2003 DNS problems

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Hi,
For a test lab I am using 2003 enterprise edition, I work with standard daily so thought it would be OK but have hit a wall with what I think is DNS?

The 2003 box and XP box are running as virtual machines [vmware]as follows:
vmxp1 10.10.10.3
vmdc1 10.10.0.10

Now everything is up and running on both boxes with the server setup as DHCP, DNS, WINS & DC roles but the XP client cannot join the domain no matter what I try. From vmxp1 I can ping the server by IP or DNS name, nslookup is OK and can access the HDD so I dont think its specifically network related.

I have attached a txt file detailing ipconfig & NSLOOKUP, but as I say all looks OK to me?

Lastly, the DC event vwr app log, I keep getting Userenv alerts
1006 - Windows cannot bind to MCSA.co.uk domain [local error]. group Policy aborted.
1053 - Windows cannot obtain the domain controller name for your computer network

Many thanx

G

 

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In your DNS MMC, look for mcsa.co.uk in the forward lookup zones section. Inside there, check the A records that have been set.

You should have entries for the the DC and also the netbios name of your server. The one for the DC should just say (same as parent folder) instead of mcsa.co.uk. But the IP address should be 10.10.10.10 for that A record and also for the Netbios name A record.

Certainly the error message in your text file would indicate a possible problem in that area.

Also, what name are you putting in when you try and join the client to the domain?

Try the following (if you haven't already).

vmdc1
or
msca.co.uk
or
vmdc1.mcsa.co.uk

The middle of those three should be the one that works really.

 

Thanx modey,
I am simply joining the domain using mcsa or mcsa.co.uk, neither works.

In my DNS MMC all appears OK too, txt fole attached detailing this as well.

To be fair I really dont know how to fix this as I have matched the settings in my live DNS server to this, thats why I presumed it was enterprise v standard version.hmmm

G

 

Edit - Have attached the dcdiag from the DC too..

 

do you have ISA on the VDC

 

Hi there,
No, no ISA or NIC firewalls anywhere.. All communications between the client & server seem up and running..
Strange isnt it!

G

 

No mate, not that I can remember anyway. I am wondering if I should remove DNS, DHCP, WINs & AD and demote to standalone server then try again?

Just noticed netlogon service wont start on vmxp1, presumably cause its in a workgroup?

G

 

OK,
I removed AD using server management, after rebooting it took around a minute to boot back up. Ran the AD role which also prompted me to install DNS which I let it do to. After reboot it now takes around 5 minutes to boot, mostly taking time on network connections.

Again, I see the same errors running dcdiag [posted]!

Bizzare, maybe it is VMWare causing the problems I cant really test as I dont have enough machines to run the server on its own..

Am gonna try and remove DNS then reinstall to see if I can ctach any errors..

G

 

Yes Sparky those questions were asked, and I removed the directory partitions when prompted. After reboot I could change server name etc so looks as though it worked.

Removed all DC, DNS, DHCP, WINS roles and server rebooted in 1minute! This time I ran the wizard to install DC, DNS & if required DHCP, it asked for the disks which I provided so Windows is now doing all the install meaning I cant mess it up!

Rebooted, again took around 6/7 minutes, hanging for 4 of those on "preparing network connections"! At this stage surely Windows doesnt even know I have VMWare installed does it? Is this where my problem lies, with virtual NICs?

The configure your server log shows no errors, but for some reason it did change the server DNS entry to 127.0.0.1, cant remember if thats normal or not, but I changed it back to the NIC IP.

The dcdiag [attached] has failed again, and true enough I cant browse to \\VMDC1\netlogon directory so not surprising.

This is killing me, I just want to get a LAB up so I can start the course!


Sorry to keep asking..

G

 

a DC ALWAYS takes longer to boot up at the 'preparing network connections' phase
it is doing a fair bit more work in the background than it did when it was just a member server
this is nothing to be alarmed at

however if you still can't join your XP machine to the domain there is something else a little rong that we need to work out

 

If dcdiag shows errors when run on the DC then any VMware server networking issues are not related are they? Does dcdiag attempt any connections outside of the DC?

The key may be in the dcdiag though as \\VMDC1\netlogon share doesnt exist and running dcdiag /fix doesnt resolve..

Again I have attached a revised recent dcdiag /fix in the faint hope it will help..

Thanx for looking..

G

 

Sorry forgot to add the netdiag attachments... Showing some big errors..

Domain membership test . . . . . . : Failed
[WARNING] Ths system volume has not been completely replicated to the local machine. This machine is not working properly as a DC.



DC discovery test. . . . . . . . . : Failed
[FATAL] Cannot find DC in domain 'BRETTCORP'. [ERROR_NO_SUCH_DOMAIN]


DC list test . . . . . . . . . . . : Failed
'BRETTCORP': Cannot find DC to get DC list from [test skipped].


Trust relationship test. . . . . . : Skipped


Kerberos test. . . . . . . . . . . : Skipped
'BRETTCORP': Cannot find DC to get DC list from [test skipped].


LDAP test. . . . . . . . . . . . . : Failed
Cannot find DC to run LDAP tests on. The error occurred was: The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.

[WARNING] Cannot find DC in domain 'BRETTCORP'. [ERROR_NO_SUCH_DOMAIN]



Thanx

 

how did you set up the DC mate?
did you just run dcpromo and install the DNS server as part of that process?

 

1 - Tried using the "DCPROMO" wizard which installed DC & DNS together, didnt work so removed both roles.
2 - Used DCPROMO for DC then add DNS role manually
3 - Used "manage you server" to add DC, DNS & DHCP.

So far none have worked, I wonder if its worth scrappingf this virtual machine and starting again? Would you agree this has nothing to do with VMWare server?

G

 

have you installed VMtools?

it could be something to do with the virtual environment if its not set up right
the errors are not really network specific but it could be a number of other issues related to it

 

Hi Phoenix, tools installed on both VMXP1 and VMDC1.

Your not aware of any limitations on the 2003 enterprise disks supplied for evaluation purposes are you? Grasping at straws I know mate but dont know what else to do!

VMSetup - Virtual Network editor Host -
VMNet1 Subnet - 192.168.0.0 - 255.255.255.0
VMNet1 DHCP - 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.254 [off]
VMNet1 NAT Gateway - 192.168.0.1
VMNet1 DNS - 192.168.0.10

VMDC1 Ethernet settings set to "Host Only"
VMDC1 StaticIP - 192.168.0.10
VMDC1 Subnet - 255.255.255.0
VMDC1 DNS - 192.168.0.10
VMDC1 Gateway - 192.168.0.1

As you may imagine I have also had this setting as bridged but the DC has always been static.

G

 

If I get time tomorrow I'll install Server 2003 (the 180 day eval version) onto VMWare Workstation and also setup a XP client.

I'll note each step taken and let you know how I got on.