After you use the netsh dhcp server initiate auth command to authorize a server that is running the DHCP service in an Active Directory domain, if you subsequently attempt to unauthorize this server by using the DHCP Service snap-in, you may receive the following error message: If you close the DHCP Service snap-in, stop and restart the server that is running the DHCP service, and then reopen the DHCP Service snap-in, the service correctly appears as unauthorized.

If you unauthorize a server that is running the DHCP service through the DHCP Service snap-in, and then use the netsh dhcp server initiate auth command to reauthorize the server, the snap-in does not show the server as authorized for several minutes and no Event Viewer messages are logged. If you stop and restart the server that is running the DHCP service, this also causes the change to appear in the DHCP Service snap-in.

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Microsoft recommends using the snap-in interface to authorize and unauthorize a server that is running the DHCP service in Windows 2000 forests. In cases where you have to use the netsh command (such as in scripted installations), you need to stop and restart the server that is running the DHCP service for the changes to take place in the DHCP Service snap-in.

It is not necessary to authorize a server that is running the DHCP service if the server is not in an Active Directory domain.

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Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

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