I've already tried to create an override file but it's not being picked up.

The docs and pod logs say it wants a *.server file in the /etc/coredns/custom (or so) folder but I'm not sure how to do that since k8s won't allow . in configmap names.

Update - I've sinced downgraded coredns to settings in a working luster and it appears solid now. WIll run with this for a while.