error an attempt to resolve the DNS name of a domain controller in the domain being joined has failed
I am trying to add a win 7 pro pc to a domain and I get this error " an attempt to resolve the DNS name of a domain controller in the domain being joined has failed" I am running win server 2003 can anyone help?
August 18th, 2010 9:22pm

How is DNS implemented on your domain? Is it coming from your router or is it on one or more of your DCs?
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August 18th, 2010 9:41pm

I am not sure I am assuming it's coming from the router. I did read a thread where I needed to this and it sill didn't work "Hi, On the W7 computers, Go to network connections - local lan connection - properties - internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) - properties - Use the following DNS server address - preferred DNS server add the IP address of your Domain server. Now try and join the computer to the domain. Slan go foill, Paul"
August 18th, 2010 10:35pm

Yeah, okay. If DNS is resolved via the router's DHCP tables you've got a couple of options. If you only have a few computers on your domain the easiest is to simply add your DC(s) addresses to your Windows 7 machine's HOSTS file (in the c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc folder). Another option would be to let your router assign your server's addresses via DHCP; you would have to set up DHCP reservations to insure that your server(s) always get the same address. This may not work though, if a proper SRV record isn't found. Probably the most difficult to set up (it's really not all that hard to do), but the best solution, and easiest to maintain once it's properly set up, is to assign the DHCP and DNS roles to one of your DCs and remove them from the router altogether. The reason the answer in that other post didn't work is because your DC probably isn't a DNS server. The reason Windows 7 can't join your Domain, while Windows 2003 and XP probably can, is that Windows 7 relies almost exclusively on DNS whereas earlier versions were able to fall back to NetBIOS name resolution if DNS wasn't available.
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August 18th, 2010 10:55pm

If your router allows you to customize the client DNS settings, configure it so that your clients point their DNS setting to the DC(s) running DNS. Your clients must point to the internal DNS servers to find their AD information. If you only have a few computers, you can simply update their TCP/IP information by accessing the NIC properties, IPv4, and type in the IP addresses of your internal DNS servers (DCs running DNS). That will solve the issue with joining the domain as well as any other issues that may arise because your clients were not pointing to your internal DNS servers. Of course, you also have the option of disabling the DHCP service on the router and installing it on the DC(s) so that you can have flexibility in your DHCp client configuration. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.
August 18th, 2010 11:19pm

I tried adding the IP address and it didn't work I may be over my head I have done this befor addeding a XP pc to this domain . some of the suggetion I can do and some I don't know how. I will take a look at the web site anITKB.com and try agin
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August 18th, 2010 11:46pm

anITKB.com is a blog where you can find some additional resources. There are none there, at this time, that can directly help you solve this issue. Its just in my signature line. I wasnt recommending that you visit the site for this topic. sorry about the confusion. But feel free to check out the site, there are some useful articles... If you can provide the output from the Windows 7 client for this command, IPCONFIG /ALL, we will be able to make additional recommendations to help you resolve this issue. This doesnt sound like a complicated problem. Questions related to this get posted all of the time and are usually resolved by making some minor changes. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.
August 19th, 2010 4:08am

here is the out put of command, IPCONFIG /ALL Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\derrick>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : iscan Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-26-2D-24-79-CA DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::f4fb:b2b3:9a9a:2daa%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.111(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, August 19, 2010 2:44:17 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, August 20, 2010 2:44:16 PM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890797 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-83-8A-44-00-26-2D-24-79-CA DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 209.253.113.18 209.253.113.2 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Tunnel adapter isatap.{61EE4292-D737-48D6-B55B-15DA03A631B5}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e74:1ceb:242f:f5ff:ff90(Pref erred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1ceb:242f:f5ff:ff90%14(Preferred) Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : :: NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
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August 19th, 2010 11:18pm

Ok I got it to work I put in the DNSserver address agine same as I did yesterday ( I must have put it in 3 or 4 times) and it din''t work I did it agine today and it worked the frist time. Thank you every one for your help Derrick
August 20th, 2010 12:18am

Hello Derrik, Yes, based on your IPCONFIG /ALL output, my it shows that your DNS clients settings were not pointing to the internal DC/DNS server(s). Looks like you figured that out now. Glad to hear that. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.
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August 20th, 2010 4:39am

Hello Friends, I also had the same problem, after starting the DNS client service and the DNS service in 2003 server (domain), all my problems solved. Administrative tools - services - DNS client / DNS
February 13th, 2011 12:37am

How can I copy the text from the command window?
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May 5th, 2011 3:48pm

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