Domain Issues across VPN

[ctagle]

Hello all, and thanks in advance for any input you can provide me with.

1st We have our main location which uses Windows 2003 server running Active Directory
2nd We have another location in a seperate city and we have a Windows 2003 Server running at that location.
3rd. We have a VPN connection between both locations and I am able to ping both sides, I am able to see the servers using the local ip and so forth. I can ping using the name or the ip.
4th What we want to do is connect our server in location two and make it an Domain Controller to our main office AD, we are hoping this will help us so our users can login into the domain in the main location and access resources.
5th Both locations are running under firelwalls. Do we need to open any ports on the firewalls?
6th Our main location uses a 4622 Netpoia Router and the second location uses a Linksys Rv042 router

When trying to add a computer to the domain we get an error though.

The service did not respond to the request in a timely fashion and thus not allowing us to add machines to the domain.

Also when we use DCPROMO on the second server and use the add an additional domain controller to the domain we get the same error.

So far we have been unsuccessfull in adding machines to the domain across the VPN.

Any suggestions or comments that could assist me?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[randal]

Assuming your location B clients are part of the domain, does authentication / logins, file sharing, GPOs and everything else cross the VPN without issue? If those do work at location B, then there is something seriously awry.

 

[stash]

Both locations are running under firelwalls. Do we need to open any ports on the firewalls?

Yes. Quite a few. You have some reading to do.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta...-4caf-9767-a9166368434e&displaylang=en

 

[netsysadmin]

One issue to keep in mind is that there is no backup domain controllers when it comes to AD. Because of that computers in your main office will try to authenticate to any available DC no matter if it across a VPN link or not. To prevent that you will need to setup sites.

To answer your question regarding adding the second DC. Where do you have the DNS pointed on the machine in the second office? It needs to be using the DNS of you main office's DC for it to work.

John

 

[ctagle]

We do have the second server we are trying to make a back up an additonal domain controller pointing to the DC for its DNS.

What I was thinking of doing was bringing the second server to our main location, adding to the domain as an additonal DC from the internal lan, then taking back to our satellite location?

Will this work?

 

[stash]

Will this work?

You need to resolve why it didn't work in the first place. Doing a dcpromo at the main site will work, but as soon as you move it, you'll be back to where you started. What is the exact error that dcpromo gave when you tried it in the remote site? "The service did not respond to the request in a timely fashion" is not a dcpromo error.