Active Directory Upgrade

[Rob T]

Hi.

I had an old NT network with 3 servers that were domain controllers:
Server01 (BDC), Server02 (PDC), and Server03(BDC). I also have 2 2000
servers that are simply joined to that domain: Server05, and Server06.

I upgraded Server02 to 2000 with Active Directory. The old domain is
"Holliston", and the new domain name is Walchem.com. No problems so far...

I am now attempting to DCPromo server06 so it is running Active Directory
(eventually server02 will be retired). During the wizard, I'm choosing
"Additional Domain Controller...". For the network credentials, I'm
entering the admin,pw and Holliston for the domain. (I get an error that
"the wizard cannot gain access to the list of domains in the forest" if I
enter Walchem.com, which I'm not sure if that's a problem or not)

Then I need to enter the full DNS name of the existing domain. I enter
Holliston again (since it gives me a similar error as above) and it popups
up with a message "The domain name "Holliston" refers to the domain
"walchem.com". I hit "yes", and hit Next through the volume names. Of
course I then get another error when it's trying to sync because "Failed
finding a suitable domain controller for the domain walchem.com"

Am I missing some simple entry in the DNS table? I'm not sure where I'm
going wrong. Also, I do have the IP address of server02 as the primary DNS
server for server06's IP properties....

Thanks.

-Rob T.

 

[SaltPeter]

Hi.

I had an old NT network with 3 servers that were domain controllers:
Server01 (BDC), Server02 (PDC), and Server03(BDC). I also have 2 2000
servers that are simply joined to that domain: Server05, and Server06.

I upgraded Server02 to 2000 with Active Directory. The old domain is
"Holliston", and the new domain name is Walchem.com. No problems so

far...

Since you are upgrading, both names, "Holliston" and "Walchem.com",
represent the same logical entity in 2 different namespaces. the former is
your netbios domain name and the latter is your dns domain name.

I am now attempting to DCPromo server06 so it is running Active Directory
(eventually server02 will be retired). During the wizard, I'm choosing
"Additional Domain Controller...". For the network credentials, I'm
entering the admin,pw and Holliston for the domain. (I get an error that
"the wizard cannot gain access to the list of domains in the forest" if I
enter Walchem.com, which I'm not sure if that's a problem or not)

Your problem is related to name resolution at your dns server. Since you
need a DNS server which supports dynamic updates to support W2K, the first
question is: Did you install and configure DNS with rootDC(server02)? (you
answered that below, i see)

Then I need to enter the full DNS name of the existing domain. I enter
Holliston again (since it gives me a similar error as above) and it popups
up with a message "The domain name "Holliston" refers to the domain
"walchem.com". I hit "yes", and hit Next through the volume names. Of
course I then get another error when it's trying to sync because "Failed
finding a suitable domain controller for the domain walchem.com"

Am I missing some simple entry in the DNS table? I'm not sure where I'm
going wrong. Also, I do have the IP address of server02 as the primary DNS
server for server06's IP properties....

Thanks.

-Rob T.

At server02, your Nic should confirm ip with "ipconfig /all" at a prompt.
Can you PING server02? Is server02 pointing to itself as DNS server? Did you
set up the reverse lookup zone on the DNS server at server02? Is server02
the Start of Authority (SOA) for walchem.com? Are there any other DNS
servers on the network?

Troubleshooting Common Active Directory Setup Issues in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;260371

There are a few other issues with DNS that you'll want to cover as well,
like how to configure forwarders (by deleting root zone). You should start
by confirming that server02 has network media connectivity and that it is
correctly identified in DNS. Use nslookup tool (ipconfig /flushdns, ipconfig
/registerdns).

It's a good idea to keep one of the NT4 BDCs offline in the case you find
you need to recover later.

Last but not least. run "winnt32 /checkupgradeonly" off the W2K CD's I386
directory before you install W2K or upgrade to W2K on every server. It may
save you a large bottle of Aspirins. Hardware and software compatibility is
the key to success when any upgrade is performed.

Understanding and Troubleshooting DNS in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330511