DHCP: The IPv4 addresses of the DNS server should be reachable

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic is intended to address a specific issue identified by a Best Practices Analyzer scan. You should apply the information in this topic only to computers that have had the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Best Practices Analyzer run against them and are experiencing the issue addressed by this topic. For more information about best practices and scans, see Best Practices Analyzer (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122786).

Operating System

Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Product/Feature

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

Severity

Error

Category

Configuration

Issue

One or more DNS server IP addresses is unreachable

Impact

DHCP IPv4 clients provided with an unreachable IP address will not be able to resolve DNS names.

Resolution

Configure a different DNS server as a scope option or server option using the DHCP MMC.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) uses options to pass additional Internet Protocol (IP) settings to DHCP clients on a network. Examples of DHCP options include:

  • The default gateway IP address

  • The Domain Name System (DNS) server IP address

  • The DNS domain name

Membership in the Administrators or DHCP Administrators group is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

To configure DNS server as a scope or server option

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools and then click DHCP.

  2. In the console tree, expand the applicable DHCP server, expand IPv6, and then right-click Server Options or Scope Options.

  3. Click Configure Options, check 006 DNS Servers, type the applicable Server name and IP address, and then click OK.

Additional references

For updated detailed IT pro information about DHCP, see the Windows Server 2008 R2 documentation on the Microsoft TechNet Web site.