I had to reinstall server 2016 Essentials at a client site due to a number of issues. I have setup the server with the same settings as the original. I have re-added the User information as it was on the original.
My question is, is there a way to reconnect the existing clients without having to create a new User on the client. I did one client by re-running the Connect program and it returned an error message that it could not connect as it was already connected to the domain. I removed the client from the domain and ran Connect. The client connected to the server but created a new user on the client, FrontDesk.KOHLERSERVER. At that point I had to redo email setup, etc., on the client.
Hello Kent,
A reinstall creates new SID's for all objects in the Active Directory and that causes previously joined computers no longer to be trusted by the Domain Controller. That is also the case for Users and the profiles. There is no official Microsoft way to repair this. In some cases, you can log in as a local admin and copy profiles from one user to another, but I have not been very successful with that. Especially installed programs do not work properly if you do that.
A SID, short for security identifier, is a number used to identify a user, group, and computer accounts in Windows. SIDs are created when the account is first created in Windows and no two SIDs on a computer are ever the same.
You could have migrated that 'old' Active Directory with one of my migration guides though that path, from 2016 to 2016, is not yet written.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that there may be 3rd party solutions that can help you but I have no knowledge about these.
Thanks,
Kent
I am in a similar situation, except I haven't done anything yet. The Certificate Services are all screwed up on the server so I need to reinstall the server. It is currently at 2016 and I need to reinstall 2016, are there any guides or would the ones from Server 2012 work?
George
George, you can migrate AD to a new 2016. That will retain all profiles etcetra.
This guide How to migrate Windows Server 2012 R2 (Essentials) to Windows Server 2016 (Essentials) will help to accomplish what you want to do. For 2016 to 2016 it would basically be the same but if you have difficulties I will fix it.
I realize this thread was started in 2016.
My problem which is related to MS Server Standard 2016 with Server Essentials installed.
A Windows Update in October of 2020 I believe corrupted Active Directory. I posted my problem to the MS Server Community looking for an answer at that time. After the update The Connector software stopped working, in that it would no longer connect to the server.
I tried several documented items which included leaving the domain and then rejoining, (big mistake). It only made things worse as the PC in question's automatic back-ups were disrupted, and I have not been able to solve the problem since.
An answer which was given to me by one of the MS people was to the effect of "You're supposed to TEST the updates before you apply them".
As a small business owner who works in the field, and has only one temp contract person (second tech), I expect updates to WORK not wreak havoc. It's frustrating enough that I cannot rely on the system to operate quietly-seamlessly.
I believed that I would have to bite the bullet and roll back The Essentials Experience and re-install it eventually. After searching other possibilities this seems inevitable.
Why do you think your AD was corrupted? Up till today there is no patch or update causing AD corruption.
The problem coincided after the install of a particular update from October of 2020.
I just tried the wushowhide.diagcab tool to view any hidden updates of which I found none. I seem to remember though that after I reported the problem the update was no longer available for download.
Now whenever I've tried to re-install the connector software it hangs very a very long time and returns the response "server not available".
Maybe I am looking in the wrong place?
I assume that you are trying to reinstall the Connector on a client computer and it fails there. What is the OS of that computer? Can you post the output of an ipconfig /all from the server and from a client and attach those to your answer?
Yes it is the Connector software on the client which fails.
The client computer is Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
IP config ALL from the client:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32> ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : tonewheels.local Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tonewheels.local attlocal.net
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : attlocal.net Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579V Gigabit Network Connectio n Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E0-69-95-F4-F9-77 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10::2c(Preferred) Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 27, 2022 3:30:23 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 28, 2022 4:00:24 AM IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10:cd62:5de3:4553:69be(P referred) Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10:3c43:ac1f:34e2:f9cb(P referred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cd62:5de3:4553:69be%12(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.70(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::8a96:4eff:fe7e:6160%12 192.168.1.254 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 333474197 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1B-00-BB-36-00-50-B6-09-BA-88
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10::1 192.168.1.81 192.168.1.254 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Connection-specific DNS Suffix Search List : attlocal.net
Tunnel adapter isatap.{97EC8923-61CF-48E5-9FB2-8EE15B884155}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : attlocal.net Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
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The server hardware is a Lenovo ThinkServer TD350
Intel Xeon E5-2650 v3 @ 2.30Ghz 10 Core CPU
64 GB Memory Installed
Windows Server 2016 Standard w/Windows Server Essentials Experience x64
IP Config All from the server:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393] (c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Administrator>ipconfig /all
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MAUDEFRICKERTII Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : tonewheels.local Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : tonewheels.local attlocal.net
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Network Connection Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-E2-84-13-68-91 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : attlocal.net Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) I210 Gigabit Network Connection #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-E2-84-13-68-90 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10::49(Preferred) Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 27, 2022 4:45:46 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 28, 2022 3:55:32 AM IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2600:1700:ca20:3b10:d158:47a9:9d5c:5cd5(Preferred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d158:47a9:9d5c:5cd5%4(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.81(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::8a96:4eff:fe7e:6160%4 192.168.1.254 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 124838532 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-26-3A-66-EA-70-E2-84-13-68-91 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : ::1 192.168.1.81 192.168.1.254 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Connection-specific DNS Suffix Search List : attlocal.net
Tunnel adapter isatap.{5EB604D4-FB54-456A-B1BD-28839C3553A6}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 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.{5B5B817B-9A71-4359-98FA-E3EDE82C8E33}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : attlocal.net Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
There are some problems:
Windows 7 may be imperfect and have it's own set of problems, but they are idiosyncrasies I can cope with. Windows 10 on the other hand has some major issues. Two of which come to mind is Microsoft's Invasion of User privacy, and the ability for MS to change, add or remove major features on a whim.
I also have some proprietary software which will not operate under Windows 10. I also have many other software applications I use day to day which will also not operate under Windows 10. I have been considering an alternate boot with Windows 10, but my plate is quite full. I run my own musical instrument service business.
I misread what you explained about IPv6. I disabled IPv6 on both the client and the server.. There is also on/off soft-toggle for DHCPv6 and DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation. Those I left unchanged. After rebooting both computers, I requested to rejoin the domain. It connected with no issues. The Connector software also went smoothly. The MS 2016 server is in my home.
The Router is set as the default gateway on all devices and IP addresses are static. The Default Gateway is set to the router's IP address. The Preferred DNS Server points to the MS 2016 Server Machine. The Alternate DNS Server is set to the Gateway/Router.
It seems that IPv6 on either the client or the server caused the network domain (MS Server 2016 Machine) to be unreachable.
It's working again, so I hesitate to experiment with it more.
Enable IPv6 on the server and the client. In modern networks that is needed to communicate. The only IPv6 service you must disable is the IPv6 DHCP on your network. The DNS server running on 2600:1700:ca20:3b10::1 is the root cause of your problems because that server has no clue about the AD running and any other service running on your Windows Server 2016. That DNS server is handed out by DHCP IPv6 Scope on your router, disable it on the router. NOT on the server or the client.
It is NOT supported to turn off the IPv6 stack on a modern Windows network.
If you have software that does not run under Windows 10 or later it is time to upgrade that, do not use Windows 7 anymore.
Do not set alternate DNS server to the IP address of your router. That device (router) has no Active Directory related zones stored so it has no knowledge about your network. Your DNS at the server that runs your AD should be your only DNS server entry and NOTHING else.
I read over several times what you have explained.
I then realized I had confused "Gateway" with "Domain Name Server" (DNS). Why I don't know.
With your instruction, I finally have it straightened out.
Thank You