Windows 2003 server loses 'default gateway'

We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows 2000
server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week this machine
has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows that it has no
'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its subnet.

A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone seen
this behavior?

Thanks
Blake

"Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows
> 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week this
> machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows that
> it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
> subnet.
>
> A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone seen
> this behavior?
>
> Thanks
> Blake
>

Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You might
want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the rest
of parameters such as default gateway as well.

--
Arek Iskra
MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution

I am having the exact same problem here!

The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then suddenly
the public connection just started dropping the default gateway. At first we
thought it was something corrupt in the OS and had to keep rebooting the
server once of twice a day so we tore the system down and rebuilt it from
scratch.

But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and we
replaced that as well and the problem remained.

I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that would fix
the connection, but this is rediculous!

INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with a
different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a static IP
and DNS and has never had a problem.

Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate gateway
that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this system. It always
loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes twice!

Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public config
as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different IP though).

Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that perhaps
something that MS included in one of it's patches is the cause of this.

Thanks in advance,

ChipDancer





"Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:

> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows
> > 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week this
> > machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows that
> > it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
> > subnet.
> >
> > A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone seen
> > this behavior?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Blake
> >
>
> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You might
> want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the rest
> of parameters such as default gateway as well.
>
> --
> Arek Iskra
> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
>
>
>

ChipDancer,
You are on to something. My server has 2 NICs also - one on our
standard subnet and one on a private network. I think it had something to
do with that TCP/IP patch that was issued last month. That is basically
when this started.

Blake



"ChipDancer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BEA5DAFC-21E7-4AE3-B433-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I am having the exact same problem here!
>
> The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then suddenly
> the public connection just started dropping the default gateway. At first
> we
> thought it was something corrupt in the OS and had to keep rebooting the
> server once of twice a day so we tore the system down and rebuilt it from
> scratch.
>
> But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and we
> replaced that as well and the problem remained.
>
> I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
> properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that would fix
> the connection, but this is rediculous!
>
> INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with a
> different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a static
> IP
> and DNS and has never had a problem.
>
> Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate gateway
> that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this system. It always
> loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes twice!
>
> Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
> config
> as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different IP though).
>
> Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that perhaps
> something that MS included in one of it's patches is the cause of this.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> ChipDancer
>
>
>
>
>
> "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows
>> > 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week
>> > this
>> > machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows
>> > that
>> > it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
>> > subnet.
>> >
>> > A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
>> > seen
>> > this behavior?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> > Blake
>> >
>>
>> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You might
>> want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the
>> rest
>> of parameters such as default gateway as well.
>>
>> --
>> Arek Iskra
>> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
>>
>>
>>

Arek,
Thanks, but this is a static IP machine. No DCHP involved.

Blake

"Arek Iskra [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows
>> 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week this
>> machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows that
>> it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
>> subnet.
>>
>> A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone seen
>> this behavior?
>>
>> Thanks
>> Blake
>>
>
> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You might
> want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the rest
> of parameters such as default gateway as well.
>
> --
> Arek Iskra
> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
>
>

Exactly my thoughts!!!

I bet if I take the server down and rebuild it without anything but SP2 it'd
work fine!, but since the server is a production system in use MS needs to
verify this issue and resolve it ASAP!

ChipDancer.





"Blake" wrote:

> ChipDancer,
> You are on to something. My server has 2 NICs also - one on our
> standard subnet and one on a private network. I think it had something to
> do with that TCP/IP patch that was issued last month. That is basically
> when this started.
>
> Blake
>
>
>
> "ChipDancer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:BEA5DAFC-21E7-4AE3-B433-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I am having the exact same problem here!
> >
> > The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then suddenly
> > the public connection just started dropping the default gateway. At first
> > we
> > thought it was something corrupt in the OS and had to keep rebooting the
> > server once of twice a day so we tore the system down and rebuilt it from
> > scratch.
> >
> > But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and we
> > replaced that as well and the problem remained.
> >
> > I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
> > properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that would fix
> > the connection, but this is rediculous!
> >
> > INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with a
> > different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a static
> > IP
> > and DNS and has never had a problem.
> >
> > Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate gateway
> > that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this system. It always
> > loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes twice!
> >
> > Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
> > config
> > as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different IP though).
> >
> > Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that perhaps
> > something that MS included in one of it's patches is the cause of this.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > ChipDancer
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of Windows
> >> > 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week
> >> > this
> >> > machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows
> >> > that
> >> > it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
> >> > subnet.
> >> >
> >> > A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
> >> > seen
> >> > this behavior?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks
> >> > Blake
> >> >
> >>
> >> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You might
> >> want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the
> >> rest
> >> of parameters such as default gateway as well.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Arek Iskra
> >> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Why do you have a default gateway set on your private side NIC? A
machine can only have one default gateway and one default route (not one per
interface!) Only one default route can be active at any time.

What exactly do you think the default gateway setting on the internal
NIC does for you?

ChipDancer wrote:
> I am having the exact same problem here!
>
> The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then
> suddenly the public connection just started dropping the default
> gateway. At first we thought it was something corrupt in the OS and
> had to keep rebooting the server once of twice a day so we tore the
> system down and rebuilt it from scratch.
>
> But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and
> we replaced that as well and the problem remained.
>
> I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
> properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that
> would fix the connection, but this is rediculous!
>
> INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with
> a different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a
> static IP and DNS and has never had a problem.
>
> Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate
> gateway that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this
> system. It always loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes
> twice!
>
> Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
> config as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different
> IP though).
>
> Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that
> perhaps something that MS included in one of it's patches is the
> cause of this.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> ChipDancer
>
>
>
>
>
> "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of
>>> Windows 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the
>>> past week this machine has dropped network connectivity - running
>>> 'ipconfig' shows that it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it
>>> can't communicate beyond its subnet.
>>>
>>> A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
>>> seen this behavior?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Blake
>>>
>>
>> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You
>> might want to configure your server with static IP address and
>> hardcode the rest of parameters such as default gateway as well.
>>
>> --
>> Arek Iskra
>> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution

I think there was a misunderstanding. The Gate way is being dropped on the
public side connection. One NIC handles the public side of traffic, the other
NIC handles the internal network traffic. Both use completely different
static IP schemes and different gateways.

The system is not a domain or DHCP server, just a production use FTP server.

The system ran fine in it's current configuration for more then six months,
almost a year, before is started just dropping the gateway on the public side
around a month ago, the same time that other people started having the same
thing happen to them with Server 2003 Standard.

I would like an MS Rep to comment on this since it's happened to multiple
people and verify if this is the result of one of their recent patches.

ChipDancer

"Bill Grant" wrote:

> Why do you have a default gateway set on your private side NIC? A
> machine can only have one default gateway and one default route (not one per
> interface!) Only one default route can be active at any time.
>
> What exactly do you think the default gateway setting on the internal
> NIC does for you?
>
> ChipDancer wrote:
> > I am having the exact same problem here!
> >
> > The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then
> > suddenly the public connection just started dropping the default
> > gateway. At first we thought it was something corrupt in the OS and
> > had to keep rebooting the server once of twice a day so we tore the
> > system down and rebuilt it from scratch.
> >
> > But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and
> > we replaced that as well and the problem remained.
> >
> > I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
> > properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that
> > would fix the connection, but this is rediculous!
> >
> > INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with
> > a different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a
> > static IP and DNS and has never had a problem.
> >
> > Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate
> > gateway that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this
> > system. It always loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes
> > twice!
> >
> > Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
> > config as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different
> > IP though).
> >
> > Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that
> > perhaps something that MS included in one of it's patches is the
> > cause of this.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > ChipDancer
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>> We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of
> >>> Windows 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the
> >>> past week this machine has dropped network connectivity - running
> >>> 'ipconfig' shows that it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it
> >>> can't communicate beyond its subnet.
> >>>
> >>> A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
> >>> seen this behavior?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks
> >>> Blake
> >>>
> >>
> >> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You
> >> might want to configure your server with static IP address and
> >> hardcode the rest of parameters such as default gateway as well.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Arek Iskra
> >> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
>
>
>

??

You can certainly have multiple gateways on a single multi-homed machine.
The whole purpose of having 2 NICs is so the machine can live on 2 separate
subnets. I have a machine that has 2 NICs on 2 subnets and I use a static
ROUTE command to tell that machine where to send certain packets.

And as ChipDancer pointed out it is the 'public' gateway that is
disappearing, not the 'private' one.

Blake

"Bill Grant" <not.available@online> wrote in message
news:ORG%23jF$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Why do you have a default gateway set on your private side NIC? A
> machine can only have one default gateway and one default route (not one
> per interface!) Only one default route can be active at any time.
>
> What exactly do you think the default gateway setting on the internal
> NIC does for you?
>
> ChipDancer wrote:
>> I am having the exact same problem here!
>>
>> The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then
>> suddenly the public connection just started dropping the default
>> gateway. At first we thought it was something corrupt in the OS and
>> had to keep rebooting the server once of twice a day so we tore the
>> system down and rebuilt it from scratch.
>>
>> But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and
>> we replaced that as well and the problem remained.
>>
>> I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
>> properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that
>> would fix the connection, but this is rediculous!
>>
>> INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with
>> a different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a
>> static IP and DNS and has never had a problem.
>>
>> Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate
>> gateway that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this
>> system. It always loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes
>> twice!
>>
>> Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
>> config as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different
>> IP though).
>>
>> Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that
>> perhaps something that MS included in one of it's patches is the
>> cause of this.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> ChipDancer
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
>>
>>> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of
>>>> Windows 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the
>>>> past week this machine has dropped network connectivity - running
>>>> 'ipconfig' shows that it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it
>>>> can't communicate beyond its subnet.
>>>>
>>>> A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
>>>> seen this behavior?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>> Blake
>>>>
>>>
>>> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You
>>> might want to configure your server with static IP address and
>>> hardcode the rest of parameters such as default gateway as well.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Arek Iskra
>>> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
>
>

You can't have two Default Gateways.

One Nic uses one,..the other must be left *blank*!

--

Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com


"Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> ChipDancer,
> You are on to something. My server has 2 NICs also - one on our
> standard subnet and one on a private network. I think it had something to
> do with that TCP/IP patch that was issued last month. That is basically
> when this started.
>
> Blake
>
>
>
> "ChipDancer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:BEA5DAFC-21E7-4AE3-B433-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I am having the exact same problem here!
> >
> > The server (windows 2003 standard) ran fine for over a year, then
suddenly
> > the public connection just started dropping the default gateway. At
first
> > we
> > thought it was something corrupt in the OS and had to keep rebooting the
> > server once of twice a day so we tore the system down and rebuilt it
from
> > scratch.
> >
> > But the problem remained, so we assumed it might be a faulty NIC and we
> > replaced that as well and the problem remained.
> >
> > I found out that instead of rebooting I could just go into network
> > properties for the connection and hit the repair option and that would
fix
> > the connection, but this is rediculous!
> >
> > INFO: Two seperate NICS. One for the internal network configured with a
> > different gateway and IP range to match the internal network; is a
static
> > IP
> > and DNS and has never had a problem.
> >
> > Second NIC is also static with configured IP and DNS on a seperate
gateway
> > that we use for public access, specifically FTP on this system. It
always
> > loses it's default gateway within a day, sometimes twice!
> >
> > Please note that our domain server, SBS 2003 Pro uses the same public
> > config
> > as the problem server and suffers no such problems (different IP
though).
> >
> > Please help! I'm at my wits end and am starting to believe that perhaps
> > something that MS included in one of it's patches is the cause of this.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > ChipDancer
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Arek Iskra [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> "Blake" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > We have a Windows 2003 machine that was an in-place upgrade of
Windows
> >> > 2000 server. This machine also runs Oracle. Twice in the past week
> >> > this
> >> > machine has dropped network connectivity - running 'ipconfig' shows
> >> > that
> >> > it has no 'default gateway' entry, so it can't communicate beyond its
> >> > subnet.
> >> >
> >> > A reboot clears the problem, but I fear it will return. Has anyone
> >> > seen
> >> > this behavior?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks
> >> > Blake
> >> >
> >>
> >> Is your server configured to obtain IP configuration from DHCP? You
might
> >> want to configure your server with static IP address and hardcode the
> >> rest
> >> of parameters such as default gateway as well.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Arek Iskra
> >> MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>