Topic: New issue.... very annoying...

[Matt]

Ok, very weird problem... i'll explain a bit about our network first:

1.  We have two servers, running the SME software, one location is here in Sudbury, and the other is in Toronto.  Lets call the file servers we have added on  (both in windows 2000 server) wk-sudbury   and wk-toronto.

I hooked up a new network card to the file server in Sudbury two days ago, and ran into a problem,  here it is:
 
Toronto can ping the file server here (Both name and IP), they can connect to the shares it if they know the IP address ( 192.168.20.97,  but not the Name 'wk-sudbury') the admin down in Toronto can remote control it using name or IP, Basically, they can do everything using name, and or IP, EXCEPT for connecting to shares, or browsing to it via My Network Places, that way will only allow them via IP address  (  ie   \192.168.20.97 )
 
Why is that?   here is an error  I get when I look in the events log for the computer in Sudbury, not sure if it's related:
 
"
The system failed to register pointer (PTR) resource records (RRs) for network adapter
with settings:
 
   Adapter Name : {3B8A1E1E-66D4-411E-8757-385616D8850C}
   Host Name : wk-sudbury
   Adapter-specific Domain Suffix : WK-SUDBURY
   DNS server list :
     192.168.20.1, 192.168.0.1
   Sent update to server : 192.168.20.1
   IP Address : 192.168.20.97
 
 The reason that the system could not register these RRs was because the DNS server refused the update request. The cause of this could be (a) your computer is not allowed to update the adapter-specified DNS domain name, or (b) because the DNS server authoritative for the specified name does not support the DNS dynamic update protocol.
 
 To register the DNS pointer (PTR) resource records using the specific DNS domain name and IP addresses for this adapter, contact your DNS server or network systems administrator.
"
 
 
Any idea's?  Very strange......  The workstations in sudbury can access the file server, wk-sudbury, perfectly, like it should, just Toronto is having problems which is on the other side of the VLAN... but like I said, they can still access it by typing   \192.168.20.97
 
But that's not good enough, obviously.   Thanks for all your help.
 
I eagerly await a reply.
 
-Matt

[dave]

I'll watch this thread with interest as I see the same error being logged on my Win2K systems.  

My installation is different, only one location but the SME box is my gateway and primary DNS server.  The Win2K server is an AD domain controller and I see the error several times a day.  

I keep talking about doing a migration from Win2K to linux on all my servers, I just haven't gathered enough balls to do the switch.

[Jim Danvers]

I've seen (and lightly posted regarding this same issue here before) but consistently everyone always seems to think that one is referring to dyndns type services.  NOT.  The win2k boxes (esp w/AD setup) seem to need to be able to dynamically update thier dns components - which is where I htink the communication between the SME box and the Win2K box pukes.

I ~always~ take a peek into these threads whenever I see them and viola! - I have (finally) seen some chatter along the same lines as what I have attempted to allude to in the past.  Glad I'm not the only one....  lol!!

I did (recently) come across a post where someone mentioned something about dns v3 or something like that - a contrib for SME perhaps?  Anyway...  I'll be watching this thread to see what (if anything) develops from it.

-=- jd -=-

[Graeme Fleming]

Without going into a detailed exposé of the whys and wherefores of DNS under Windows and Linux try the following:

a) turn off DHCP on the SME box.
b) turn on DHCP on the Windows box.
c) configure DNS under Windows to use the SME box a forwarder(under W2K AD it thinks it is the DNS root so you have to delete the root DNS record and then stop & start Windows DNS); add a record in the Windows DNS setup for the SME box.
d) force all w/s to renew their DHCP assign IP lease.

The result will be:

a) all systems get their network config info from the Windows box
b) the Windows box (if W2K or better) can/will accept the update request
c) all DNS requests for the internal network will be handled by the Windows box with DNS requests for the Internet being passed on to the SME box.

You could also combine this with WINS as well but thats a whole new ballgame.

This is necessarily simplified, if you can't follow how to perform these steps it might be time to get a pro in for an hour to walk you through the steps in person.

I setup ALL my combined networks like this and it works beautifully.

HTH

[Michiel]

>>The win2k boxes (esp w/AD setup) seem to need to be able to dynamically
>> update thier dns components

That's the default behaviour of WInXP/2K, which can be switched off in the "Network and Internet connections"  pannel. Look for the TCP/IP properties of your LAN connection and go to the "Advanced" Tab.

>> I did (recently) come across a post where someone mentioned something
>> about dns v3 or something like that - a contrib for SME perhaps?
See http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=18271.msg71709#msg71709. That contrib works great.

[Boris]

Check out samba(sbm.conf) templates and adjust 11remoteAnnounce session via custom tepmplates. Add both subnets there, expand template and restart samba.
This will help name resolution on the remote subnets.
You can ignore DNS update messages as irrelevant to your problem or disable dynamic updates as suggested before (or update SME DHCP to version 3)

[Matt]

In responce to Graeme Fleming's post:

I don't want to route the traffic to the windows box, just because I don't want to screw with the current configuration.

Would re-installing windows help the problem?  (Ugh, I don't want to do this, but what are you gonna do)  There has to be a simple command you type in either the windows box, or the linux box (sme)   to make this work.  I mean, it ONLY started happening AFTER I installed this stupid Intel NIC.  Doesn't make any sence.

Thanks.

[Scott]

Matt wrote:
>There has to be
> a simple command you type in either the windows box, or the
> linux box (sme)   to make this work.  I mean, it ONLY started
> happening AFTER I installed this stupid Intel NIC.  Doesn't
> make any sence.
>
> Thanks.

Are your systems statically assigned IP addresses?
If so, your problem amy very well be with the nic
address. Instaling a new nic without updating
the nic address in the host and addresses
settings will cause dns problems as the dns
is attempting to update ips to a nic that does
not exist. So make sure that the ethernet
address in the host and addresses is the
same as what is installed in the system.

Though, if the nic is assigned an ip via dhcp,
well, that is wierd. Also, and I know this
was mentioned in an earlier post, be sure that
win2k is not trying to be a dhcp server, then their
is the master domain settings. Being nt win2k
most likely has a dns setting of 32. So if it is
trying to be the primary domain, this to will
cause a problem. The solution to this, and I
haven't the slightest idea how to do it on
esmith, is the increase the setting on the
esmith to a greater number than the nt
domain setting.

Under mandrake with winadmin, this is done
in the samba server settings.

Sorry I have a lot of book and not enough
hands on. But I'm sure someone else
will be able to point you to the right file.

Scott