Resolving "The Trust Relationship Between This Workstation and the Primary Domain Failed" After Restoring a VM (4376743)

Resolving "The Trust Relationship Between This Workstation and the Primary Domain Failed" After Restoring a VM

This article addresses the error message "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed" that may occur after restoring a virtual machine (VM). This issue typically arises because the VM's computer account in Active Directory (AD) is out of sync with the security channel established between the VM and the domain.

Please note that this is not an issue with vRanger, but rather an environmental issue related to the state of the restored VM and AD.

The error occurs when a VM is restored to a state that doesn’t match the current AD state. The computer account in AD becomes out of sync with the security channel that the VM uses to communicate with the domain, leading to the trust relationship failure.

To resolve this issue, you can follow one of the three methods provided below:

Method 1: Reset the Computer Account in Active Directory

1. Log in to a Domain Controller (DC):

   • Open Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC).

2. Locate the Affected Computer Account:

   • In ADUC, navigate to the Computers container or the specific organizational unit (OU) where the computer account is located.

3. Reset the Computer Account:

   • Right-click on the computer account corresponding to the restored VM and select "Reset Account."
   • Confirm the reset by clicking "Yes."

4. Rejoin the Domain:

   • On the restored VM, disconnect it from the domain by joining a workgroup:
     • Go to Control Panel > System > Change Settings (in the Computer Name, Domain, and Workgroup settings section).
     • Click "Change," select "Workgroup," and enter a workgroup name. Click "OK."
   • Restart the VM when prompted.
   • After the restart, rejoin the VM to the domain:
     • Go back to Control Panel > System > Change Settings.
     • Click "Change" again, select "Domain," and enter your domain name. Click "OK."
   • Provide domain credentials (with permission to join the computer to the domain).
   • Restart the VM again after rejoining the domain.

Method 2: Use the netdom Command

1. Open an Elevated Command Prompt:

   • On the restored VM, run Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Reset the Trust Relationship:

   • Run the following command to reset the trust relationship:
     netdom resetpwd /s:DomainControllerName /ud:DomainName\UserName /pd:*
   • Replace DomainControllerName with the name of your domain controller, DomainName with your domain, and UserName with a domain admin user. You’ll be prompted for the password.

3. Restart the VM:

   • After the command completes successfully, restart the VM.

Method 3: Remove and Rejoin the Domain

1. Log in Locally:

   • Log in to the VM using a local administrator account.

2. Remove the VM from the Domain:

   • Go to Control Panel > System > Change Settings.
   • Click "Change" and select "Workgroup." Enter a workgroup name and click "OK."
   • Restart the VM when prompted.

3. Rejoin the Domain:

   • After the restart, follow the steps to rejoin the domain, as described in Method 1.

4. Restart Again:

   • Restart the VM once more after rejoining the domain.

The trust relationship issue can be resolved by resetting the computer account in AD, rejoining the domain, or using the netdom command to reset the password. These steps will help re-establish the secure connection between the restored VM and the domain. If the problem persists, consider checking for other issues such as time synchronization between the VM and the domain controller, as significant time differences can also cause trust relationship problems.