RPC server unavailable when joining domain

My company has 5 offices. The main office has 2 DC’s running W2K and W2K3.
All the workstations at this office are joined to the domain and working
great. The main office is using a 192.168.46.x IP range with a 255.255.255.0
subnet. I am trying to get the other 4 offices connected to the domain and
out of the workgroups they are in. The other offices are running a
192.168.47.x IP range with either a 255.255.255.224 or a 255.255.255.192
subnet. The computers at the remote offices have DNS & WINS pointing to the
W2K3 DC at the main office. I can ping the servers, resolve the servers by
name and IP, and I can map network drives across the VPN and transfer files.
When I try to join the domain, it asks me for a user name and password.
After about 1 minute it comes back and says “The following error occurred
attempting to join the domain “domain.local�: The RPC server is unavailable.�
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance
Rich

Troubleshooting checklist for this (skip #1):
1) DNS resolution problem. Look at the DNS configuration for Win2000 and
above. If you rule out name resolution, try mapping a drive to a share on
the target computer, and then try the operation again.
2) RPC services not running on target machine
3) TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service not running on target machine
4) Firewall blocking RPC ports in between the source and target machine

Troubleshooting "RPC Server is Unavailable" in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=224370

See also:
How to Test Microsoft Remote Procedure Call Performance:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=177446

--
Todd J Heron, MVP Windows Server - Networking
MCSE - Windows Server 2003/2000/NT; CCA


"rknapke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:A258C302-ACC9-4206-A321-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My company has 5 offices. The main office has 2 DC’s running W2K and
> W2K3.
> All the workstations at this office are joined to the domain and working
> great. The main office is using a 192.168.46.x IP range with a
> 255.255.255.0
> subnet. I am trying to get the other 4 offices connected to the domain
> and
> out of the workgroups they are in. The other offices are running a
> 192.168.47.x IP range with either a 255.255.255.224 or a 255.255.255.192
> subnet. The computers at the remote offices have DNS & WINS pointing to
> the
> W2K3 DC at the main office. I can ping the servers, resolve the servers
> by
> name and IP, and I can map network drives across the VPN and transfer
> files.
> When I try to join the domain, it asks me for a user name and password.
> After about 1 minute it comes back and says “The following error occurred
> attempting to join the domain “domain.local�: The RPC server is
> unavailable.�
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
> Thanks in advance
> Rich
>

In news:(E-Mail Removed),
Todd J Heron [MVP] <todd_heron(delete)@hotmail.com> stated, which I
commented on below:
> Troubleshooting checklist for this (skip #1):
> 1) DNS resolution problem. Look at the DNS configuration for Win2000
> and above. If you rule out name resolution, try mapping a drive to a
> share on the target computer, and then try the operation again.
> 2) RPC services not running on target machine
> 3) TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service not running on target machine
> 4) Firewall blocking RPC ports in between the source and target
> machine
> Troubleshooting "RPC Server is Unavailable" in Windows
> http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?id=224370
>
> See also:
> How to Test Microsoft Remote Procedure Call Performance:
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=177446

Tood, there's one more thing I just thought of. If it's Win2003 DNS and
there's a PIX firewall (and some other brands as well) that are not updated
or configured to allow EDNS0 (DNS UDP traffic larger than 512 bytes), that
can cause it too!

--
Ace
Innovative IT Concepts, Inc
Willow Grove, PA

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer

Having difficulty reading or finding responses to your post?
Instead of the website you're using, I suggest to use OEx (Outlook Express
or any other newsreader), and configure a news account, pointing to
news.microsoft.com. This is a direct link to the Microsoft Public
Newsgroups. It is FREE and requires NO ISP's Usenet account. OEx allows you
to easily find, track threads, cross-post, sort by date, poster's name,
watched threads or subject.

It's easy:
How to Configure OEx for Internet News
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=171164

Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations
Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile
"Very funny Scotty. Now, beam down my clothes."

The only constant in life is change...

Added to my checklist Ace!

--
Todd


"Ace Fekay [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uLN$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Tood, there's one more thing I just thought of. If it's Win2003 DNS and
> there's a PIX firewall (and some other brands as well) that are not
> updated or configured to allow EDNS0 (DNS UDP traffic larger than 512
> bytes), that can cause it too!
>
> --
> Ace
> Innovative IT Concepts, Inc
> Willow Grove, PA
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
> confers no rights.
>
> Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
> Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
>
> Having difficulty reading or finding responses to your post?
> Instead of the website you're using, I suggest to use OEx (Outlook Express
> or any other newsreader), and configure a news account, pointing to
> news.microsoft.com. This is a direct link to the Microsoft Public
> Newsgroups. It is FREE and requires NO ISP's Usenet account. OEx allows
> you to easily find, track threads, cross-post, sort by date, poster's
> name, watched threads or subject.
>
> It's easy:
> How to Configure OEx for Internet News
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=171164
>
> Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations
> Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile
> "Very funny Scotty. Now, beam down my clothes."
>
> The only constant in life is change...
>