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Using Heartbeat across a WAN with Windows DNS (2030604)
Symptoms
When performing a switchover in a WAN configuration, the protected services may fail to start
The Public DNS service name fails to update
The DNS Servers are running Windows 2008 or later
Cause
Windows 2008 DNS Servers have extra security measures in place that prevent legacy clients from performing updates.
Resolution
To resolve this issue:
Download the updated DNSUpdate package attached to this article:
If Heartbeat is running on a 32-bit operating system: DNSUpdate 32-Bit 01.06.02.zip
If Heartbeat is running on a 64-bit operating system: DNSUpdate 64-Bit 01.06.02.zip
Extract the files to install_directory\R2\bin.
Note: By default, this directory is C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\R2\Bin.
When prompted to overwrite the files, click Yes.
Once the updated DNSUpdate files are in place, follow these steps to ensure DNS update tasks are successful:
Ensure that the DNSUpdate (Primary and Secondary) tasks in the Heartbeat Console are set to run this command:
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat\R2\Bin\dnsconftool.exe" -auto
Note: This path may vary if Heartbeat was not installed in the default location.
Ensure that both nodes are configured to use Windows DNS Servers in the Network Adapter configuration.
Ensure that the DNSUpdate task is configured to run as a user with full security permissions to update the Windows DNS Server (that is, a user in the Active Directory DnsAdmins group).
As updating the DNS Server requires elevation, turn off Windows UAC on both nodes.
Additional Information
In a WAN configuration, the Heartbeat nodes will each have a unique DNS record that resolves to its Management IP address. The Public DNS service name is what all hosts and clients will use to find the vCenter. This DNS record will resolve to the configured Public IP address of the Active node.
