Windows 2008 Server, Domain/AD problem

[BigEd1977]

I have a new server from Dell. I started to set it up right out of the box. This is the first time I have setup a 2008 server. I obviously did something incorrect.

When I try to open the Active Directory, I get the following message: Naming information cannot be loaded because: The specified domain does not exist or could not be contacted.

The computer name is: Server. It is in the workgroup: WORKGROUP. When I try to change the workgroup to the domain that I want this server to be the domain controller of, I get the following message: An Active Directory Domain Controller for the domain LOADERPARTS.local could not be contacted.

This will be the only server on the domain. It will be the domain controller, hosting the DHCP and DNS. Other than that, it will be storing Quickbooks files, and company data documents.

Does anyone have any suggestions that I can use to get this back to where I need it to be?

Thanks.

 

[pagy]

You need to use the dcpromo command to make a server a domain controller....

Take a look at the videos in the link on how to make a Windows 2008 server a domain controller;

http://www.netometer.com/video/tutorials/ad-services-install/

Paul
MCTS: Exchange 2007, Configuration
MCSA:2003
MCSE:2003
MCITP:Enterprise Administrator

RFC 2795 - The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)

http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2795.html

Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week

 

[BigEd1977]

Thanks. I didn't view the videos because it requires a subscription. But what I am now encountering is a dialog box informing me that the Administrator account will become the Domain Administrator account, and that my password doesn't meet the requirements.

Originally, my password was 8 digits long, included two numbers, a capital letter, and the "@" sign. So I tried to double it. Still get the same message.

What is up?

 

[BigEd1977]

Still need some help.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[cmeagan656]

Here are the minimum requirements for a 2008 password:

Password must meet complexity requirements

This policy setting checks all new passwords to ensure that they meet basic requirements for strong passwords. By default, the value for this policy setting in Windows Server 2008 is configured to Disabled, but it is set to Enabled in a Windows Server 2008 domain for both environments described in this guide.

When this policy setting is enabled, users must create strong passwords to meet the following minimum requirements:

* Passwords cannot contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters.
* Passwords must be at least six characters in length.
* Passwords must contain characters from three of the following four categories:
o English uppercase characters (A through Z).
o English lowercase characters (a through z).
o Base 10 digits (0 through 9).
o Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %).

Each additional character in a password increases its complexity exponentially. For instance, a seven-character, all lower-case alphabetic password would have 267 (approximately 8 x 109 or 8 billion) possible combinations. At 1,000,000 attempts per second (a capability of many password-cracking utilities), it would only take 133 minutes to crack such a password. A seven-character alphabetic password with case sensitivity has 527 combinations. A seven-character case-sensitive alphanumeric password without punctuation has 627 combinations. An eight-character password has 268 (or 2 x 1,011) possible combinations. Although this might seem to be a large number, at 1,000,000 attempts per second it would take only 59 hours to try all possible passwords. Remember, these times will significantly increase for passwords that use ALT characters and other special keyboard characters such as "!" or "@". Proper use of the password settings helps to prevent the success of a brute force attack.

Source:Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
Domain Policy Settings

Hope this helps.

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[BigEd1977]

My default password is something like:

1st--Capital letter
2nd thru 4th -- small letters
5th -- "@" sign
6th -- small letter
7th & 8th -- numbers

I doubled it and still get the same message.

 

[cmeagan656]

This part of the policy:

Passwords cannot contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters

may be what's mucking you up. Have you checked that you don't have more than 2 consecutive characters in your user account name or user full name in your password?

Hope this helps.

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[BigEd1977]

The username is "Administrator".

The password has nothing to do with administrator.

The final two numbers ARE the same number though.

Could that be it?

 

[BigEd1977]

I've got it solved. I had to use the NET USER /passwordreq:yes command to require a password for the local Administrator account.

Once I did this, the password I used was more than sufficient to be accepted by active directory.

I then used the dcpromo.exe command and created a new domain in a new forest.

I'm in business.

Thank you very much for your help.