Adding third DC for Active Directory

[mawnrt]

Hi all,

I am running Win2k Server on three boxes, the first one is the PDC od AD and the second is Exchange server, those two were in place when I joined the company. I have since made a file/print server that I want to add to AD so that I can roll out DFS, and for replication. However, when I start the dcpromo wizard, I enter the username and password as suggested, then when it asks for the domain name, it fills it in for me, but i use just the netbios name all the way through. After I use the default values for NTDS and SYSVOL, it wants to start the process, but I ge an error message saying that no domain controller can be found. Does anyone have any suggestions to resolve this??

Thank you so much in advance to anyone that can help.

[SpookyEddy]

Is the new machine pointing towards your AD enabled DNS server?

I only run two DC's on a domain with 15 member servers and 2500 user accounts (so fairly small). Never seen and advantage in using more (but perhaps you have a big network or remote locations).

Running Exchange on a DC, all I can say is welcome to a world of pain (an experience I never, ever want to repeat). If you ever encounter the person that though that was a good idea hit them with something heavy.

Regards

ed

[mawnrt]

I did a NS lookup and it points to our web DNS which is offsite, how do I cahnge it to look at the AD DNS?, through tcp/ip settings and then cahge it back afterwards?

[SpookyEddy]

If its a DC it should stay pointing at your AD integrated DNS server (yes you need to define it in the tcp/ip settings), which in turn should point at itself. That is most likely the cause of your problem, atleast 8 out of 10 AD issues are DNS related in my experience.

[mawnrt]

Thank you for the help, and yes Exchange on a DC, big thorn in my side. Ill get back to yuo and let you know if that works.

[mawnrt]

Worked like a charm, took it instantly, Thank you very much

Micah

[SpookyEddy]

No worries.

On the Exchange thing, I would swing that server off the DC and on to a member server as soon as possible. Several years back I had an E2K server that was also a DC die on me and it turned a simple disaster recovery into a living nightmare.

Regards and good luck.

ed

<edit>glad it worked, you are more than welcome.