Network Location private instead of domain and Awareness service fails restart

• HyperV replication requires the two servers replicating servers network location to be on the domain, or firewall rules change and block replication.
• If the network location is private (or public) instead of the domain, the replication can stop
• This is typically because when the server is starting, it cannot contact a running domain server to identify its network location correctly, or because the location service is starting before the DNS service has started. Hovering over the network icon or viewing the network information shows Network 2 Private Network instead of the domain

• This can be fixed by restarting the network location awareness service which identifies the correct domain location when it can contact a running domain controller. However, often it will not start because of dependencies on other services

Restarting the host server typically resolves this, but can disrupt services. A couple of ways to resolve this while the server is running it to turn off the IPv6 service and OK to save the setting, then turn it on again.

This could be scripted in a powershell batch file. Type the following command to determine the state of IPv6 and the network adapter name.

Get-NetAdapterBinding -ComponentID ms_tcpip6

Using the above name write a powershell script to disable and enable ipv6 on the adapter
Disable-NetAdapterBinding -Name “Ethernet” -ComponentID ms_tcpip6
Enable-NetAdapterBinding -Name “Ethernet” -ComponentID ms_tcpip6

• Option 2 is to End the Nla service task from task manager
• Task Manager > Services > NlaSvc > Right Click > Go to details > svhost.exe > Right Click > End Task. It will automatically restart

A more permanent fix may be to have the NLA service only start once DNS has finished starting by adding a dependency in the registry, then restart the server. Note that the server still needs to find a running domain controller to correctly identify its location, so this only resolves the issue where the Network location awareness service starts before DNS is up and running.

Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc Select NlaSvc in the list Double click on “DependOnService”. Add DNS on the bottom of the list. Save and reboot for it to take effect.