Windows 2003 R2 32-bit on DOMAIN not working on ESXi 5.1...

[DonChino]

So has anyone else noticed this problem and found a way to resolve?

Basically I had 5 Windows 2003 R2 32 bit virtual machines running on our DOMAIN under VMware ESXi 5.0 - RETAIL PAID/NOT FREE.

Now we decided to upgrade to ESXi 5.1 and now NONE of the Windows 2003 machines can be found on the DOMAIN.

Are the machines working? YES Can the machines access the internet? YES Did I change anything during the upgrade? NO

Basically the VMs were exactly the same BEFORE/AFTER and the only thing upgraded was the Machine version and VMware tools, since ESXi 5.1 has a newer version but all other machines continued to work - Ubuntu, Windows 2008, Windows 8, Windows 2012 - but all the Windows 2003 machines are unable to regiser with the DOMAIN for some reason.

I can ping the DNS from the VM itself and it resolves properly, both LONG and SHORT name. i.e. QA-QTP-Test01  / QA -QTP-Test01.americas.corp.com

So basically no one else on the network can find these machines although it worked previously on ESXi 5.0.

I even went as far as creating a separate server that runs ESXi 5.0 and moved those specific machines BACK to the other machine with NO CHANGES and now they started working.

So now I changed machine version, NIC type, etc but NOTHING I do can make the Windows 2003 Machines work under ESXi 5.1.

This ONLY seems to affect DOMAIN registration, because otherwise you can access them directly via IP, RDP, Windows File Share, etc but you cannot use the DOMAIN name although it works under ESXi 5.0 which means 5.1 has a "bug".

Anyone else run this test or am I the first one? :smileyangry:

[GauravMajithia]

Exactly...!!!

I tried after seeing your post and found that 2003 was dropped from domain. Inside the guest OS it shows that the system is in domain. But the OS is not communicating with AD.

Edit: I did not upgrade the VM hardware nor did I update VMware Tools. But is that really required?? I doubt!!

[Linjo]

Its unlikely that the vSphere version is the reason for the AD stopped working, its more likely dns or security-policy.

Is there any error in the event-logs?

What happends if you remove a machine from the domain and add it again?

Also verify that you local dns is working properly and that all servers are pointing to it.

// Linjo

[DonChino]

Linjo, keep reading the entire post. I removed it, added it, switched machines, etc.

It ALWAYS works on ESXi 5.0 and it NEVER works on ESXi 5.1. I even changed Datacenters.

Now I am just waiting for someone else to CONFIRM that they have problems with Windows 2003 on ESXi 5.1 so we confirm that ESXi 5.1 is "buggy"...

It looks like GauravMajithia is confirming my results, so we just need 2 more people to attain a quorum.

Also to make clear, the machine registers on the DOMAIN and it can resolve its SHORT and LONG name on the machine itself, but you cannot resolve SHORT or LONG name from another machine.

Move this VM to ESXi 5.0 and it works fine. Hell, I even did a VMware Convert and created THREE machines from the SAME template with different names and always the same result. DOES NOT WORK ON ESXi 5.1.

Repeat, machine registers on DOMAIN, allows me to login with DOMAIN user so it is communicating with the Domain Controller but other machines cannot find this machine using SHORT or LONG name. You might think it is the DNS or AD, but I am using different hosts, different vms, in two separate physical locations but same DOMAIN and always the same result. I can use IP but not AD name so I know it does not sound intuitive that ESXi would be involved but all other machines work like Windows 2008, 2012, 7, 8, even Linux in both scenarios but ONLY Windows 2003 is breaking specifically for ESXi 5.1?!

Give me a break...

" If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. "

[Linjo]

Does the Windows 2003 server update its dns-record in the AD/DNS?

If not, what happends if you set a static A-record in the DNS pointing to the server? That should make the name-resolution work since it has nothing todo with the actual server itself.

Are you using ipv4 or ipv6? If ipv4 try to disable the ipv6 since this are sometimes causing some issues.

// Linjo

[bulletprooffool]

Have you changed IPs / Subnets?

Are your DNS records up to date and configured correctly?

Can you ping the domain name from one of the VMs?

If the above fails, you'll be unable to access your domain.

If you can ping the domain name, but have changed IPs, check that the subnet you are on is configured in AD sites and Services.

[jdptechnc]

It sounds like your VM's somehow fell out of DNS.  Where they static IP's or DHCP?  Is your DNS/DHCP configured to allow DHCP to manage dynamic registration of DNS records on behalf of clients?  There are many factors that could be in play here.  It sounds like your issue is 100% related to name resolution and not anything that ESXi itself is doing.  The VM is always going to be able to resolve its own hostname, that really isn't that good of a test.  Look at your DNS and make sure the name records match the current IP of the server.

[DonChino]

Would be a lot more useful if people said -

"I have Windows 2003 R2 32 bit running on the DOMAIN using ESXi 5.1"

This is more useful than having Windows AD/DNS experts asking me to troubleshoot, which I will still look into but I am more interested to hear from people who are running Windows 2003 R2 32 bit on an ESXi 5.1 server.

This way I can ask them what NIC type they used, machine compatilibity level, etc because once again these machines work on ESXi 5.0 on the SAME servers, DIFFERENT servers, SAME hostname, DIFFERENT hostname, DIFFERENT location, SAME location, etc so I do not have to do anything with ESXi 5.0. So still seems like a problem if I have to check settings ONLY when I install ESXi 5.1...

Now I have to troubleshoot AD/DNS ONLY when I install ESXi 5.1?!

I guess people do not see the problem here but hopefully someone else will find this discussion once they upgrade and throw in some suggestions...

:smileyangry:

[gman18480]

Hmm... I would check your load balancing algorithm on the virutal switch your machine is uplinked to... Are there other virtual machines that are attached to the same esx host, same virtual switch, and same portgroup that are still able to communicate with AD? This way you can rule out the esx host settings as the issue.

[Linjo]

I think that is because many are running this and if it would a generic problem in 5.1 it would have caused a lot more attention much earlier.

So, to make it clear: "I have Windows 2003 R2 32 bit running on the DOMAIN using ESXi 5.1"

Been running that since the beta of 5.1 with a number of different configurations: E1000, vmxnet2, vmxnet3

Have your tried the things beeing suggested above?

// Linjo

[jdptechnc]

DonChino wrote:

Would be a lot more useful if people said -

"I have Windows 2003 R2 32 bit running on the DOMAIN using ESXi 5.1"

This is more useful than having Windows AD/DNS experts asking me to troubleshoot, which I will still look into but I am more interested to hear from people who are running Windows 2003 R2 32 bit on an ESXi 5.1 server.

This way I can ask them what NIC type they used, machine compatilibity level, etc because once again these machines work on ESXi 5.0 on the SAME servers, DIFFERENT servers, SAME hostname, DIFFERENT hostname, DIFFERENT location, SAME location, etc so I do not have to do anything with ESXi 5.0. So still seems like a problem if I have to check settings ONLY when I install ESXi 5.1...

Now I have to troubleshoot AD/DNS ONLY when I install ESXi 5.1?!

I guess people do not see the problem here but hopefully someone else will find this discussion once they upgrade and throw in some suggestions...

:smileyangry:

We are asking you to troubleshoot these things because, based on our   experiences in working with BOTH VMware and Microsoft infrastructure,  it  is highly likely that the issue is with name resolution.  If  everything in the environment is configured correctly, and there are  other underlying physical issues, migrating the VM to another host  should not cause name resolution issues. I haven't seen it with  migrations to 5.1 hosts or any other version, and no one else that has  posted in your reply for help has indicated seeing a VM migration cause name resolution issues before.

Have  you even attempted to look at the things that have been suggested in  this thread?

Other things you can do to help narrow your issue down... Does a fresh VM (new VM, not migrated) exhibit the same kind of behavior?   On the VM having the issue, are there any indications in the event logs  of issues with name registration or networking in general?