active directory error "path not found" 1

[twospoons]

hello, when i opened up active directory today on my win2k pdc server (i haven't opened AD in a while), i'm getting error: windows cannot connect to the domain because: the network path was not found

what??? i'm at the console of the computer i'm try to open active directory for... what happened??? i'm on service pack 4, all the important hot fixes installed, can i just remove active directory and re-install it or something?

 

[buddafish]

is this the the only DC in the domain?

DCPROMO should be further down the list of actions to take ...

scottie

 

[mlichstein]

I'm betting you have a single label domain, and this started after you went to SP4.

Is your domain name domain.com or just domain?

 

[ghanz1]

Check if the server's ip-configuration is correct. The DNS entry should point to itself, is this is the only DC.

cheers,
hanz.

 

[twospoons]

yes this is the PDC and only DC, domain name is domain.com, ipconfig is fine DNS points to itself and one external dns server for internet access...

this is not a critical server though, more of a testing machine... so i think i'll just run dcpromo and setup AD again today if i have time and don't have any other suggestions to try.

thanks

 

[twospoons]

i ran dcpromo, then setup AD again... i'm still having the same problem... the AD snap in will not connect! i've read quite a few posts different places about this being related to DNS... what should i check to make sure that DNS is working properly?

 

[mawilson]

Try nslookup domain.com at command prompt.

 

[mlichstein]

Does the server have more than one NIC? Did you enable dynamic updates on your forward lookup zone?

 

[ghanz1]

First of all check if the PDC emulator is properly registered in DNS. Check in _msdc/pdc/_tcp it the _ldap value points to the DC. And check if all the FSMO roles are properly configured with dumpfsmos.cmd (from Support Tools or Resource Kit, not sure).

 

[twospoons]

i tried nslookup domain.local and got no response from server.

yes it has more than one nic in it... one for a website i'm hosting and one for internal user file/print server... how do i enable dynamic updates? like this???

http://www.petri.co.il/install_and_configure_w2k_dns_server.htm

ghanz1 i have no idea what you are talking about.?.

 

[mlichstein]

You have some major DNS issues. First, the second NIC is causing problems with AD. If you insist on hosting an external website on your DC, go the external NICs TCP/IP properties, advanced, DNS, and uncheck the "register this connection's addresses in DNS" box.

Next, open up your DNS console in administrative tools. Right click on the server object at the top and go to properties. Change "listen on..." to listen ONLY on your internal interface.

Then, under forward lookup zones, expand your domain.com zone. Remove ALL entries that have your external IP. Right click on the domain.com zone and go to properties. Make sure dynamic updates is set to "yes"

Finally, open a cmd prompt, type 'net stop netlogon & net start netlogon' Then type 'ipconfig /flushdns' See if you can now ping domain.com

 

[twospoons]

thanks for the help