tiger20005 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Active Directory: The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted. Hi guys! I am having issues with AD on one of my domain controllers. When I attempt to open AD it gives me the following message:“Naming Information cannot be located because: The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted. Contact your system administrator to verify that your domain is properly configured and is currently online.”My setup: I support 3 separate locations and have a Domain Controller at each location. Location A has the first DC that was setup and then Location B has a second one that works great but when I setup Location C this is what I get (error message). I am able to ping all of the other DC’s from each one of them. We run an external DNS server via MCI (local carrier). Has anyone had a similar issue with a DC running AD that could give suggestions? Thanks in advance… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jondercik Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 what server is the computer at location C pointed at for DNS? It should be pointed at one of the other DC's until it is promoted and gets DNS installed.JimR.I.P. Alienware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger20005 Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 When I promoted the DC I had it at Location A (only because for some reason I could never get it to reach location A from Location C). The promo went great and it pulled up the accounts, etc. When I take it back to location C it will not allow AD to pull up unless I do a Connect to DC and type in the name of the location C's server name. This then will pull up AD but I cannot connect join any PC;s to the new domain it runs. I even point the PC's DNS to the Location C internal IP (and the PC's I try to change over can ping the DC in Location C by DNS and IP). I have pointed the DC in Location C DNS to the public IP of the Location A server but still no luck. This was never a problem with Location B and I did it all the same way! I checked all settings under AD/DNS and they seem to be correct in all 3 locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizban2 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Can you Ping the other servers in you domain (B, A)? you also state there was a new domain that C runs. is this a new domain in the same forest? is that PTP VPN setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger20005 Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 Sorry if I worded it wrong but what we have is a single domain and the first DC was setup at Location A while the other 2 sites (B and C) were setup at a later date (we transitioned from one domain name to another with the new servers). When I transitioned Server B I have had no problems getting it to communicate with Location A. In location C I do not have an issue with that server pinging A or B via the Public IP addresses or by DNS. I can also remote connect to A and B (which again is only bc I can communicate via IP no problems). The problem I have now is why Server C will not open AD unless I go manually tell it to connect to DC and use the name of itself. I can also connect to DC at the other locations A and B that way too. I want to be able to open AD without it spitting back that the Domain cannot be located. Locations A and B work exactly the way they are suppose to, it;s just this third one has been stubborn. I check the settings in Manage Your Server under DNS and all entries are there and correct (to my knowledge) and not liek they are blank. I even try to use the Location A's Public IP under DNS of this Loaction C server in order to communicate but it does not do so. If I physically take this Location C server down to Location A and plug into network everything is fine. This is all the same domain on all 3 and B and C are children to the parent A. Thank you to those who are helping, you don't knwo how much this is appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizban2 Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 so moving it from the location C to A allows you to open AD without complaint and such, almost sounds like at connectivity issue at site C but you can Ping the other servers fine, What kind of connections are connecting the different sites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger20005 Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 We are running T1 lines via the local carrier (MCI at Location C and Verizon at location B and C). I can ping via DNS and IP to any server I want at this point and get a reply but for some reason the darn thing won't get a clue that it is suppose to be a server (AD is clueless right now). This leaves me able to log on to the new domain but not add any clients (due to the issue with AD). I seem to have any form of communication I need to get to the other servers except the fact that AD won't communicate with them. There are no firewall constraints as I opened them up at this point (for testing). There are no obvious signs why this is not working to me! When I take this server to site B or A I hook it up to the network and server A is like hi I see you and allows AD to open right up and let's you add computers and users. I maybe have an issue in DNS under Manage your server but I can't seem to figure it out. All the IP's that are on server A and B are in the correct configuration on C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluberti Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Make sure you aren't using your ISP's DNS servers in your IP configuration - only your own. This may not be the case, but it's the very first thing to check.Most AD problems are DNS-related, and even if you do have your internal DNS server(s) listed in your IP configuration, having even one external DNS server in your IP configuration can really wreak havoc on AD communications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger20005 Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Thanks cluberti but I have tried that as well In network config I have placed the public IP of Server A to be the main and only DNS server available but for some reason it still won't see it. I may have a larger problem than I think is going on and maybe that is a strict DNS issue. The servers at location A and B seem to communicate fine and I am also able to do replication to each other as well. I did the same type setup (child in current existing Domain-or something close to that wording) for C and it has been a pain since! I may need to call a specialist in for this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizban2 Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 lol call cluberti, he is the specialist is site B also setup with a DNS server? is so try using that IP for DNS, see if you get the same errors. B and C should have the same settings (sorry i know this has been asked multiple times) also if you have taken this machine to other sites B and A and it works fine, then settings would not seem to be the issue, the connectivity of the C site might be Suspect, any chance that you could take B to Site C for a test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluberti Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Here's a quick question - what happens if you run an RPC ping (start > run > cmd > rpcping) from the DC at site C to the DC's at both site A and site B? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tguy Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Are all the domain controllers in the same site or different sites? Are they on the same subnet or different subnets?Check Sites and Services and see what it looks like in addition to making sure DNS is correctly configured. Maybe DC at location C is still in Site from location A??? Maybe subnet for location C is not defined in Sites and Services?RPCping, NSlookup, Netdiag, and DCDiag are good troubleshooting utilities from the Resource Kit and MS that you can use to help solve your problem.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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