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SBS 2011 Essentials - reboot of server causes connector software on client workstations to crash; normal?

Answered SBS 2011 Essentials - reboot of server causes connector software on client workstations to crash; normal?

  • Tuesday, January 01, 2013 5:22 PM
     
     
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    Fairly new to SBS...we migrated from Server 2003 (changed hardware so no upgrade, just a complete replacement). It is primarily a file server, with some shared folders and it runs a couple of third-party database installs (Act by Sage, Sage 50 Accounting)...no email server or anything else complex at all...

    I followed the fairly simple steps of adding client machines through the connector software. All client machines are connected and find. Our network is now a DOMAIN style, no longer a workgroup style.

    Just like the title suggests, when the server is rebooted, on some machines, the connector software crashes (LANconfigsvc.exe in application event viewer), and  sometimes DNS settings are reset on the client. That is to say, the primary DNS is deleted on the workstation from being the static IP of the SBS server, and replaced with blanks.

    This does not happen to ALL machines, only some. The percentage of machines this affects is random.

    Is this normal? Can someone tell me what the proper procedure should be when rebooting a SBS 2011 Essentials server in a DOMAIN setting? Is it possible I have to reboot all client workstations as well as a rule?
     

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  • Thursday, January 03, 2013 8:18 PM
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    Not normal.

    Is your Essentials up to date with the latest update rollups?

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Thursday, January 03, 2013 9:13 PM
     
     
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    I have only just heard about "update rollups"...how is this different from simply keeping the server up-to-date with Windows Update?

    I have certainly done that...running Windows Update gives me "Windows is up to date"...I check this weekly to make sure it gets the latest definition updates and so on...I guess to answer your question, I think I have the latest updates installed.

    I should also point out that the workstations are configured for static internal IP's, . Each one is set to use our gateway device (an Untangle box) as primary gateway, and then the SBS 2011 E server IP as the primary DNS server. The SBS 2011 E server, in turn, is set to use it's own static IP, and the gateway device as the gateway AND primary DNS server. I believe this is correct for a SBS 2011 E setup, making full use of Active Directory (only masked as it is in SBS 2011 E). I am open to advice on this that contrasts how I have this set up.

    I have gone beyond this initial problem and uninstalled the connector software on all client workstations in the domain network (only 10 machines).

    This has solved the problem of rebooting server causing client connector crashes...now when the server is rebooted, the clients behave gracefully (a few disconnected mapped network drives, but once the server is back online, everything works normally as it should).

    However, as you can imagine, with the connector software uninstalled on clients, they no longer report to dashboard in SBS Server 2011 E. So their status is "offline" and of course I get no alerts to various issues, such as they need updates, lack of C: drive space, etc. on the workstations.

    I never used the backup feature, and do not wish to (we have a third party solution we are happy with...one that backs up to a network drive for the love of pete...).

    So honestly, it is not life or death that I get this working as intended...but I am still curious what causes it, and I would rather re-install the connector software and have things work as intended...

    I would appreciate any help on this from anyone!

    Assuming I find here, or elsewhere, something to try, can somebody point me in the right direction on the proper procedure to re-install connector on these workstations?

     
  • Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:33 PM
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    please confirm the ip address details for the server?

    can you do an ipconfig /all and post it?

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:57 PM
     
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    Yes, here are the results of ipconfig /all:

    Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : PRIME-SBS2011E
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : COMPANY.local
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : COMPANY.local
                                       dnsalias.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : dnsalias.com
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E8-40-F2-3B-C2-4F
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a9e6:9c21:5b56:1f24%11(Preferred) 
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : December-31-12 10:42:44 AM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : January-04-13 6:41:47 AM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 250102002
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-FD-15-7E-E8-40-F2-3B-C2-4F
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : ::1
                                       192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-00-78-69
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::9187:77ca:d28a:accc%15(Preferred) 
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 369623079
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-FD-15-7E-E8-40-F2-3B-C2-4F
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

PPP adapter RAS (Dial In) Interface:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : RAS (Dial In) Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.125(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.dnsalias.com:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : dnsalias.com
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   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

Tunnel adapter isatap.{6E06F030-7526-11D2-BAF4-00600815A4BD}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{D8CDB80E-9ED2-4D7C-A9FB-2175C38EA9A5}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

    Again, 192.168.1.1 is our gateway device (Untangle box).

    It is handing out static IP's via DHCP to all boxes, based on MAC address.

    The static IP the SBS 2011 E server gets is 192.168.1.2.

    I am not sure why "dnsalias.com" is showing up here for DNS suffix...we do have a dnsalias account due to dynamic IP from our ISP, but the gateway device is handling the updates for that. There is nothing on the SBS 2011 E server that cares about that. I may have put dnsalias.com in as a placeholder inadvertently somewhere during setup?

    Virtualbox is at default settings. Not even sure why it does what it does (192.168.56.1?)...have one virtual machine on the server with a static IP in our common subnet and it works fine.

    PPP adapter..not sure about this...and I have no idea what the tunnel adapter stuff is all about...

    Sorry for being mildy retarded...hope I do not scare you away...

     
  • Friday, January 04, 2013 7:22 AM
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    The server should have its DNS Set to 1.2 not 1.1

    Have a look in the properties of DHCP, you may find it is issuing dnsalias.com as a search suffix.

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Friday, January 04, 2013 4:29 PM
     
     
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    Really? If I set the server to primary DNS itself, how does it ultimately get DNS info? I thought it needed to grab it from the gateway device because SBS 2011 E. isn't set up as a DNS server by default? Regardless, I will try the suggestion.

    You were correct. My Untangle gateway device was set to hand out "dnsalias.com" as a domain suffix in its DNS server setttings. I have changed that to "COMPANY.local" now. That should be correct (I hope).

    RobertPearman, thank you for your interest and help so far. Any advice on re-installing connector software on the clients? Should I just go through the normal process again:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/connect-computer-to-the-server-1.aspx

    ?

     
  • Friday, January 04, 2013 9:24 PM
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    You use the DNS console (from admin tools) and set the forwarders to your ISP DNS Server.

    Or you use my PowerShell script.

    http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Set-DNS-Forwarders-SBS-95c2e06d

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Friday, January 04, 2013 9:58 PM
     
     
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    I don't really understand the need to do this. I set the DNS to 1.2 like you originally said, and it seems to work ok?

    Would you be willing to elaborate?

    I tried running your script in unattended mode (right click and run with powershell) after editing it at the top with my two ISP DNS servers, with a space between them...was this right? And then set this up to run on a schedule at reboot or something?

    • Edited by jeremyf123 Friday, January 04, 2013 9:59 PM
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  • Monday, January 07, 2013 9:48 AM
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    The need is dependant on the situation.

    Setting 1.2 as the DNS Server in the NIC tells the server to use 'itself' as its source for DNS information.

    The DNS Service running on the Essentials box, is responsible for resolving internet addresses for the client and the server.

    Essentials will auto detect your router, and use that as a DNS Forwarder - some routers do not perform well in this situation, and it is preferable to use ISP Servers for DNS.

    My script simply reconfigures DNS to use a forwarder that you prefer.

    What you do is..

    # Set DNS Forwarders SBS 2011 Essentials
# Robert Pearman SBS MVP
# 

# To Run this Task Unattended set this value to 'True'
$unattend = "True"

# Enter IP Addresses to Set as Forwarders
$forwarder = "123.123.123.123"

    Change 123.123.123.123 to whatever IP you want your DNS queries to go to.

    Then run the tool, and it will set DNS to send any external queries to that IP.

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk


     
  • Monday, January 07, 2013 3:26 PM
     
     
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    OK fair enough. I suppose it would be fairly obvious if my router did "not perform well in this situation"...DNS queries would start to fail all over the network?

    So if that happens, I will definitely make use of your script.

    I did as you describe above with your script to test. Is there any way to add a second preferred forwarder (secondary ISP DNS)?

    How often should this be run, once at reboot or more often (perhaps as a scheduled task)?

    Finally, do you mind just confirming that the best way to re-install connector software is simply going through the process again here:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/connect-computer-to-the-server-1.aspx

    ?

    Thank you for your attention on this, you have helped me quite a bit!

     
  • Monday, January 07, 2013 3:38 PM
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    Just uninstall the connector and reinstall.

    I chose to run the script on schedule - as Essentials periodically updates the DNS.

    When i first published the script it was working with multiple IPs (which you add seperated with a space) but it doesnt appear to be anymore.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754941.aspx

    Will investigate and update if possible.

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Monday, January 07, 2013 7:28 PM
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    Updated, will now support multiple IPs.

    Robert Pearman SBS MVP | www.titlerequired.com | www.itauthority.co.uk

     
  • Thursday, January 10, 2013 2:50 PM
     
     
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    Thanks for you advice Robert, I am not abandoning this thread, I just have to re-install connector at various workstations and make sure a reboot of server does not cause the same types of problems...I'll report back here soon...