The administrator cannot connect to a WINS server using WINS Manager. The message that appears might be, "The Windows Internet Name Service is not running on the target machine or the target machine is not accessible."
This section describes some basic troubleshooting steps for common problems and also describes how to restore or rebuild the WINS database.
These error conditions can indicate potential problems with the WINS server:
The administrator cannot connect to a WINS server using WINS Manager. The message that appears might be, "The Windows Internet Name Service is not running on the target machine or the target machine is not accessible."
The Windows Internet Name Service may be down and cannot be restarted.
The first troubleshooting task is to make sure WINS is running.
To ensure that the WINS services are running
1. Use the Services option in the Control Panel to verify that the WINS service is running.
In the Services dialog box, "Started" should appear in the Status column for the Windows Internet Name Service.
2. If a necessary service is not started, start the service.
To resolve "duplicate name" error messages
Check the WINS database for the entries for that name that have static name-to-IP addressing mapping. If there is a static address record, delete it from the primary WINS server database.
– Or –
Check the MigrateOn box using the Advanced option in the WINS Server Configuration dialog box in WINS Manager.
To locate the source of "network path not found" messages on a WINS client
Check the WINS database for the name. If the name is not present in the database, check whether the destination or target computer uses b-node name resolution. If so, add a static mapping for it in the WINS database.
If the computer is configured as a p-node, m-node, or h-node and if its IP address is different from the one in the WINS database, then its address may have changed recently and the new one has not replicated to the local WINS server. Ask the WINS server that registered the address to perform a push replication with propagation to the local WINS server.
To discover why a WINS server cannot pull or push replications to another WINS server
1. Use the ping utility to verify that each WINS server is running and is available to establish a connection.
2. Ensure that each server is correctly configured as both a pull or push partner:
If ServerA needs to perform pull replications with ServerB, make sure it is a push partner of ServerB.
If ServerA needs to push replications to ServerB, it should be a pull partner of WINS ServerB.
To determine the configuration of a replication partner, check the values under the Pull and Push keys in the Registry. You can use the Replication Partners dialog box in WINS Manager to perform this task.
To determine why a WINS backup fails
Make sure the path for the WINS backup directory exists and is on a local disk on the WINS server. WINS cannot back up its database files to a remote drive.
To locate the source of "Access Denied" error messages when connecting WINS Manager to WINS
Check that you are logged in as a member of the Administrators group.
If you have determined that the Windows Internet Name Service is running on the WINS server but you cannot connect to the server using WINS Manager, then the WINS database is not available or has become corrupted. If a WINS server fails for any reason, you can restore the database from a backup copy.
You can use the winsadm command to restore the WINS database from the WINS backup location specified in the Advanced Server Registry.
To restore a WINS database from the backup path specified in the registry
1. Log on to the UNIX system as root.
2. Shut down the WINS server using the net stop wins command.
3. Restore the WINS database from the WINS backup location using the winsadm -r command.
4. Restart the WINS server using the net start wins command.
