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Cannot join domain

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by tom.greendyk

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I've recently set up a W2K server to be a domain controller, DNS server, and a DHCP server. I thought I'd set it all up properly, but I can't join the domain from an XP Pro workstation. I suspect it's something basic I'm missing in the DNS setup.Anyway, I get the usual error saying domain controller for the domain xxx.com cannot be found. In the Details screen, it says the following:

"The following error occurred when DNS was queried for the service location (SRV) resource record used tolocate a domain controller for domain XXX.COM:

The error was: "DNS name does not exist."
(error code 0x0000232B RCODE_NAME_ERROR)

The query was for the SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.XXX.COM

Common causes of this error include the following:

- The DNS SRV record is not registered in DNS.

- One or more of the following zones do not include delegation to its child zone:

XXX.COM
COM
. (the root zone)"

Can someone help? Thanks!

Tom G

3 replies

by winterfrost

The most common cause of this sort of problem is incorrect DNS configuration on the server side. Basically the error message is telling you that your servers have not correctly registered their service records (SRV) with DNS, so the client can't find the DC.

1) Make sure your domain controller is set to use itself for the primary DNS server. It should not have a secondary DNS server set unless it is another domain controller which is also set to use internal DNS only! You should never specify an external DNS server in your DNS settings on domain controllers. It makes them very unhappy.

2) Reboot the DC or at least run "ipconfig /registerdns" from the DC to force it to re-register its records. This may take a few minutes.

3) Ensure you have the right DNS servers specified in your DHCP settings. Once again, they should only point to *internal* DNS servers with the appropriate Active Directory information. If you have external DNS servers entered, they won't be able to find the domain. You don't need any external DNS servers setup in DHCP either. To provide external/Internet DNS name resolution, you should configure your DNS servers to use an external Forwarder, or leave the default configuration which specifies all the root hints and allows your server to query the root servers itself.

by tom.greendyk

Good ideas and thanks! Turned out to be something else, though. I can't recall at all how it got like this, but I noticed when looking in Active Directory Domains and Trusts, then viewing the Properties of the DC name, that there was a field called Domain name (pre-Windows 2000) that had a slightly different name in it.

I tried that name and it worked.

I'm going to have to study up a little to figure that out!

Thanks.

TOm G

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