten by system updates.

Create the whois.json file in the same folder to record additional whois servers/responses as well as overwriting any of the default values of the dist.whois.json file. This is where the whois servers and expected response values would originate.

Hi,
yes i know. I only replaced the file with the one shipped with the latest WHMCS download bundle from the official website.

I found a workaround for this now by searching for the registrar module name in the database and calling the checkAvailability function of the module. It feels a little bit hacky but it works for me now.

anyway, thanks for your help.

[RadWebHosting]

Great! There’s definitely multiple ways to accomplish and quite honestly, if you are requesting domain availability frequently, Whois technically isn’t the appropriate method. Some Whois servers may even impose rate limiting or outright blacklisting of the IP making the requests.

I think technically EPP is the most correct way to check domain availability, although WHMCS doesn’t offer native support for this protocol.