Symptom
The server takes longer than expected to start up. Establishing a connection between Server Admin and the server takes longer than expected.
Solution
By default, Mac OS X Server 10.0 verifies connections with numerical TCP/IP addresses (such as 17.254.0.91) by performing a reverse lookup of the corresponding DNS name (such as apple.com) through the user-defined Domain Name System server. If there is no DNS entry for the Mac OS X Server IP address, the server may continue to attempt lookup for the duration of an industry-standard "timeout" period before it connects with only the numerical address.
When logging in to Server Admin, you would experience this as a delay between the time you click Connect and the moment when the administrative interface appears on the screen. During this interval, the message "contacting the server" appears.
If there is an incorrect DNS entry available for the server's TCP/IP address, the Server Admin Agent may quit entirely.
Note: Server Admin Agent is a process at the server that listens for Server Admin connections, whether they originate from the server itself or from another computer. If you see an alert with a message that Server Admin Agent is not available, you may log out and log back in at the server, or restart the server as necessary to eliminate the message.
There are three options for resolving a DNS issue or working around it:
Create or correct a DNS entry
If the agent fails to connect, the best option is to make an entry at the DNS server that matches the assigned IP address and selected hostname of the Mac OS X Server. Until such a correction is made, a hostname can be assigned that matches an existing DNS entry. If you do not administer your own DNS server, contact your Internet service provider or network administrator.
Disabling DNS verification
To avoid connection delay or to eliminate an issue with an incorrect DNS entry, you may disable verification. You should do this when the correction or creation of a DNS server entry is not an option. Verification provides a greater degree of security.
Follow these steps to disable verification:
1. Open Server Admin.
2. Choose Preferences from the Server Admin application menu.
3. Set the pop-up menu in the Server Admin Preferences window to General.
4. Click the checkbox to deselect "Attempt to resolve IP addresses to DNS names."
Use "localhost" as logon address
When using Server Admin at the server itself, you may type "localhost" in the Address field of the Server Admin Logon window.