How to configure subnetting on vmware

Hi Millenium. Thanks for your reply
Let me see if im undertanding this correctly.  For this to work i need to configure the vmnet and the ip settings on the virtual machine as:

vmnet 1
IP address: 192.168.1.x
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.1

vmnet 5
IP address: 192.168.2.x
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:192.168.2.1
DNS: 192.168.2.1


Virtual machine (windows server 2003 as router wth 2 lan conections)
Lan 1 (connected to vmnet1)
IP address: 192.168.1.1
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:
DNS:

Lan 2 (connected to vmnet5)
IP address: 192.168.2.1
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:
DNS:

Let me know if this is correct. Thanks

I understood at first that you had the 2003 server in the real machine, in this setup what you looking for is probably bridging, so the addresses 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1 are in the same physical network as the other computers in your switch.

You gonna configure in VMWare both cards as bridged. And in the Virtual Machine your cards gonna look like this:

Lan 1
IP address: 192.168.1.1
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:
DNS:

Lan 2
IP address: 192.168.2.1
Sunbet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:
DNS:

Your default gateway and DNS will be in only one interface, depending in the info im gonna ask you now:

Can you provide me the output for "ipconfig /all" and "route print" in the real machine ?

Hi Millenium. Im at work currently but i will provide you with the details once i get home. Once again, i really apprecaite your time and avise.  What do you mean by the real machine?

My understanding with vmware networking protocols is that bridged networking will connect to the physical network NIC so hence connect to the existing network (the physical nic is connecting to the internet with ip address obtained automatically). I want the traffic on virtual networks to be entirely isolated from the host operating system and so host-ony is the networking protocol available for my needs unless im going about this the wrong way.

Im trying to setup an test environment solely on vmware so all my machines and routers(windows server 2003) are virtual machines and isolated from the host pc. I havent setup any routers for internet access just yet.

If i configure the virtual network editor so I have to 2 vmnics (just say vmnet 1 for 192.168.1.x subnet  connected to the vmnet1 switch and vmnet5 for 192.168.2.x subnet connected to vmnet5 switch)

Subnet 1. 192.168.1.0\24
subnet 2. 192.168.2.0\24
VIRTUL SERVER 2003 MACHINE(configured as router)
XP VIRTAUL MACHINE 1   - IP ADDRESS  192.168.1.x
XP VIRTAUL MACHHINE 2  - IP ADDRESS  192.168.2.x

The router will have the 2 network cards connected to the relevant subnet.

I see, now your goal is clear to me. I understood as you wanted to make that virtual machine the router between your networks and not an isolated NAT (thats why i asked about your real machine configuration, so i could figure out gateway/dns).

In this case you don't even have to do anything in the real machine besides set up the vmnet just like you said here

> If i configure the virtual network editor so I have to 2 vmnics (just say vmnet 1 for 192.168.1.x subnet  connected to the vmnet1 switch and vmnet5 for 192.168.2.x subnet connected to vmnet5 switch)

Then, under the vmware, you go in your Server 2003 machine and assign one NIC to each vmnet.

Configure in the Server 2003 nic 1 with ip 192.168.1.1 and nic2 with ip 192.168.2.1 (note, this machine has no gateway in this setup and will have dns only if you set up a DNS server with 2003, so dns will be one of the ips that the machine owns (192.168.1.1/192.168.2.1/127.0.0.1).

Next step is to create the XP 1 machine and assign the NIC to vmnet 1

Configure the machine with the ip 192.168.1.2, gw 192.168.1.1 and if you set up a DNS server, the dns will be 192.168.1.1

Next step is to create the XP 2 machine and assign the NIC to vmnet 5

Configure the machine with the ip 192.168.2.2, gw 192.168.2.1 and if you set up a DNS server, the dns will be 192.168.2.1

Enable and configure RRAS in the Server 2003, and you should be able to ping from the XP1 the XP2



Let me know if im not clear in any of the steps.

isolated NAT = isolated network (typo).

Hi Millenium. Your steps are clear. Thanks. I will try the above when i get home.

what if i decided to add another router to be used as a internet router (again windows server 2003 machine). Just say i set up the machine with the ip address 192.168.1.254 (internet for users on the 192.168.1.x subnet) and have it connected to vmnet1.

Does that mean all the machines on the 192.168.1.x subnet will have their default gatway as 192.168.1.254.

I know i will need to add a static router on the router for the 192.168.2 network i.e route add 192.168.2.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1

does the router 192.168.1.1 need a default gateway set up as then 192.168.1.254. what about the 192.168.2.1 router. Does that need a default gateway entered or can it be left blank

> Hi Millenium. Your steps are clear.

I'm always concerned with my english, since it's not my main language.

> what if i decided to add another router to be used as a internet router (again windows server 2003 machine). Just say i set up the machine with the ip address 192.168.1.254 (internet for users on the 192.168.1.x subnet) and have it connected to vmnet1.

I would do it differently, adding another virtual nic to the actual windows 2003 server (the one with RRAS) and use that NIC for the internet access, that would make routing/nating way easier.

But if you wanna go for that setup, lets continue

> Does that mean all the machines on the 192.168.1.x subnet will have their default gatway as 192.168.1.254.

Yes, the default route would be that.

> I know i will need to add a static router on the router for the 192.168.2 network i.e route add 192.168.2.0 mask 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1

Add a "-p" while adding the route to make it persistent.

> does the router 192.168.1.1 need a default gateway set up as then 192.168.1.254. what about the 192.168.2.1 router. Does that need a default gateway entered or can it be left blank

If you want the RRAS to have access internet and every network behind you must do it, and yes, you leave it in blank (there is no such thing as 2 default routes, unless in very very specific setups).

Hi Millenium. Just to let you know i have successfully created 2 subnets on vmware and able to ping the computers on the other subnets. Thanks for your advise.

The only reason why i have decided to add a new router on the 192.168.1 subnet is so i can test static ip routes. However i am having trouble setting the router as a NAT.

I have added two nics to the new router (WINDOWS SERVER 2003 MACHINE)

LAN 1 (connected to vmnet1)
IP address: 192.168.1.254
subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
DG:
DNS:

LAN 2 (connected to vmnet0 - bridged)
ip address: assigned by dhcp

For lan 2 i am getting a 169.254 ip address.

Any suggestions

Thanks

Do you have more than once NIC in your real machine (bluetooth, wireless and hamachi are going to count as a NIC for the VMWare) ? If you do, make sure that VMnet0 is associated to the right NIC.
Is your real machine directly connected to your router ? What kind of internet access do you ? If its cable, its possible its associated to the MAC Address of your real machine NIC, so it won't gives you an IP.
To test the brigde you can add static ip to your LAN 2 in the same network as the Internet Router's LAN (assuming that you have one) and simple ping it.

Hi Millenium. I only have the 1 physical nic on my host machine and it is correctly bridged to vmnet0 on network editor.

The real machine is directly connected to the cable modem hence cable access.

I dont think its a MAC issue as i have connected the ethernet from the cable modem to my laptop and i can access the internet.

Real machine ethernet adaptor LAN configs are
IP: 86.11.29.230
subnet: 255.255.252.0
dg: 86.11.28.1
dns:194.168.4.100

I added a static ip address on the virtual machine on lan 2 as below and able to ping the above ip address
ip:86.11.29.230
subnet: 255.255.252.0
dg: 86.11.28.1
dns:194.168.4.100

Any suggestions? as soon as i change the config on lan2 on the virtual machine back to dhcp it gives me a 169.254 range address

sorry. the ip address ON lan2 on the virtual machine was set to :86.11.29.232

Try setting up an static ip in the real machine to some invalid network (like 192.168.3.2) and then you configure the virtual machine with DHCP.
Your problem is probably that the cable modem already assigned the IP to your real machine so it won't give any other ip.
Note that you loose internet access but you gonna be able to test.

Hi Millenium. I cant tell you enough how much i appreciate your help. Thank-you

Just to update you that i did the baove and this worked. The router(windows server 2003 machine 2) Lan 2 nic has a valid ip address by dhcp.

I can access the internet on the router fine ut not on any virtual machine on the 192.168.1.x subnet.

Even if i add a static ip address and change the default gateway from the first router(192.168.1.1) to the internet router(192.168.1.254  LAN 1) i get page cannot be displayed.

Any suggestions?

I ll call your machines now by their ips.

I assume you configured in the 192.168.1.254 with RRAS + NAT configuration, what you need to do is test exactly where the problem is. Usually internet access problems are DNS issues.

Can you give me the output for the following commands in the following machines so i can update myself ?

192.168.1.1:

ipconfig /all
route print
ping 192.168.1.254 (oh yeah, from the very basic to the most advanced)
nslookup www.google.com
tracert 64.233.163.99
telnet 64.233.163.99 80

192.168.1.254:

ipconfig /all
route print

192.168.1.254 info (internet router)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HSHLON-ROUTER
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : London.internal
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : London.internal

Ethernet adapter LAN2:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-7D-95-90
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 86.11.31.81(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.252.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, August 29, 2009 7:43:53 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, September 05, 2009 8:13:54 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 86.11.28.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 62.253.131.92
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.168.4.100
                                       194.168.8.100
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter LAN1:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-7D-95-86
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




===========================================================================
Interface List
 11 ...00 0c 29 7d 95 90 ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection #2
 10 ...00 0c 29 7d 95 86 ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
  1 ........................... Software Loopback Interface 1
 13 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{82031A32-C802-40F6-8344-839E8E732933}
 14 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{5A3FFE86-EAD9-4924-A795-432778CDEE1E}
 20 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0       86.11.28.1      86.11.31.81     10
       86.11.28.0    255.255.252.0         On-link       86.11.31.81    266
      86.11.31.81  255.255.255.255         On-link       86.11.31.81    266
     86.11.31.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       86.11.31.81    266
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        127.0.0.1  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  127.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
      192.168.1.0    255.255.255.0         On-link     192.168.1.254    266
    192.168.1.254  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.1.254    266
    192.168.1.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.1.254    266
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0      192.168.1.1    192.168.1.254     11
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link       86.11.31.81    266
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link     192.168.1.254    266
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       86.11.31.81    266
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.1.254    266
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  Network Address          Netmask  Gateway Address  Metric
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0      192.168.1.1       1
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0       86.11.28.1  Default
===========================================================================

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
 If Metric Network Destination      Gateway
 20   1110 ::/0                     2002:c058:6301::c058:6301
  1    306 ::1/128                  On-link
 20   1010 2002::/16                On-link
 20    266 2002:560b:1f51::560b:1f51/128
                                    On-link
  1    306 ff00::/8                 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None

192.168.1.1  machine
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HSHLON-FP1
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : London.internal
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : London.internal

Ethernet adapter LAN2:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-D0-85-1B
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter LAN1:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-D0-85-11
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





===========================================================================
Interface List
 12 ...00 0c 29 d0 85 1b ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection #2
 10 ...00 0c 29 d0 85 11 ...... Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
  1 ........................... Software Loopback Interface 1
 11 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{82031A32-C802-40F6-8344-839E8E732933}
 14 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0  isatap.{5A3FFE86-EAD9-4924-A795-432778CDEE1E}
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        127.0.0.1  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  127.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
      192.168.1.0    255.255.255.0         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
      192.168.1.1  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
    192.168.1.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0         On-link       192.168.1.1     11
      192.168.2.1  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
    192.168.2.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
    192.168.2.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.2.1    266
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link       192.168.1.1    266
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  Network Address          Netmask  Gateway Address  Metric
      192.168.2.0    255.255.255.0      192.168.1.1       1
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.2.1  Default
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0       86.11.28.1  Default
===========================================================================

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
 If Metric Network Destination      Gateway
  1    306 ::1/128                  On-link
  1    306 ff00::/8                 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None


I can ping 192.168.1.254
when i nslookup www.google.com i get below error
Server:  UnKnown
Address:  127.0.0.1

i also cant nslookup any computers on my domain

****tracert 64.233.163.99 ********
Tracing route to 64.233.163.99 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1  HSHLON-FP1.London.internal [192.168.2.1]  reports: Destination host unreachable.

Trace complete.

***telnet 64.233.99.80******
telnet is not recognised in command prompt

that's easy my friend, delete this 2 routes:

Persistent Routes:
  Network Address          Netmask  Gateway Address  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.2.1  Default
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0       86.11.28.1  Default

with the commands:

route -p delete 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1
route -p delete 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 86.11.28.1

Then go in the configuration of both NIC's, make sure the NIC with the address 192.168.1.1 has the following setup:
IP: 192.168.1.1
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GW: 192.168.1.254
DNS1: 192.168.1.1 (if you are running DNS in this server) / 194.168.4.100 (if you aren't running DNS in this server)
DNS2: 194.168.4.100 (if you are running DNS in this server) / 194.168.8.100 (if you aren't running DNS in this server)

And the nic with the address 192.168.2.1 goes like this:
IP: 192.168.2.1
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GW: BLANK
DNS1: BLANK
DNS2: BLANK

In your windows xp 1 (with the NIC configured as 192.168.1.2) goes like this:
IP: 192.168.1.2
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GW: 192.168.1.254
DNS1: 192.168.1.1 (if you are running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1) / 194.168.4.100 (if you aren't running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1)
DNS2: 194.168.4.100 (if you are running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1) / 194.168.8.100 (if you aren't running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1)

In your windows xp 2 (with the NIC configured as 192.168.2.2) goes like this:
IP: 192.168.2.2
MASK: 255.255.255.0
GW: 192.168.2.1
DNS1: 192.168.2.1 (if you are running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1) / 194.168.4.100 (if you aren't running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1)
DNS2: 194.168.4.100 (if you are running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1) / 194.168.8.100 (if you aren't running DNS in the server 192.168.1.1)

Millenium. Your a genius. I have got this working. I havent read up too much on static routes but will read up on this and see whta the above routes mean.

The only thing i have with the above setup is that i have a dhcp server and dns server  setup on machine 192.168.1.2. How do i set it up so that the dhcp will automatically assign the correct dns server (192.168.1.2) to the workstations and also have access to the internet.

You got me confused here, isn't the 192.168.1.2 one of the workstations ?
If your goal is to dynamicly assign ip's for both networks, your DHCP server must be the machine with ip 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1.
If you only wanna assign IP's in the network 192.168.1.0/24, you can create a scope and you gonna easily find in there an option for DNS assignment.
As for the DNS server, you should just need to install and start it, no additional configurations and you can point every machine to resolve names there (configure the DNS 1 to 192.168.1.2).

Hi millenium. just to confirm which machines i have setup on my network:

ROUTERS
Router 1      192.168.1.1 ( 192.168.1.x subnet)
                    192.168.2.1 ( 192.168.2.x subnet)
Router 2      192.168.1.254 ( 192.168.1.x subnet) internet router
                   
SERVERS
dns 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3
dhcp 192.168.1.2

WORKSTATIONS
winxp1 192.168.1.28 assigned by dhcp
winxp2 192.168.2.128 assigned by dhcp


both the above workstations are showing dhcp settings as 192.168.1.2 and dns servers as 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3. with these dns settings the internet does not work. Howevere if i change the dns settings to 194.168.4.100 and 194.168.8.100 the internet works.

any new computer on the netwoek with ip settings assigned by dhcp will populate the dns settings as 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3 and with these dns settins the internet does not work.

Any suggestions?

I still don't know WHO is 192.168.1.2, you have 5th computer ? Your dns/dhcp is supposed to be 192.168.1.1/192.168.2.1 ?
Where did you configure your DHCP server ?

192.168.1.2 has active directory domain  services installed. I have also installed a dns server and dhcp server on it.

hence any computer on the network will contact the dhcp server at 192.168.1.2 for a ip address.
the router 192.168.2.1 has a dhcp relay installed so it can allow computers on the 192.168.2.x subnet to contact the dhcp server.

DNS server is also installed on 192.168.1.2 (and on 192.168.1.3).  so for example the below workstation is on subnet 192,168.2.x and it ip settings are:

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : WLON002
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : London.internal
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : London.internal

Ethernet adapter LAN1:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-D0-85-1B
   Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.128(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
                                                 192.168.1.3
   
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above dns settings dont allow the internet to work on the workstation. When i change the dns server to 194.168.4.100 the internet works. It looks like a dns issue. Any suggestions

Yes it is a DNS issue.
Is your DNS service started (please say it is =))
If you configure in the 192.168.1.2 the DNS as 127.0.0.1, can you resolve names (nslookup www.google.com) ?
If you configure in the 192.168.1.2 the DNS as 194.168.4.100, can you resolve names (nslookup www.google.com) as it does in the 192.168.2.2 ?
There is no reason to DNS service not to work if you can reach the internet and its started, the default settings are enough to just resolve names.

Yes. the dns service is started
i cant resolve names with the dns as 127.0.0.1. I get a request timed out error message
I can nslookup www.google.com when i have the dns changed to 194.168.4.100
Any suggestions?

Can you post screenshots of your DNS configuration ?
Im looking for everything inside Forward Lookup Zones

Hi Millenium. I have got this working. All computers on the network are contacting the dns server at 192.168.1.2.. I chnaged the dns setting on pc with ip 192.168.1.2 (dhcp\dns server pc) to 192.168.1.254(internet router) and now i can access the internet on both subnets. However i still cant nslookup on any workstation as getting below errors

DNS request timed out.
    timeout was 2 seconds.
Server:  UnKnown
Address:  192.168.1.2

Name:    www.l.google.com
Addresses:  209.85.229.105, 209.85.229.147, 209.85.229.99, 209.85.229.106
        209.85.229.104, 209.85.229.103
Aliases:  www.google.com

I also cant nslookup any pc's on my domain either by hostname or ip address.

Hi millenium. ip\ dns configurations on 192.168.1.2 (dns\dhcp pc)

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HSHLON-DC1
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : London.internal
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : London.internal

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-29-1E-38-69
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 127.0.0.1
                                       192.168.1.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Your DNS service isn't working, you have a DC running in this 192.168.1.2 ?
If you configuring the DNS without a DC try following this steps: http://www.simongibson.com/intranet/dns2003/
Ironicly enough, this guy uses the same provider as you.

hi millenium i added a forwarder on dns and this works. internet working fine. I still cant nslookup though.

i have dc on 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3. also on those pcs i have dns installed and just dhcp on 192.168.1.2. Are you suggesting that i have another pc as solely as my dns?

p.s i changed the dns settings on 192.168.1.2 back to 127.0.0.1 and 192.168.1.3. The forwarder is working for internet access

when i do i nslookup on my workstation say for the dc (192.168.1.2) i get below error

cant find server name for address 192.168.1.2: Timed Out
cant find server name for address 192.168.1.3: Timed out
derfault servers are ot available

192.168.1.2 is also the pc that have dns server

Hi millenium i resolved the above issue. I just clicked on the option to update ptr records options for the pcs in my forward zone on the dns server.  I only created the reverse zone couple of minutes ago. All working now. all new workstations that i add to the domain i can nslookup.

Cheers for your help. I really appreciate your time for helping me. I can now test and study for my mcitp.

where are you from if you dont mind me asking?

Im Brazillian and judging your nick you are from UK.
I'm glad you got it working and good luck with your future certification.

Hi Millenium. Dont ask me why but i had to change some configurations on some of the pcs on my virtual network as i had multiple roles installed on them.

I also replaced the server 2003 internet router machine to an ipcop (i nic for lan and 1 for internet)machine. all ip settings are the same though

Bottom line is i can access the internet on both subnets and log into the domain on both subnets. However i am unable to ping from both subnets or unc to any machine on the other subnet.

Foir some bizare reason i can ping to 192.168.1.4 (file server machine) from the 192.168.2.x subnet machine but cant ping to 192.168.1.2. I also cant unc to 192.168.1.4 from the machine on the 2.0 subnet.

Also bizarly i cant ping to 1 or 2 machines on the same subnet. I
Any suggestions?

You gotta check the routing table the machines on the 192.168.1.0/24 and 192.168.2.0/24 subnets and make sure they have a persistent route to each other networks pointing to 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2.
You can use tracert to help you debug it and make sure your RRAS is not filtering anything (isn't if you haven't changed anything in there).