The Only Thing Constant is Change

On January 29, 2004, the the IP address for the DNS root hint for b.root-servers.net changed to 192.228.79.201:

New IPv4 address for b.root-servers.net

Copy from Server Doesn't Always Copy from Server 

I was testing the DNS configuration on two Windows Server 2003 machines. One is R2 SP2; the other is SBS 2003 SP2. In the DNS server's properties, on the Root Hints tab, I clicked on the Copy from Server button and copied from 4.2.2.2 (a Level 3 DNS server). However, this did not update the address for b.root-servers.net; it still showed the old 128.9.0.107. So when I ran dcdiag /test:dns, it reported an error on accessing b.root-servers.net.

I tried removing b.root-servers.net and copying from 4.2.2.2. This time, b.root-servers.net showed up with IP Address "Unknown". This is strange, since I can use nslookup against 4.2.2.2 and get the correct address for b.root-servers.net. Apparently 4.2.2.2 does not let you copy root hints, although no error is displayed.

Next I tried copying from my ISP's DNS server. This worked, but it did not replace the old IP address; it just added the new one.

The bottom line is that once you get your root hints set up, you'd better double-check them against the official list here.

Old DCDiag Raises False Alarms

Another "gotcha" I encountered is that the original DCDiag program in Windows Server 2003 Support Tools was telling me that all of my root hints were bad. Microsoft Support suggested updating to the SP2 version of Support Tools, which did in fact fix that problem.

System and Configuration

I manage a server running Windows 2003 R2. This is a single-server network. The server acts as an Active Directory controller and as a DNS server. There is one NIC with a fixed IP. The NIC is connected to a switch, which is connected to a router for Internet access.

The Workstation service starts automatically and is running.

The Messenger service is disabled.

In TCP/IP Properties, WINS tab, there are no WINS addresses listed. LMHOSTS lookup is enabled. NETBIOS over TCP/IP is also enabled.

NetBT Warnings

A few weeks ago, I re-installed the NIC while trying to resolve another issue. That issue is gone, but I still have these NetBT warnings in my NetDiag.log:

        NetBT name test. . . . . . : Passed
            NetBT_Tcpip_{23A63922-12D1-4ED2-A70A-0654F1FBAEE1}
            MYSERVER        <00>  UNIQUE      REGISTERED
            MYSERVER        <20>  UNIQUE      REGISTERED
            MYDOMAIN        <00>  GROUP       REGISTERED
            MYDOMAIN        <1C>  GROUP       REGISTERED
            MYDOMAIN        <1E>  GROUP       REGISTERED
            MYDOMAIN        <1D>  UNIQUE      REGISTERED
            ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       REGISTERED
            MYDOMAIN        <1B>  UNIQUE      REGISTERED
        [WARNING] At least one of the <00> 'WorkStation Service', <03> 'Messenger Service', <20> 'WINS' names is missing.

<snip> 

NetBT name test. . . . . . . . . . : Passed
   No NetBT scope defined
    [WARNING] You don't have a single interface with the <00> 'WorkStation Service', <03> 'Messenger Service', <20> 'WINS' names defined.

Solution

I made two temporary changes:

1. First I enabled and started the Messenger service.
2. Second, I went into TCP/IP properties, WINS tab, and added the local server's IP as a the WINS server.

At this point, when I ran netdiag again, I got a WINS resolution error because WINS is not even installed on the server. However, the warnings above went away.

When I reversed my changes (removed the WINS server and disabled the Messenger service), the warnings re-appeared.

When I just re-enabled the Messenger service but not WINS, the netdiag warnings were gone again, and the WINS tests were skipped.

Conclusion

The warnings occur when the Messenger service is not running. Since I prefer not to run the Messenger service, I'll just ignore the warnings.