Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.

0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

 Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Table of Contents
Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues.....................................................................................1
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................1
Related Information.................................................................................................................................6

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Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration
Issues
Introduction
Note: The information in this document is based on Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) .

Cisco CallManager release 3.0(1) has several known caveats related to Domain Name System (DNS)
configuration on the server on which Cisco CallManager is installed. This document shows you how to
circumvent these issues.

DNS is required for a successful installation of Cisco CallManager because of Structured Query Language's
(SQL) dependency on DNS during the install process. After installation is complete, however, Cisco
CallManager can run without DNS as long as specific criteria are met. Also, when running with DNS, use
caution to ensure that all known caveats are circumvented.

The following is a list of known DNS problems with CallManager 3.0(1) (If you are a registered CCO user
and you have logged in, you can view the bug details):

CSCdr64159 − CallManager does not start if DNS suffix is conf in Network Ident tab
CSCdr43467 − Intracluster calls fail because CallManager relies on reverse−DNS entries
CSCdr66639 − CallManager does not work with fully qualified domain names

If you want to use DNS, the recommended way to have DNS installed is as follows:

First, configure the DNS server in the TCP/IP Properties Control Panel:

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Next, click the Advanced... button, and then click the DNS tab. Make sure the DNS server entered above
appears under the "DNS server addresses, in order of use" field. Make sure the "Append primary and
connection specific DNS suffixes" and the "Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix" options are
selected. Define the DNS suffix for this machine in the "DNS suffix for this connection" box. Finally, deselect
the "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" box.

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Next, right−click on My Computer on your desktop, and then select Properties. The following dialog box
will appear:

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Click the Properties button. In this box your "Computer name" should match what is configured in DNS as
the hostname for this machine.

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Next, click on the More... button. In the dialog that follows, make sure the "Primary DNS suffix of this
computer" field is blank and the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes box is
deselected.

If any changes are made to the computer name or the above dialog, the computer will have to be restarted
(you will be prompted to restart after answering OK to all the dialogs.

For the CallManager in question, ensure that the DNS server that contains the hostname contains both a host
entry and a PTR record for the reverse−DNS entry.

Note: Without this reverse DNS entry, CallManager clustering will not work.

If DNS is not going to be used, then ensure that all of the above DNS configuration dialog boxes are empty so
that the server does not have any DNS servers configured at all. If the server does contain DNS servers, and if
IP addresses are used as CallManager names, the server will still rely on reverse−DNS.

From the CallManager Administration web page, configure CallManager as follows. Go to the System
−>Server menu as follows:

Click on each of the servers and make sure they are either configured as DNS hostnames (not fully qualified
domain names) or IP addresses. In the following example, DNS hostnames are being used.

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues

Related Information
• Voice and Telephony Technology Page
• Voice, Telephony and Messaging Products

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Updated: Dec 20, 2002 Document ID: 13930

Cisco − Cisco CallManager 3.0(1) DNS Configuration Issues