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Exchange 2007 Installation Error - Cannot Find Global Catalog

I have a fresh setup of Windows 2008 Server R2 on 3 virtual servers (using Amazon Web Services) and am running into issues installing Exchange 2007.

During Exch 2k7 installation I receive the error that "Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory: Could not find any available Global Catalog in forest xxx.xxx.com."

This entire environment is brand new with a fictional domain that was created about a week ago. It is a simple setup with a single forest.

I originally received this error when running 2 servers (a GC and the Exch server) and have since created another server to be a second GC but the Exch installation still throws up that error. The GC's are both running DNS and both servers show up as GC's in AD Sites & Services. The Exch server is logging in to the domain administrator account so it can see the GC's. I have run the command "ServerManagerCmd -I RSAT-ADDS" as several online forums suggested to do so.

At this point I'm not sure what I'm missing. I'm familiar with the older versions of everything (Server 2003, Exchange 2003) so if you reference newer functions and checks please be specific.

Thanks in advance.

Manpreet SIngh Khatra

After you upgraded the DC to GC was is restarted ? Its necessay
Which server holds the FSMO roles and is this Single domain environment ?

- Rancy

CCMITServices

ASKER

Everything has been restarted. It is a single domain environment and all 5 FSMO roles are assigned to the original server on which I created the domain (first one to run dcpromo after installing the AD DS role).

Manpreet SIngh Khatra

Is it a GC as well ? run the below command
nltest /dsgetgc

- Rancy

CCMITServices

ASKER

The Exchange server is not a GC. Both of the other servers are.

Here is the output from that command when run from the Exch server:

PS C:\Users\administrator.BULLDOG6> nltest /dsgetdc:bulldog6.bushwood.com
DC: \\AMAZONA-OIJ6EBK.bulldog6.bushwood.com
Address: \\10.0.0.23
Dom Guid: 4928ae62-4a9e-4bf5-846b-35b3ea5e5b69
Dom Name: bulldog6.bushwood.com
Forest Name: bulldog6.bushwood.com
Dc Site Name: Default-First-Site-Name
Our Site Name: Default-First-Site-Name
Flags: GC DS LDAP KDC TIMESERV WRITABLE DNS_DC DNS_DOMAIN DNS_FOREST CLOSE_SITE FULL_SECRET WS
The command completed successfully

The IP address 10.0.0.23 is the address of the newly created 3rd server which is just running domain services (is a GC).

Amit

First check if any firewall issue persist. Use Port Query GUI tool to check the necessary ports. Download from here
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24009

Next make sure GC is in the same AD site, as Exchange 2007 server. Also note GC server should be windows 2003 SP1 or above.

Finally, check if these VM's are setup correctly to communicate with each other and time sync is working properly.

CCMITServices

ASKER

All 3 servers were created and added to the same subnet within the Amazon Web Services Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). That VPC has a security group policy applied to it in general (subnet to/from Internet) but there is no ACL applied within the subnet so all servers can communicate with each other. I downloaded the Port Query tool but I'm not sure which ports to check to confirm this.

In AD Site & Services the 2 GC's show up but the Exch server does not as it is just a member server. There is just 1 site, Default-First-Site-Name, and it contains the 2 GC's. Do I need to do something to add it to the Site?

Lastly the 3 VM's all show the same time, down to the second.

I just made a change to the network settings of each server and staticly applied the IP addresses (they were previously DHCP reservations) and have removed all dns suffixes added by Amazon Web Services. Now the primary dns suffixes are bulldog6.bushwood.com and bushwood.com, followed by us-east-1.ec2-utilities.amazonaws.com which automatically comes back following a reboot. It apparently made no difference as I still receive the "Cannot find at least one global catalog server" error.

Amit

DHCP IP's are not supported for DC or Exchange server. I better suggest you to rebuild the environment again with Static IP address, both for DC and Exchange.

CCMITServices

ASKER

So switching them now after setting up the AD domain services is too late?

SOLUTION

Amit

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Thank you. Will set up new with static IP's and report back.

CCMITServices

ASKER

Still no dice. Deleted all old VM's and created 2 new ones, AD server and EXCH server. Set static IP's, installed the AD DS role on AD server, created the bulldog6.bushwood.com domain, ran "ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS" on the EXCH server, multiple reboots along the way, and still getting the error.

CCMITServices

ASKER

Oddly enough I was able to run the "setup /PrepareSchema" and "setup /PrepareAD" commands successfully from the Exchange server. How is it I'm able to complete those steps yet during the setup GUI it tells me that it can't find a global catalog? Is there a conflict with Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2007?

Manpreet SIngh Khatra

Try with the DomainController switch specifying a specific DC to run the command again using command prompt

- Rancy

CCMITServices

ASKER

Rancy, what is the syntax of that command? So far I've been using the Exchange setup GUI.

Manpreet SIngh Khatra

/DomainController:<FQDN of domain controller>

How to Modify an Exchange Installation
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124273%28v=EXCHG.80%29.aspx

Setup.com /mode:<setup mode> /roles:<server roles to install> [-OrganizationName:<name for the new Exchange organization>] [/TargetDir:<target directory>] [/SourceDir:<source directory>] [/UpdatesDir:<directory from which to install updates>] [/DomainController:<domain controller>] [/AnswerFile:<filename>] [/DoNotStartTransport] [/EnableLegacyOutlook] [/LegacyRoutingServer] [/EnableErrorReporting] [/NoSelfSignedCertificates] [/AdamLdapPort] [/AdamSslPort] [.AddUmLanguagePack:<UM language pack name] [/RemoveUmLanguagePack:<UM language pack name>] [/?]

- Rancy

CCMITServices

ASKER

I ran the command "setup.com /mode:Install /roles:M,H,C,U /domaincontroller:amazona-38t0q1g.bulldog6.bushwood.com" but the same error popped up, "Cannot find at least one global catalog server running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or later in the local Active Directory site."

Amit

What is the service pack level on your current DC.

CCMITServices

ASKER

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter, SP 1, same as the Exch server.

Manpreet SIngh Khatra

So your saying the DC is Windows 2008 SP1 .... humm

Any other DC that you can upgrade to GC ?

- Rancy

CCMITServices

ASKER

Before blowing all VM's away and starting over I had 2 DC's, both operating as GC's but still had no success. I can create another VM and add it as a GC but will have to do that this evening. I will report back.

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Manpreet SIngh Khatra

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I wasn't able to resolve this issue and have been pulled into another project so I have divided the points between the 2 users that provided assistance. If I am able to return to this task and get it fixed I will try to post the solution.