Anyone help on this one. I have had a mini server running for over a year problem free. Last night sometime the server came up with a warning that there was another machine on the network with the same name so it decided to change its name. It was dnssigns and now is reading dnssigns2. Problem is NO other machine on the network has a name anywhere close to that. This has caused havoc as far as apple tvs etc. All functions are running fine, nothing seems out of place, network traffic is normal etc. I still have all admin control. Any idea why a machine would allow, say a person trying to hack into the network with a same named machine and no passwords, to get in and then decide to change its name?
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Strange server actions in middle of night
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okay lets go with 1 question your server has 2 hdds do you clone one to the other?
next do you ever clone that machines hdd?
last are you using server osx on the machine?
next do you ever clone that machines hdd?
last are you using server osx on the machine?
Server setup
Yes it is a dual 500gb drive system. Both are set up as single drives, not RAID. Never been cloned. Yes I am using snow leopard server that came unlimited with the machine.
This change in name came from the server software somehow. I was able with no issues change it back to the way it was using the server admin software and going in as remote user. No issues. It has since stayed in this setup as it had for over a year now. I double checked all the machines in the home and all the devices the kids come over with, ipads, iphones, laptops etc. and nothing is even close to the server names. I just don't have a clue as to why it would all of a sudden report that another machine with the same name was on the network and then allow it and change it's own name. It seems to me that it would have not allowed the other machine period until IT changed its name.
Yes it is a dual 500gb drive system. Both are set up as single drives, not RAID. Never been cloned. Yes I am using snow leopard server that came unlimited with the machine.
This change in name came from the server software somehow. I was able with no issues change it back to the way it was using the server admin software and going in as remote user. No issues. It has since stayed in this setup as it had for over a year now. I double checked all the machines in the home and all the devices the kids come over with, ipads, iphones, laptops etc. and nothing is even close to the server names. I just don't have a clue as to why it would all of a sudden report that another machine with the same name was on the network and then allow it and change it's own name. It seems to me that it would have not allowed the other machine period until IT changed its name.
I've had this happen to me.
Seems to happen only when I've rebooted a system (maybe from sleep state -- see the next paragraph for a possible explanation). I guess it sees some ghost of the old system around (BonJour I expect) and renames itself to avoid conflict.
I've got a Mac mini server handling DHCP/DNS. I know this only happens on a specific system that doesn't have a fixed IP address assigned using the "Static Maps" page in Server Admin. But it might not be the server at fault. I also have an AirPort Extreme that does the Wake-on-LAN for the system. Since it responds to BonJour requests for sleeping systems, if it thinks the system being rebooted is asleep when a new one appears with a different IP address (via DHCP assignment).
If I'm right, you can solve the problem by having the DHCP service assign a fixed IP using the Static Maps.
Now if it is the server itself that is changing names, and it has a static IP, I'm baffled.
Seems to happen only when I've rebooted a system (maybe from sleep state -- see the next paragraph for a possible explanation). I guess it sees some ghost of the old system around (BonJour I expect) and renames itself to avoid conflict.
I've got a Mac mini server handling DHCP/DNS. I know this only happens on a specific system that doesn't have a fixed IP address assigned using the "Static Maps" page in Server Admin. But it might not be the server at fault. I also have an AirPort Extreme that does the Wake-on-LAN for the system. Since it responds to BonJour requests for sleeping systems, if it thinks the system being rebooted is asleep when a new one appears with a different IP address (via DHCP assignment).
If I'm right, you can solve the problem by having the DHCP service assign a fixed IP using the Static Maps.
Now if it is the server itself that is changing names, and it has a static IP, I'm baffled.
I have an original Mac mini running Leopard. I sleep it every night and wake it up every weekday. It randomly wakes with this Bonjour problem (I've never seen it happen while the machine is awake).
I haven't yet determined a pattern. Note that it's not an IP address problem this is a Bonjour (or mDNS) naming error. The machine has a fixed IP address acquired via DHCP. I also have an Airport Extreme which can proxy Bonjour.
On the other hand, I have a Macbook running Snow Leopard that is slept/started much more often but has never experienced this problem. I wonder if it is an old Leopard problem which has since been solved.
A.
I haven't yet determined a pattern. Note that it's not an IP address problem this is a Bonjour (or mDNS) naming error. The machine has a fixed IP address acquired via DHCP. I also have an Airport Extreme which can proxy Bonjour.
On the other hand, I have a Macbook running Snow Leopard that is slept/started much more often but has never experienced this problem. I wonder if it is an old Leopard problem which has since been solved.
A.
Always static
This server has always had a static ip and is assigned by my provider as 1 of a block of 5. I don't use the wake on lan and don't allow sleep. It should always be running and always on the static I assigned from my block. It also had not restarted in the middle of the night because the server stats showed it had been up for 44 days. The only change I had made in the past month was turning on airport and set it to join an already active network. I can understand now that there may have been a conflict in the dhcp between a couple of machines but would that have affected the server which has a static number assigned to it? It didn't affect the mail or web server in any way. Just caused the apple tv's and the local machines to forget where the media was since the path they had didn't exist anymore.
This server has always had a static ip and is assigned by my provider as 1 of a block of 5. I don't use the wake on lan and don't allow sleep. It should always be running and always on the static I assigned from my block. It also had not restarted in the middle of the night because the server stats showed it had been up for 44 days. The only change I had made in the past month was turning on airport and set it to join an already active network. I can understand now that there may have been a conflict in the dhcp between a couple of machines but would that have affected the server which has a static number assigned to it? It didn't affect the mail or web server in any way. Just caused the apple tv's and the local machines to forget where the media was since the path they had didn't exist anymore.
I'm a bit disturbed that you have turned Wifi on and have joined a second network? Presumably the server is also on a wired LAN. Since this is a recent change, it sure looks suspect. Maybe there is some loop so that the system is appearing twice (although BonJour doesn't go across subnets AFAIK).