TCP/IP Properties GUI and ipconfig do not match

[ravashaak]

Have observed this behavior in two Windows 2003 Std SP2 domain controllers so far, different domains, same forest, same hardware. Both are/were configured with static TCP/IP configs. When the symptoms appear, if you view the TCP/IP properties for the enabled network connection, the "general" tab displays as if the connection is setup for DHCP (i.e. "Obtain IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" are checked. Furthermore, if you follow the "advanced" button on this same page, all subsequent tabs are populated with info consistent with a DHCP config. However, if you view this connection's properties via ipconfig /all, all information is statically defined and appears as expected (i.e. DHCP is NOT enabled and all TCP/IP parameters are correct/as expected). If I make changes within the gui (i.e. change from DHCP to static config), they are applied and are viewable via ipconfig /all, but the changes do not show when I next attempt to view them from the gui.

I have upgraded the NIC drivers (in-place upgrade, not uninstall/reinstall), disabled and enabled the connection, rebooted, and switched the connection to the other ethernet port (dual-LOM). The system passes all tests using netdiag /test:winsock. I have not yet performed a winsock reset, as I'd like to make certain I won't bork anything (this is a domain controller after all). From a network standpoint, the system behaves normally. As a domain controller, the system is fully functional. However, this really concerns me. Any suggestions?

 

[GrimR]

Interesting one. Did you try dcdiag ?
Where your server ranges excluded from distribution on your DHCP server.
Is nslookup displaying the correct results?



MCITP:EA/SA, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCP+I, MCP

 

[ravashaak]

Hi GrimR,

Server ranges are excluded specifically on the DHCP server. DNS records are correct for the affected servers, as are records in WINS. DCDiag and Netdiag both return no errors.

After further research, I have found that I am not the only one observing these symptoms. There are even a few threads here on tek-tips with the same symptoms. The commonalities between the cases seem to be as follows:

1. Dell PowerEdge 1950 and 2950 systems
2. Windows Server 2003 (x86 and x64) with SP2

Most people seem to have given up on the issue and are either living with it, or have rebuilt their servers. I found one case where someone deleted the network connections (and all references to said connections, but they did not elaborate on what they meant here exactly...could be registry edits). They next uninstalled the NIC drivers completely. Afterwards a reboot, reinstall of NIC drivers, and finally reconfig of the network connections, seems to have resolved the issue. That's alot to go through, and not without risk, for my domain controllers. Since the issue is thus far nuisance/cosmetic, I am likely to live with the problem for now. I plan to rebuild both of these domain controllers in the not-so-distant future anyway.

 

[GrimR]

Did you give Dell support a call or got to there website to see if there are newer drivers?


MCITP:EA/SA, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCP+I, MCP