Error adding computers to domain

[Kevin Peterson]

Hi

I've encountered a really annoying error when trying to
add Windows 2000 computers to a domain.
There have been no errors what so ever to add NT
computers to the domain and Windows Millenium but now
when i try to add a Simple 2000 Pro computer to that
domain it stalls with an error message that is similar
to "Cannot join domain xyz, Network path is not found".

Ofcourse i have tried the support with Windows 2000 that
says that i should try to enter IP Adress manually on
that computer so it maps to the servers IP.
That doesn't work at all.

This server has not had the WINS,DNS service installed at
all because that function isn't necessary on that server.
Tried to add it and restart without any luck..

The only thing that slipps my mind is that that server is
assigned so it shares IP adresses on the network (DHCP
Server) And that DHCP is configured to give computers on
the network their IP Adress, Gateway AND DNS to Their ISP.

Do you think that i have to close down the DHCP server
and reset the IPServer adress so it doesn't have the
possibility to communicate to internet.. The GW and DNS
to the ISP is entered in that computers TCP/IP settings.

Any idea folks out there, i just can't crack this up..
Seems like a small bug that i've encounterd because
everything else is working like a charm and i have never
ever encountered problems for the past 8 years to add
computers to domains..

Kind Regards Kevin Peterson

 

[SaltPeter]

Hi

I've encountered a really annoying error when trying to
add Windows 2000 computers to a domain.
There have been no errors what so ever to add NT
computers to the domain and Windows Millenium but now
when i try to add a Simple 2000 Pro computer to that
domain it stalls with an error message that is similar
to "Cannot join domain xyz, Network path is not found".

In other words, the W2K client can't resolve the domain name and therefore
can't contact its authority. Your problem is a name resolution issue.

Ofcourse i have tried the support with Windows 2000 that
says that i should try to enter IP Adress manually on
that computer so it maps to the servers IP.
That doesn't work at all.

On the contrary, MS deserves credit here.
W2K support suggests the static ip address in order to test network
connectivity. In the first case to assert that the NIC is properly
initialized and that you can ping a domain controller via ip_address. Before
dealing with the name resolution issue, assert that the network is available
(ipconfig + Ping). This is the appropriate first step in troubleshooting.

This server has not had the WINS,DNS service installed at
all because that function isn't necessary on that server.
Tried to add it and restart without any luck..

While not required by the server, the clients would certainly see a benefit.

The only thing that slipps my mind is that that server is
assigned so it shares IP adresses on the network (DHCP
Server) And that DHCP is configured to give computers on
the network their IP Adress, Gateway AND DNS to Their ISP.

Bingo. A private client should never, ever use an ISP's DNS server. The
reason is simple. The ISP's DNS database knows nothing about your private
namespace. Clients who rely on ISP's DNS server to resolve can't resolve the
private namespace.

A server requires a static ip address. You should configure DNS on the
server. The tcp/ip properties of the server should specifiy 127.0.0.1 as
both DNS entries. The DNS server should NOT have a root zone and its
forwarders configured to query the ISP's DNS server.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;291382

This way, your clients can use the private DNS which will query (and cache)
external name resolution requests on behalf of the clients. Clients now have
a single point to resolve both private and public namespaces.

Your DHCP server can now allow a new computer to access a domain since it
can specify a DNS server's ip_address in its scope(s) which CAN resolve the
private namespace. You should use nslookup to confirm this.

Note that a Win9x or NT4 client relies on netbios primarily while W2K or XP
use DNS primarily. So that if you need a Win9x client to resolve a server
without WINS available, you can modify the lmhosts file. For W2K or XP
without a DNS server, modify the hosts file.