# Secondary Global Catalog Server Not Working



## ImagingGuy2015 (Feb 14, 2008)

Hello,

I have a setup as follows. Small network ~10 user PCs and the 2 following servers:

1. A Dell server loaded with Server 2003 SBS running as primary domain controller, Exchange, DNS, FTP etc.
2. A second machine running with Server 2008 running as secondary domain controller, secondary dns, secondary global catalog server.

I followed every guide I could find on the subject of adding the second server machine to the network and performed various tasks to make the 2008 compatible with the sbs 2003 domain etc. (there are some work around for using a 2008 machine as a secondary controller to a 2003 domain)

I thought everything was running great until last night when I rebooted our primary machine and it got hung on the boot screen as someone (probably me) left a usb key inserted and it was trying to boot off of it and getting nowhere.

I figured, no big deal. The secondary domain controller/dns/global catalog machine will kick in and do its job. All of our domain users have their NIC statically configured to point to the secondary server as their secondary dns. I figured everything should be fine.

However, it appears only DNS worked as planned (I could resolve names to IPs fine). 

When I tried to login with a domain account I got an error about not being able to contact a catalog server. I do not know why but even with the global catalog server checkbox marked under AD sites and services, the machine does not appear to be functioning properly (IE its not acting as a catalog server).

When I got in today I just booted up the primary server again and all was well, but i am still trying to figure out why the secondary global cat server didnt work. 

Is there anything in specific i should be looking for that I may have misconfigured? 

As I mentioned DNS seemed to work OK, but when it came to actually trying to login to a machine with domain credentials I get the message that there is no global cat server available to process request...However the global cat server WAS running, and all machines are pointed to it for secondary DNS.

When I logged into the secondary domain controller and tried to run Active directory while the primary was down, I was unable to as it said the domain could not be contacted....which is strange as this machine is supposed to be running the domain at that point.

Now that they are both online I can go into active directory and see thatboth machines are listed under servers in the AD sits and services window, both have "global catalog server" checked and I did follow every MS guide I could find on adding the server 2008 machine and did various steps before running DCpromo.exe on it so I am not sure where I messed up. 

Also noted that when the primary went down I received an error in the secondary controller that "The processing of group policy has failed. windows could not obtain the name of a domain controller. this could be due to a dns failure." this seemed strange as the secondary machine IS a domain controller, cat server, DNS server, dhcp server etc.

As you can tell i am not the best at this stuff but i am really hoping to get this secondary machine up to snuff in order to avoid a potential disaster if the primary machine ever dies instantly.

Sorry for the long post any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!


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## ImagingGuy2015 (Feb 14, 2008)

does anyone know of a guide or link to documentation for adding a server 2008 (non r2) machine as a secondary global catalog/domain controller/dns to a sbs 2003 domain? i am not sure why my current setup is not working and I am at the point where I am just going to start from scratch as anything I have tried to correct the issue so far has not worked..


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