Server Connection Issues 1

[simoncarter2003]

Hi guys,

Was wondering if any of you knew how to solve this. Recently setup a win server 2003 machine on my network. It is plugged into the router along with the clients on which they access the ineternet. As far as i know I have setup dhcp, dns and active directory on the server however none of the clients are able to connect to it. Nor does the server reply to pings, however can make ping requests itself. I have tried several methods to dish out ips including static, the router as the dhcp (windows dhcp disabled) and windows dhcp (router disabled). Neither of which have solved the problem of connecting to the server. However when running the windows dhcp an ip address was not obtainable from any of the clients. So it would appear as if there was only one-way traffic coming out of the server.
Any ideas?

Thanks simon

 

[Loki1973]

* Are their any leases active at the moment?
* Have you Authorized the DHCP server?
* Do your clients connect when you put in a static IP on them?
* Have you installed a firewall, such as ISA that blocks DHCP traffic?
* Those ping's sent from the server, are those ping's sent to clients or internet hosts?

 

[simoncarter2003]

When I try to use the windows dhcp server there are no leases active, and yes the dhcp is authorized. If the router dhcp is enabled then the clients do connect to this however none the less cannot connect to the server. When a static ip is in use they still report that they cannot find a domain controller for the domain. I have tried both with pings. Both internet hosts and internal clients respond to the pings. And no, no firewall has been installed on the server.

Hope this helps
simon

 

[Loki1973]

Ok, so the setup is pretty basic. Please give some more info on the clients OS and service levels of both server and clients.

I presume you activated DHCP on the router only for testing purposes.

* What can happen is that DHCP is giving out leases which do not fall into the network. You should make sure that the netmask is identical to the one on the server.

* Make sure you have configured a DNS server and DHCP options 006 (DNS servers) and 015 (DNS domain name). Your client will need this info because it does are SRV lookup in DNS on the server.

* Make sure you have configured a forwarder on the DNS server to resolve internet hosts.

 

[simoncarter2003]

Yes i enabled the router dhcp purely for testing, however I have now disabled it again. The server ip is 10.0.0.5 and the ip pool on dhcp is 10.0.0.100 onwards. In terms of dns I had setup 006 however not 015, which I have now done. I presume in the domain name box you simply type the name of your domain? The forwarder is setup to redirect dns lookups to the router, which works fine. When you ask for service levels of the client machines I am unsure of what you mean, but all client machines are running windows xp pro. If that is of any help?

Thanks for all your help
simon.

 

[Loki1973]

Ok... Before we go on, can you ping now? Are leases assigned?

By service levels in short I mean which Service Packs are installed.

 

[Loki1973]

BTW: Yes, option 015 should simply contain your domainname.

 

[simoncarter2003]

client machines vary between sp1 and sp2, and no clients can still not connect to the dhcp, they fail on renewing an ip address and allocate a private address to themselfs. and therefore pings do not work either. When a static ip is in use it just reports that the request to ping the server timed out.

 

[Loki1973]

Ok, so there is a general connectivity problem which is most likely not related to DHCP. This explains the APIPA address on the clients. Leave the IP addresses static for the time being.

Make sure ALL nic's are set to Auto Negotiate for duplex and speed. Just to make sure the network cards are well connected to the switch/hub.

If this still doesn't solve the problem, please give me the IPCONFIG /ALL results of the server and give me output of the IPCONFIG /ALL from one of the static clients.

 

[simoncarter2003]

ok below is the ip configs of the server and the clients. Hope this helps.

Server config all:


Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.


D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.SERVER01>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server01
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : carter01.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : carter01.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : EZ Connect USB to Dual Speed Ethernet Con
verter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-E2-93-DC-B4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.5
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.5
10.0.0.1

D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.SERVER01>



Client ipconfig /all:


Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\simon>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : BEDROOM01
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel® PRO/100 VE Desktop
Connection

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-09-6B-68-52-98
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.105
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.5
10.0.0.1


Thanks Simon

 

[Loki1973]

Ok, there is nothing strange with this config and looks normal.

Try connecting the machines through a hub or switch instead of the router, just to rule out the router.

It could be that the router is blocking traffic between hosts.

If you do not have a switch or hub, try connecting one of the clients directly to the server using a cross-cable.

 

[simoncarter2003]

Neither of which i am afraid i currently don't have. I can probably get a cross-over cable tomorrow however. But none the less thr router does not stop file sharing ro communication between clients when in a workgroup, this all worked fine before the addition of a server. Would this now be the same for communication with the server or would it be different?

thanks simon

 

[Loki1973]

Let's straighten out things.

PING has nothing to do with domains or workgroups. Adding a computer does not -by default- change the way clients respond to ICMP traffic, unless specifically configured.

I presume you have NOT configured any GPO disallowing the computers to respond to pings, right? Also make sure the SP2 Firewall is completely disabled for now.

Try removing one of the clients from the domain, put it back in a workgroup and try to ping THAT machine from any of the computers still in the domain. See what happens.

 

[simoncarter2003]

Yes that works fine, along with all the other client computers, which all respond to pings. The only one which doesnt is the server.

I am sure this is not a hardware problem as previously xp has been installed on the server and that communicated with the network perfectly.

I'm just really confused on what could be stopping the clients connecting to the server. If it helps when a client 'views workgroup' the server appears listed there however 'cannot be accessed' at the that present time.

 

[Loki1973]

I never suspected a hardware problem.

The problem started when Windows 2003 was installed. Is it running Service Pack 1?

It appears that the server is blocking all incoming traffic somehow.

 

[simoncarter2003]

No its no running any service pack. I'm currently downloading sp1 and will upgrade it as soon as the download is complete. Could this cause server 2003 to stop all incoming traffic thought?

Many thanks Loki1973, you've been a gret help.
simon

 

[Loki1973]

Ok, if you're now running SP0 it will not block any traffic. This puzzles me.

Try installing SP1 (recommended anyway ;-) and after it finishes installation, you'll need to open up the machine's ports by clicking Finish after first logon.

I've seen strange things getting fixed by SP1, so try this first. Please let me know if it helps.

 

[Loki1973]

Quick tip before you install the service pack!

If your machine is a HP Proliant DL380 G4 first make sure you run the latest BIOS version or your machine might lock up after installing SP1!!

 

[simoncarter2003]

ok thanks. for some odd reason the download is limited to around 10kb/sec even though I have 2mb connection. Must be microsoft so i could be here for 7 hours or so, in which case i'll let you know what happens

thanks
simon

 

[Loki1973]

Allright, I'll hit the sack in a few minutes anyway ;-)