Replication Problem :-( Urgent help needed please...

[Guest]

Hello Gurus,
I am having problems with Active Directory (AD) replication lately. Here is
the situation:
We have a network at Head office (HO) and other office is at another
location. The HO has a domain with domain controller otsrv. The other office
had a DC (paxsrv)connected to HO's domain. They connect over internet (WAN).
But some time back it stopped replicating and it changed itself to a site, so
we reformated the server (paxsrv) intalled OS, installed AD and connected the
server to HO's domain. This part went fine with server getting connected to
AD and all that. But now here are the problems:
1. I cannot add any users/computers from paxsrv to the active directory. It
gives me the error saying:
Windows cannot create a object because: The directory service was unable to
allocate a relative identifier

2. The servers won't replicate with each other. If I try to manually force
the replication from AD sites and service it gives me the following error:
one or more of these Active Directory connections are between domain
controllers in different sites and cannot be replicated immediately. Active
directory will replicate these connections at the next opportunity.

3. In the Event viewer I can see the following even under File Replication:

The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from
PAXSRV to OTSRV for c:\winnt\sysvol\domain using the

DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com. FRS will keep retrying.
Following are some of the reasons you would see this warning.

[1] FRS can not correctly resolve the DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com from this
computer.
[2] FRS is not running on paxsrv.rbcinc.com.
[3] The topology information in the Active Directory for this replica has
not yet replicated to all the Domain Controllers.
This event log message will appear once per connection, After the problem
is fixed you will see another event log message
indicating that the connection has been established.

Please let me know what could be the problem and what can be done to fix it.
Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vik

 

[Alan Arrington]

"The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from
PAXSRV to OTSRV for c:\winnt\sysvol\domain using the

DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com"


Did you use the same IP when you reinstalled the server?

Make sure each DC is able to resolve each other via nslookup and the
results are the correct IP's.


"Windows cannot create a object because: The directory service was unable to

allocate a relative identifier"

This hints that the server is unable to locate the RID Master for the
domain. . The RID master is responsible for assigning unique ID's to all
objects created in the domain.


I would start with reading this article on troubleshooting replication. The
article focuses on DNS, which is most likely the culprit. .

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321046


-Alan


Alan Arrington
The Cobalt Group

Hello Gurus,
I am having problems with Active Directory (AD) replication lately. Here
is
the situation:
We have a network at Head office (HO) and other office is at another
location. The HO has a domain with domain controller otsrv. The other
office
had a DC (paxsrv)connected to HO's domain. They connect over internet
(WAN).
But some time back it stopped replicating and it changed itself to a site,
so
we reformated the server (paxsrv) intalled OS, installed AD and connected
the
server to HO's domain. This part went fine with server getting connected
to
AD and all that. But now here are the problems:
1. I cannot add any users/computers from paxsrv to the active directory.
It
gives me the error saying:
Windows cannot create a object because: The directory service was unable
to
allocate a relative identifier

2. The servers won't replicate with each other. If I try to manually force
the replication from AD sites and service it gives me the following error:
one or more of these Active Directory connections are between domain
controllers in different sites and cannot be replicated immediately.
Active
directory will replicate these connections at the next opportunity.

3. In the Event viewer I can see the following even under File
Replication:

The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from
PAXSRV to OTSRV for c:\winnt\sysvol\domain using the

DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com. FRS will keep retrying.
Following are some of the reasons you would see this warning.

[1] FRS can not correctly resolve the DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com from this
computer.
[2] FRS is not running on paxsrv.rbcinc.com.
[3] The topology information in the Active Directory for this replica has
not yet replicated to all the Domain Controllers.
This event log message will appear once per connection, After the problem
is fixed you will see another event log message
indicating that the connection has been established.

Please let me know what could be the problem and what can be done to fix
it.
Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vik

 

[Guest]

Was "paxsrv" successfully removed as a DC using dcpromo previously (you said
"... we reformated the server ...")? If not, please review the following KB
to clean up AD:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;216498

Are there only 2 DCs in the entire AD domain?
Is "paxsrv" or "otsrv" the first DC created in the AD domain?

The DC that holds the key FSMO roles for the AD domain may no longer be
available (hence the "... The directory service was unable to allocate a
relative identifier ..." error). If that is the case (where "paxsrv" is the
first DC in AD domain, FSMO roles not transferred and/or not cleanly
removed), steps described in the following KB may need to be executed:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;255504
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223787

Please explain "it changed itself to a site". AD sites must be explicitly
created by the administrator to help AD create network topologies to manage
replication for example.

Hello Gurus,
I am having problems with Active Directory (AD) replication lately. Here is
the situation:
We have a network at Head office (HO) and other office is at another
location. The HO has a domain with domain controller otsrv. The other office
had a DC (paxsrv)connected to HO's domain. They connect over internet (WAN).
But some time back it stopped replicating and it changed itself to a site, so
we reformated the server (paxsrv) intalled OS, installed AD and connected the
server to HO's domain. This part went fine with server getting connected to
AD and all that. But now here are the problems:
1. I cannot add any users/computers from paxsrv to the active directory. It
gives me the error saying:
Windows cannot create a object because: The directory service was unable to
allocate a relative identifier

2. The servers won't replicate with each other. If I try to manually force
the replication from AD sites and service it gives me the following error:
one or more of these Active Directory connections are between domain
controllers in different sites and cannot be replicated immediately. Active
directory will replicate these connections at the next opportunity.

3. In the Event viewer I can see the following even under File Replication:

The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from
PAXSRV to OTSRV for c:\winnt\sysvol\domain using the

DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com. FRS will keep retrying.
Following are some of the reasons you would see this warning.

[1] FRS can not correctly resolve the DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com from this
computer.
[2] FRS is not running on paxsrv.rbcinc.com.
[3] The topology information in the Active Directory for this replica has
not yet replicated to all the Domain Controllers.
This event log message will appear once per connection, After the problem
is fixed you will see another event log message
indicating that the connection has been established.

Please let me know what could be the problem and what can be done to fix it.
Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vik

 

[Guest]

Hi Desmond,
thanks for your reply...
By "The other DC (paxsrv) changed itself to site", I mean that somehow the
two DCs were not communicating / replicating with each other for more than 60
days. so if the DC does not replicate for more than 60 days it becomes a site
by itself. (thats what I've read)..
Any suggestions ?

thanks,
Vik

Was "paxsrv" successfully removed as a DC using dcpromo previously (you said
"... we reformated the server ...")? If not, please review the following KB
to clean up AD:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;216498

Are there only 2 DCs in the entire AD domain?
Is "paxsrv" or "otsrv" the first DC created in the AD domain?

The DC that holds the key FSMO roles for the AD domain may no longer be
available (hence the "... The directory service was unable to allocate a
relative identifier ..." error). If that is the case (where "paxsrv" is the
first DC in AD domain, FSMO roles not transferred and/or not cleanly
removed), steps described in the following KB may need to be executed:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;255504
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223787

Please explain "it changed itself to a site". AD sites must be explicitly
created by the administrator to help AD create network topologies to manage
replication for example.

Hello Gurus,
I am having problems with Active Directory (AD) replication lately. Here is
the situation:
We have a network at Head office (HO) and other office is at another
location. The HO has a domain with domain controller otsrv. The other office
had a DC (paxsrv)connected to HO's domain. They connect over internet (WAN).
But some time back it stopped replicating and it changed itself to a site, so
we reformated the server (paxsrv) intalled OS, installed AD and connected the
server to HO's domain. This part went fine with server getting connected to
AD and all that. But now here are the problems:
1. I cannot add any users/computers from paxsrv to the active directory. It
gives me the error saying:
Windows cannot create a object because: The directory service was unable to
allocate a relative identifier

2. The servers won't replicate with each other. If I try to manually force
the replication from AD sites and service it gives me the following error:
one or more of these Active Directory connections are between domain
controllers in different sites and cannot be replicated immediately. Active
directory will replicate these connections at the next opportunity.

3. In the Event viewer I can see the following even under File Replication:

The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from
PAXSRV to OTSRV for c:\winnt\sysvol\domain using the

DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com. FRS will keep retrying.
Following are some of the reasons you would see this warning.

[1] FRS can not correctly resolve the DNS name paxsrv.rbcinc.com from this
computer.
[2] FRS is not running on paxsrv.rbcinc.com.
[3] The topology information in the Active Directory for this replica has
not yet replicated to all the Domain Controllers.
This event log message will appear once per connection, After the problem
is fixed you will see another event log message
indicating that the connection has been established.

Please let me know what could be the problem and what can be done to fix it.
Your response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Vik