Unistalled Replistor while in alias failover - now get 'duplicate name exists on network' error

dvhelpdesk,

Some of the things you mentioned make good sense and a couple don't.  So, I will give you things to look for:

• On the Source server, where you removed RS, make sure there are no RS components left running.  To do this go to a command prompt and type the following:
  
  
  • net stop replistorserver
    
    
  • net stop replistorcontrol
    
    
  • net stop replistor
    
    
• If any of those services were running that means RS was not completely removed
  
  
• Then, go into the DNS server and remove any reference to the Alias name.  You mentioned this was a CNAME record.  Once you have removed RS you will need to use the physical Server's name and that should be listed as an A record already in DNS
  
  
• Then run Active Directory Users and Computers.  If the Alias name shows up, it will need to be removed.
  
  
• On the remaining RS machine, open Maintenance > Alias.  If there is still an entry in that node, remove it from the node.
  
  
• Remove any remaining Specification references
  
  
• Then check in the two nodes using regedit and check for the following:
  
  
  • HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName\ComputerName - This should show the phyical server name
    
    
  • HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName\ActiveComputerName - This should show the phyical server name
    
    

If those things don't make sense or don't help you find the reason, please call EMC Support and open a case.  If you wish, you can ask the Dispatch Engineer to assign the case to me, John Schrader.

The onlyother thing I can think of is that there are more than one DNS servers with the Alias name present and they are not replicating the change.  You should also go to a command prompt on the two machines and type "nbtstat -n"  if either of these machines show the Alias name then the machine is still thinking it is supposed to answer to both its physical name and the Alias name.

It is possible that there is a static route that is configured on a router in the system?  If RS is already removed from both these nodes then the nbtstat -n should not show the Alias name on the command line.  If it does, there is only one way that can happen.  There is a registry key that allows a single machine to have two names.

First check to see if and machine has the Alias name with the nbtstat -n command.

nbtstat -n on both servers only lists their respective names - no reference to the alias.

We do have another DNS server on a separate domain, but I have checked it - there is no reference to the alias there either - I've also cleared the DNS cache and restarted DNS on all the DNS servers.

Since I can ping the alias OK does that mean that DNS is OK?

Only \\alias appears to be the problem (but of course that is what most users are using for their file references!) - does this mean it is either NetBIOS or WINS but not DNS?

We have some static routes, but non specific to a server - if this were a problem wouldn't it affect the ping as well?

This really is a mistery to me - I just wish I knew what it was that Replistor did when it did the failover process so that I could un-do it!

I forgot to mention, when I add the CNAME alias back to DNS I can ping the alias name and it correctly returns the servers IP address - so it looks like DNS is OK, but \\alias keeps generating the 'duplicate name exists on network' error.

Thanks so much for the response, but I still have something wrong.

All the replistor services have gone - the net stop commands on both servers returns 'The specified service does not exist as an installed service'

I've removed the alias entry from DNS (although I do want to add it back so that the alias can be used - people have used it in Excel links, shortcuts etc).

The A records for both servers are in the DNS and appear correct with the physical names of the servers.

I can't find the alias name referenced the AD at all.

Since Replistor is uninstalled I can't go to Maintenance and there are no Specifications.

The ComputerName & ActiveComputerName for both servers appear correctly in their respective registries.

So...

Since I have removed the CNAME alias I get 'The network path was not found' when I try \\alias but I do need that alias in DNS.

When I add the CNAME back into DNS I get 'duplicate name exists on network' error.

It looks like somewhere on the network the alias is still 'register' incorrectly but I can't figure out where.

Any other thoughts on where I might look?

OK, if neither server shows the Alias when you use nbtstat -n then the individual machines are OK and RS is no longer presenting that name as an alias.  At this point I would look at removing the WINS entry altogether.  We can add it back in later if necessary Do you have any machines that cannot use DNS instead of WINS?  If so, then you may need to add in a static mapping using a LMHOSTS file.  You may also want to consider using a static A record for the Alias instead of a CNAME record.  Now that you are not using RS that might be a better choice.

I bit the bullet and re-installed Replistor, had to use a trial key since I can't find the real one at the moment.

I re-created the alias within Replistor and bam everything works - the \\alias is now available!

Thanks for your help - hearing that voice from the dark internet kept me sane today - it gave me hope that there may be solution!

Now I just need to figure out the 'proper' way to remove Replistor before the trial key runs out and without killing that alias!

You may want to check out the following sevtion in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829885

1. 
   

2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
   
   
3. 
   
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.
   
5. Type OptionalNames, and then press ENTER.
   
6. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
   
7. In the Value data box, type the NetBIOS names of the old servers (oldserver1, oldserver2, and oldserver3) each on their own line, and then click OK. This action registers the names in Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) for the DFS root server.
   

This has been around for a long time but not very many people use it.  It allos a single server to "answer" to more than one name..  It would allow you to add the Alias name that RepliStor does with a n API call manually.  I believe it requires a reboot of the server to take effect, but after that, the machine will have the Alias as a pernmanent second name.