Hi everyone.

I'm currently studying for the Pro exam, so forgive me since I know nothing of 2000 server.

Anyway, I set up 2000 Server so I can get some practice with remote installs and see how client/server interact with each other. For the most part, everything on the server install and setup went fine. DHCP works fine, and my client receives the correct info for the most part (unsure about the DNS suffix).

However, when I try to join the client to the domain (current configuration is workgroup), I get the error that the domain either does not exist, or cannot be contacted. I can ping the server by IP address, but not by name, and nslookup tells me the domain is non-existent also.

If someone could help me troubleshoot this, I would really appreciate it! If you need some more info, please let me know.

TIA.

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Try joining the domain without using the DNS extention.

For example: If your domain is ABC.XYZ try joining the domain ABC (just drop off everything after the last period).

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quote:

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Originally posted by firechicken
However, when I try to join the client to the domain (current configuration is workgroup), I get the error that the domain either does not exist, or cannot be contacted. I can ping the server by IP address, but not by name, and nslookup tells me the domain is non-existent also.

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I know my answer sounded wierd, but unfortunately I have experienced this same problem with Microsoft.

Provided that you actually have a domain, and your client is configured to point to your correct DNS server, the best option to try is to use a Netbios Name.

In my example, I could ping all workstations by IP. I could also ping them by using their full hostname, FQDN,(DNS would resolve the names to address, even though I was a DNS client outside the domain). However each time I tried to join the domain, I received the same error message (Domain cannot be contacted or doesn't exist). By using a Netbios name, I was able to resolve to a domain that I was trying to join.

If you try to join the domain by using a Netbios name, and WINS is not configured (or also not working), make sure your client is on the same segment as your DC. Your client can resolve the name via a B-node broadcast.

Even though Windows 2000 is supposed to be Netbios free, I have seen otherwise. For example, if you attempt to restrict the computers that users can log on to (through their user account properties), Windows 2000 uses Netbios names, not host names, to verify which domain computer is being used.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Terje

First of all, do you really have a domain? I ask because you didn't tell us. To create a domain, run DCPROMO on the server.

Second, you obviously have a name resolution problem. Things to check:
- Does your client know the address of your DNS server (type IPCONFIG /ALL)?
- Is the DNS installed and running?
- In the DNS MMC, can you find the host records for the server?

Terje

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As usual, my problem was a Layer 8 issue (the User layer...or more specifically, the User error layer) . The problem was actually two fold. First, during the initial attempt to change the client from workgroup to domain, I was asked to provide an authoritve account to do this. I thought it was initially asking for an authoritive account for the domain, when apparantly it was asking for the authoritive account on the local machine. After entering the proper username/password, I was again prompted for an authoritive account, but this time for the domain.

Second, you were right, Joe. By leaving off the top level domain name, I was able to log onto the domain. Also, as you have experienced, I can also only ping by using either IP address or FQDN, but that's it. I'm still unclear on why it only works this way and what I misconfigured, but hopefully (with some help), I can figure out why or what is going wrong.

Third...Terje, my buddy and human database! Long time no hear, and I'm glad to see you're still sharing your knowledge!

quote:

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- Does your client know the address of your DNS server (type IPCONFIG /ALL)?
- Is the DNS installed and running?

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Last edited by firechicken on 07-20-01 at 06:12 AM

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Glad to hear that you were able to join the domain.

For your host records, you need to pull up the dns tool, go to forward lookup zones, and click on the zone for your domain. You should see the SOA record, the Name server record, and the A records of registered clients.

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Here's what I have under my DNS tree:

myname1
|
|
V
forward lookup zones
|
|
V
. (dot) --> myname.com
|
|
V
com
|
|
V
myname


The myname.com folder and com folder are subfolders of . (dot). I couldn't get the myname.com subfolder to line up right, so I chumped out and just had an arrow pointing to it.

Hopefully this turns out okay because I spent hours presenting you with these fine and unprecedented graphical images .

Can anyone see anything that I did wrong from this pristine structure? If more info is needed, please let me know. Thanks again!

Last edited by firechicken on 07-21-01 at 01:28 AM

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