Unable to Establish an Explicit Trust Between Windows 2000-Based Domains

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This article was previously published under Q312003

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SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to establish an explicit trust between two Windows 2000-based domains that are in different forests, you may receive the following error message:

The DomainName domain cannot be contacted. If this domain is a Windows domain, the trust cannot be set up until the domain is contacted. Click Cancel and try again later. If this is an interoperable non-Windows Kerberos realm and you want to set up this side of the trust, click OK.

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CAUSE

This issue can occur if the domain controller where the trust is being configured cannot resolve the IP address of the primary domain controller (PDC) in the other domain.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, make sure that Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), Domain Name System (DNS), or the LMHOSTS file is configured correctly to locate the PDC, and that TCP/IP is configured correctly on all of the domain controllers that are involved.

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MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about DNS, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

291382 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291382/EN-US/ ) Frequently Asked Questions About Windows 2000 DNS

237675 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237675/EN-US/ ) Setting Up the Domain Name System for Active Directory

For additional information about the LMHOSTS file, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

101927 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/101927/EN-US/ ) The Lmhosts File for TCP/IP in Windows

180094 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/180094/EN-US/ ) How to Write an LMHOSTS File for Domain Validation

For more information about WINS, type WINS on the Search tab in Windows 2000 Help, and then click the appropriate topic.

For more information about configuring TCP/IP, type TCP/IP on the Search tab in Windows 2000 Help, click Configure TCP/IP, and then click the appropriate topic.

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