XADM: Exchange 2000 Server Setup May Be Unsuccessful and Return an 0xC007054B Error Code

When you run the Exchange 2000 Server installation wizard, you may receive the following error message:

This behavior can occur because Setup must locate certain Service Resource Records (SRV RR) in Domain Name System (DNS) to succeed. If DNS settings are not configured correctly, the computer where you are want to install Exchange 2000 can be unable to find the required resource records in DNS to support Exchange 2000.

On the server where Exchange 2000 Setup runs, use the ipconfig /all command to determine the DNS servers that are used. Check the DNS server to ensure that the following four underscored nodes are registered for the zone that Active Directory uses:

• _msdcs
• _sites
• _tcp
• _udp

If you do not observe these nodes, DNS is not configured correctly. There may be two reasons for this behavior:

• The server that runs the Exchange 2000 Setup Wizard does not use the correct DNS server that holds the resource records for Active Directory.
• The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) settings of the domain controller have not been configured to correctly register the appropriate resource records, even though the domain controller that is running the DNS Server service is loaded with an Active Directory-integrated DNS zone.

In both situations, you must modify the preferred and alternate DNS server settings under the TCP/IP properties of the server. To change the DNS settings on either the Exchange 2000 computer or the domain controller:

1. On the desktop, right-click My Network Places, and then click Properties in the shortcut menu to open the Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box.
2. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties in the shortcut menu.
3. Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
4. Ensure that the "preferred DNS server" points to the IP address of the Windows 2000 DNS server that holds the zone information for the Active Directory domain, instead of pointing to an earlier or third-party DNS server. If this domain controller stores an Active Directory-integrated zone, the domain controller must point to itself.
5. Ensure that the "alternate DNS server" points to the IP address of another Windows 2000 DNS server, or to nothing at all, rather than pointing to an earlier or third-party DNS server.
6. Click Advanced. In the advanced setting, click to select the Register this connection�s address in DNS check box that is located at the bottom of the window, and then click Apply.
7. At a command prompt, run the following commands:
   
   ipconfig /flushdns
   ipconfig /registerdns
   
   If this domain controller runs the DNS service, run the following commands as well:
   
   net stop netlogon
   net start netlogon

The flushdns switch must be used because the server has cached the missing resource records from data that the server received from the previous preferred DNS server. For 10 minutes, any subsequent DNS queries for the same domains can be resolved from the cache. However, this behavior can produce bad zone data. To remove this "negative cache," the DNS cache must be cleared of data that it had received from the previous DNS server.

NOTE: DNS does not have to be configured to accept dynamic updates. You can manually create and configure the DNS service location SRV records yourself before you install Exchange 2000. However, this procedure is not recommended.

If you have configured DNS correctly, yet you still experience this problem, test DNS functionality by installing and running the NETDIAG tool, which is installed from the Windows 2000 Server CD-ROM. To install this tool, search the Windows 2000 Server installation CD-ROM for the Support\Tools folder, and then run the Setup.exe program. After you have installed the support tools, you can run the NETDIAG tool from the command prompt. The DNS cache may also be flushed by using the NETDIAG tool with the /fix parameter.