"SETUP /FORESTPREP" Does Not Work When Windows 2000 Sites Are Incorrectly Defined

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This article was previously published under Q259427

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SYMPTOMS

When you run Exchange Setup with the ForestPrep option, Setup may not work and you receive the following error message:

The component "Microsoft Exchange 2000" cannot be set to the action "ForestPrep" because the following prerequisite conditions are not satisfied:

- Setup is unable to access the Windows 2000 Active Directory.
- Failed to look up the Windows 2000 site to which this computer belongs.

Please verify that your computer is configured with correct site information and is in a Windows 2000 domain where the domain controller is reachable.

The component "Microsoft Exchange Forest Preparation" cannot be set to the action "ForestPrep" because the following prerequisite conditions are not satisfied:

- Setup is unable to access the Windows 2000 Active Directory.
- Failed to look up the Windows 2000 site to which this computer belongs.

Please verify that your computer is configured with correct site information and is in a Windows 2000 domain where the domain controller is reachable.

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CAUSE

When Exchange Setup initializes, Exchange queries Active Directory to obtain the current site topology, and builds a list of available domain controllers (DCs) and global catalog servers. If Exchange cannot obtain the site information, Setup does not work.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior:

Make sure that the Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix option is selected:
1. Right-click My Network Places on the Exchange server, and then click Properties.
2. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click Internet Protocol, and then click Properties.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click the DNS tab.
6. Click the Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes radio button.
7. Click the Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix check box. Ensure that the Register this connection's addresses in DNS check box is checked. If it is not, click to check it.
If you have defined multiple sites, you must create an IP subnet for each particular site:
1. Start Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. Right-click Subnets, and then click New Subnet.
3. Enter the subnet information for this IP subnet, and then click a site name to associate with this subnet.
If you have one site (Default First Site Name), but have not defined a subnet for it, then you may also receive this error message, as Windows 2000 looks for the site and server information by first querying for the subnets available. If no subnets are available, Exchange may not find the Windows 2000 site. To define a subnet:
1. Open the Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in.
2. Under Sites, right-click Subnets, and then click New Subnet.
3. Configure a new subnet.
Also, you must ensure that your Exchange server is part of a site (if it is on a subnet that is not associated with the Default-First-Site-Name):
1. Start Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. Expand the site that you want to administer.
3. Right-click Servers, click New, and then click Server.
4. Type the server name.

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MORE INFORMATION

To verify that the setup /forestprep command does not work because of a Microsoft Windows 2000 site configuration issue, use the Nltest.exe utility that is included in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit:

nltest /dsgetsite

If your Windows 2000 sites are not configured properly, or if your Exchange server cannot identify the available sites, Nltest returns the following error message:

Status = 1919 0x77f ERROR_NO_SITENAME

If your Windows 2000 sites are properly configured, and your Exchange server can correctly identify the Windows 2000 Sites, Nltest returns the site that the Exchange server is a member of (that is, Default-First-Site-Name).

Note This error has also occurred when the netlogon service is not running on the local machine. Ensure that the Netlogon service is running, and then re-run nltest /dsgetsite.

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