Microsoft Windows 2000/XP and 2003 will register the A and PTR records in the forward and reverse lookup zones on the DNS SOA automatically. If you are running AD-Integrated DNS servers, any of these servers can update the records.

On a AD Windows workstation or member server, the DHCP Client service will initiate the dynamic registration for all the network interfaces. On a Domain Controller the SRV and CNAME record registration will be handled by the Netlogon service. Due to the important nature of accurate SRV and CNAME records, the Netlogon service will attempt to update these records every 60 minutes. If you have an improper SRV record, clients may not be able to logon to the domain. Improper SRV records can bring a domain to a halt in no time. Luckily Windows Support Tools contains a tool called Netdiag.exe which can be used to test registration, re-register records and much more. If you haven't installed the Support Tools you can do so from the Windows Server CD. You can also download a copy of NetDiag.exe here.

This command will run a full slate of tests and output the results to a log file called NetDiag.log

C:\> netdiag.exe /l /v

However if we specify /test:dns it will only test DNS. This will test every entry in the Netlogon.dns file which is located in %systemroot%\System32\Config directory. If everything matches you will get a PASS. If you have multiple DC's you may get a few FAIL, but at the end the overall result will be a PASS. This is OK. If you get a fail there are two things you can try to resolve this. This command will attempt to resolve the problem by forcing the contents of Netlogon.dns on to the DNS server. After you have run this command run NetDiag.exe /l /v /test:dns again and look to see if the FAIL is still occurring

C:\> netdiag.exe /fix

Another option is to try and register the records using the Netlogon service. We will need to stop the Netlogon service, then browse to %systemroot%\System32\Config and rename the Netlogon.dns and Netlogon.dnb to OldNetlogon. Once these files are renamed, start the Netlogon service, and from a command prompt run

IPConfig /flushDNS and then IPConfig /registerDNS

If you still have problems you will have to do some more digging. Check the log file for any other errors, and run all the Netdiag tests. One final tip, you should leave the DHCP Client serivce running on AD workstations and member servers even if they have statically assigned IP addresses. The DHCP Client service is still needed to register and re-register the computer if/when the IP address gets changed. It might not ever happen, but when it does you won't be left scratching your head wondering why DNS is still directing traffic to the old IP.

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Article ID: 321708