Hey everyone! I'm encountering a strange trust relationship error when trying to log into one of my terminal servers. The message I'm seeing is: "The Trust Relationship Between this Workstation and the Primary Domain Failed." I know the typical fixes, like using PowerShell commands such as Test-ComputerSecureChannel -Repair or Reset-ComputerMachinePassword, but I'm running into a weird problem.
When I try to log in as a local admin and execute the Test-ComputerSecureChannel command, it fails with an error stating: "Cannot get domain information about the local computer" and some other details. It seems like the computer can't even identify its Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
Interestingly, this terminal server has a computer name that's 16 characters long. Could that be causing the issue? Has anyone else dealt with this error before?
2 Answers
I get your concern about the CMDLET returning an error. It sounds like your trust issue might be linked to a Domain Controller (DC) that got deleted from your domain. I've seen similar situations—if the terminal server resolves to an IP that doesn't correspond to a functioning DC, it'll cause problems. In your case, it looks like DC4 was still around but not functioning. After cleaning up the metadata and shutting down DC4, it's great to hear the terminal server started working again! However, it's puzzling that the CMDLET is still acting up. Could be worth digging deeper into the server's connectivity to the functioning DC, like checking its domain membership status.
First off, check your DNS settings. Make sure your terminal server can reach the Domain Controller. Also, ensure that you've got local admin access. If nothing else works, consider the classic approach—leave and re-join the domain. That could clear up the issue!
Leaving and rejoining the domain has worked for me in the past! Just learning about the Test-ComputerSecureChannel cmdlet now—no shame in that, right?
Definitely check your DNS. I’ve been able to log in with cached credentials after temporarily disconnecting the NIC.