Hyper-V VMs: processing of Group Policy failed, Windows could not resolve the computer name

Anonymous
2025-01-15T10:51:04+00:00

My setup:

  • Hyper-V host S:
    • Windows Server 2025 datacenter
    • Extensible switch T: SET team of 2 NICs
  • 3 VMs, V1, V2, and V3, hosted on the above server, each:
    • Windows Server 2025 datacenter
    • Virtual NIC connected to extensible switch T (see above)

All servers (S, V1, V2, and V3) are configured very similar (NIC settings,...), all are joined to an AD DS domain.

To explain my problem, I take one of the guest VMs as an example, V1.

For some time after the OS installation, a gpupdate works without any issue. Then, for some reason, running a gpupdate starts to always give me this error:

Computer policy could not be updated successfully. The following errors were encountered: The processing of Group Policy failed. Windows could not resolve the computer name.

Gpupdate never returns any error on server S. I checked the secure channel, time differences etc., and even searched the Internet for possible solutions without success. The interesting thing is that for a short period of time, gpupdate works on V1, then it suddenly stops working correctly. I can observe the same behavior on V2 and V3 too.

This issue happened to me when I was using Windows Server 2022 in the past as well, I hoped that Windows Server 2025 would improve my situation...

Is there anything I can test/check in the AD DS or so?

Windows Server Identity and access Deploy group policy objects

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T12:15:04+00:00

    Hello Hinterleitner Andreas,

    Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

    It sounds like there may be an issue with your DNS settings or network connectivity. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

    1. Check Network Connectivity:

    Ensure your computer is connected to the network and can access other resources on the network. Use the ping command to check connectivity to the domain controller (e.g., ping yourdomaincontroller.yourdomain.com or ping IP of domain controller or ping yourdomain.com) when there is such problem.

    1. Verify DNS Settings:

    Make sure that your computer is using the correct DNS server addresses. Your DNS servers should be able to resolve the name of your domain controller. You can check your DNS settings by running ipconfig /all and looking at the DNS Servers listed.

    1. Flush DNS Cache:

    Sometimes, clearing the DNS cache can resolve name resolution issues. Run the following command:

    ipconfig /flushdns

    1. Verify Domain Membership:

    Ensure that your computer is still properly joined to the domain. You can do this by checking the System Properties under the "Computer Name" tab.

    If necessary, you might need to rejoin the computer to the domain.

    1. Test Name Resolution:

    Use the nslookup command to test if the computer can properly resolve the domain controller's name.

    For example:

    nslookup yourdomaincontroller.yourdomain.com

    1. Update Network Drivers:

    Ensure that your network adapter drivers are up to date. Outdated drivers can sometimes cause connectivity issues.

    1. Please check if you create a new user account, if you can sign in the V1 (or V2, or V3).

    I hope the information above is helpful.

    If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

    Best Regards,

    Daisy Zhou

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-01-15T12:48:11+00:00

    Hi Daisy, I already did all that in my attempt to somehow get a grip on what could cause this weird behavior. Interestingly, you wouldn't detect any issue at all if you never run gpupdate; the server behaves correctly in all aspects as an Active Directory member. With my old setup (Windows Server 2022), I could even successfully run a Windows Failover Cluster, absolutely zero issues.

    To me, it really looks like it's solely the GPO update process that doesn't work, that is, the servers don't fetch and apply any GPOs that target the computer. Aside from that, the servers look "normal".

    The bad thing is that I would need an idea where I could look to find a hint what the problem cause could be...

    As said, some time after the OS setup, gpupdate works, but stops doing so, that's the problem, so basically, it works...

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-16T14:00:26+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for your reply.

    Have you made any changes during "some time after the OS setup, gpupdate works, but stops doing so"?

    You can try to check the computer group policy setting by following steps below.

    Logon this machine using administrator account.

    Open CMD (run as Administrator).

    Type gpresult /h C:\gpo.html and click Enter.

    Open gpo.html and check gpo setting under "Computer Details".

    Best Regards,
    Daisy Zhou

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