replication problems related to DNS

[Chris T.]

I have 7 sites total at the main site i have one dc and then 1 dc at each of
the other sites i can not get replication to occur between the sites. When i
click on a replication link in sites and services and click replicate now I
get the following error. "



The following error occurred during the attempt to contact the domain
controller SERVERNAME: the RPC server is unavailable

This condition may be caused by a DNS lookup problem.



I am also getting event ids like this:



The attempt to establish a replication link for the following writable
directory partition failed.

Directory partition:
CN=Configuration,DC=,DC=com
Source domain controller:



Source domain controller address:



Intersite transport (if any):
CN=IP,CN=Inter-Site Transports,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=,DC=com

This domain controller will be unable to replicate with the source domain
controller until this problem is corrected.

User Action
Verify if the source domain controller is accessible or network connectivity
is available.

Additional Data
Error value:
8524 The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure.



For more information, see Help and Support Center at



----------------------------



So i know it is a DNS issue my question is how to fix it?



Do i need DynDNS enabled?

Do i need Zone Transfers between all Domain Controllers?



Also another thing i noticed in the DNS zone is only one of my sites has a

a folder called _sites > sitename > _tcp



Shouldn't thier be a record for every site under this folder on all the DNS
servers.

 

[Ace Fekay [MVP]]

In

I have 7 sites total at the main site i have one dc and then 1 dc at
each of the other sites i can not get replication to occur between
the sites. When i click on a replication link in sites and services
and click replicate now I get the following error. "



The following error occurred during the attempt to contact the domain
controller SERVERNAME: the RPC server is unavailable

This condition may be caused by a DNS lookup problem.



I am also getting event ids like this:



The attempt to establish a replication link for the following writable
directory partition failed.

Directory partition:
CN=Configuration,DC=,DC=com
Source domain controller:



Source domain controller address:



Intersite transport (if any):
CN=IP,CN=Inter-Site Transports,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=,DC=com

This domain controller will be unable to replicate with the source
domain controller until this problem is corrected.

User Action
Verify if the source domain controller is accessible or network
connectivity is available.

Additional Data
Error value:
8524 The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup
failure.



For more information, see Help and Support Center at



----------------------------



So i know it is a DNS issue my question is how to fix it?



Do i need DynDNS enabled?

Do i need Zone Transfers between all Domain Controllers?



Also another thing i noticed in the DNS zone is only one of my sites
has a

a folder called _sites > sitename > _tcp



Shouldn't thier be a record for every site under this folder on all
the DNS servers.

Do you have a single label DNS domain name? I couldn't tell if you deleted
the domain name or not in your post.

Few things that will cause this across WAN links:

1. NAT - RPC, Kerberos and LDAP cannot cross NATs. You can however, create a
VPN between your NAT devices, which in that case the NAT devices are your
end points for the VPN Tunnel.

2. Altered MTUs in the routers/NAT devices. ADSL is a known for this one.
Also H.323 optimization on the router/NAT will cause this as well.

3. Missing or incorrect SRVs in your zone.

4. Mutliple NICs on a Windows NAT with mutliple internal private subnets.
The LDAP PDU is altered due to support for H.323, which affects LDAP
traffic. That feature must be disabled on a Windows NAT for this to work.

5. Single label DNS domain names, which with SP4, will not register.

If you can post an ipconfig /all from a DC in one site and a sample DC in
another site where replication is failing, any event log errors, and
describe your topology, we can better assist.

Thanks

--
Regards,
Ace

Please direct all replies to the newsgroup so all can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties and confers no
rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2000, MCSE+I, MCSA, MCT, MVP
Microsoft Windows MVP - Active Directory

HAM AND EGGS: A day's work for a chicken; A lifetime commitment for a
pig. --
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