failed dcpromo, got to be a DNS issue... 1

[joncook]

Hi

I have and existing windows 2k dc on my network, which has been running fine for many months. Due to some changes in the company we have added a second DC with the same forest,

However, on promotion something went horribley wrong as my new domain has no suffix e.g. what should have been domain.com is just domain. Ouch! If i try and run dcpromo to demote the server, i recieve the following error

"The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure"

I realise there are may knwoledge base articles on this problem however noting seems to resolve the issue.

netdiag, dcdiag seem to indicate something missing from dns config.

any help really appreciated, as on the tightrope with this one.

 

[GlenJohnson]

Check this out and see if it helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;274737

Good luck.

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Glen A. Johnson
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[ricpinto]

On the command prompt c:>dcpromo/forceremoval I think it will only works SP4 on Win2k.

 

[luismagally]

Could you be a bit more specific as to which are the event viewer messages received. IP address configuration of 1st DC and 2nd DC.

I have 14 servers running with windows 2k3 and windows 2k in a domain, and that installation error could come from an invalid IP configuration.

 

[ITPangaeaArchitect]

sounds like you have the NT4emulator registry setting enabled....disable it (HKLM|System|CCS|Services|Netlogon|Parameters). Dont read those mastering Windows books anymore...lol

so heres the short and sweet:
PDC Emulator-points to himself and himself only for DNS
Replica DC-points to the PDC for DNS as preferred and himself as alternate
Ensure the dhcp client service is enabled, as it is responsilbe for ALL dynamic updates, whether it be a dhcp address or a DNS record
Disable the nt4emulator value if present on the PDC...this key is a very bad juju

After all that, if any dns changes were made in the tcp/ip properties of either machine, do an ipconfig /flushdns and ipconfig /registerdns...then cycle the netlogon service

Still a no-go?
Upgrade to SP4 if needed
Run dcpromo /forceremoval
follow kb216498

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498

-Brandon Wilson
MCSE00/03, MCSA:Messaging, MCSA03, A+
almost got a paragraph there

 

[ITPangaeaArchitect]

that WILL fix you if you follow the instructions properly

I've done it hundreds of times

-Brandon Wilson
MCSE00/03, MCSA:Messaging, MCSA03, A+
almost got a paragraph there