ESX Server with Exchange 2003 installation issue

[ebui87]

Hi,

I'm a VMware newbie...Just started working with ESX 3.0.2 Server and installed 2x Windows 2003 Enterprise Virtual machines on a Dell 1800 server with 2 Zeon CPU, 4GB memory and 1 NIC.

one VM is used as additional Citrix Server..

the other is trying to be used as an additional Exchange Server on the network.

Citrix Server works perfectly.

The only problem i've ran into is trying to install the Exchange software...During installation wizard, it gives me an error, stating that it cannot contact Windows Active Directory...however, with both servers, i was able to join them to the domain. Ping, dns, and other diagnostics tools has confirmed that the VM can see the Domain Controller.

I tried copying the software to local folder, tried over network, but no luck.

I also tested the installation on the other VM with the citrix installation and i get the same error message. So it leads me to believe that there's something going on with the NIC config

Has anyone had similar issue?

p.s. i disable ESX firewall and no luck as well.

[CiscoKid]

Have you installed the VMware Tools on the Exchange VM Guest? If so, did you install it with the Shared Folders? If yes, remove Shared Folders and go into the registry and remove HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\hgfs. There have been known issues with shared folders feature and domain authentication. Primarily the concern has been on the AD domain controllers but I have also seen this issue with Exchange VM Guests. So as a practice I just don't install shared folders. It is a useless feature that you will never even miss. Another area of suspect is timing. Is your soon-to-be exchange server on the same time zone and is the timing synchronized? There could be a significant time drift which could cause authentication issues.

[Rumple]

the esx firewall should be seperate from the vmnetwork.

If you can ping then nothing is wrong networking wise.

Are you able to

ping just domainname.local (using real domain name, not domaincontroller.domainname.local)

ping the IP of the DC and get the correct reverse lookup.

I've had no problems with setting up exchange this way. Typically thats a dns configuration issue.

Make sure vm firewall's are off...that burned me once.

[ebui87]

thanks for the response...Shared folder is not enable and time sync is correct.

i'm going to try another W2K3 installation and see what happens because something funky is going on and in sense, the citrix server vm was cloned from this VM.

thanks again...let me know if i should try anything else in the mean time.

[ebui87]

yeah, double checked firewall/pinging domain and etc....everything checks out...i get correct replies...

thanks for the post though.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

What errors do you have in the Exchange setup log file? Perhaps as you suggest, something was flaky with the clone process.

[ebui87]

I reviewed the log and compared it to a successful log and it seem as though during setup, i cannot find a domain controller.

yeah, i assume something is flaky since there's not that many post regarding this issue so i'm sure it's an isolated issue.

thanks!

[CiscoKid]

Perhaps a duplicate SID issue? What kind of program have you used to change the SID during the cloning process if any?

[ebui87]

no luck, installed a brand new windows installation and services and still received same Exchange installation error message regarding not being able to contact windows active directory, even after easily joining the domain as a member server...

anything else anyone suggest?

thanks in advance...

[CiscoKid]

nslookup yield positive results like it is a member of the domain? Was this a clean installation of Windows for the Exchange box? All the necessary Windows Components added prior to the installation? Just checking the a...b...c's.

[ebui87]

yes, nslookup verified DNS server, all exchange components installed, i.e. iis, smtp, nntp,...clean installation of windows...i double checked everything...

[CiscoKid]

Can your Exchange server contact the Global Catalog server?

[CiscoKid]

One other question...is this a 2000 or a 2003 Active Directory domain?

[vmcms]

Ping and ping -a from both directions to ensure that each machine knows who it is and who the other machine is by dns name and by IP.

Ensure that the DC is the 1st DNS server listed under IP properties.

Ensure that the DCs listed in Exchange all exist and are online.

[ebui87]

the exchange can definitely connect to the global catalog server...the domain is 2003 active directory.

also, ping and ping-a both to and from reply correctly.

all DCs are online...ran dcdiag tool and that passed fully too.

right now the esx server only has 1 NIC, I thinking about adding another NIC and applying it directly to the exchange server and see what happens.

[virtualdud3]

Deleted

[ebui87]

Hey Guys,

thanks for everyone's input and help...I've narrowed the issue down to being a windows issue...I tested another installation on a non-vmware machine and got the same error.

so thanks again...i appreciate everyone's prompt responses...

[CiscoKid]

That's why they call this a community site...all working together for the same goals!!! :smileygrin:

[ebui87]

problem sovled...the other admin had been making changes to the AD site and services which was causing a problem resolving site information.

thanks again everyone for your help.