I have just demoted our Windows Server 2012 Domain Controller. Removed all services, and then did a fresh install of Windows Server 2012 R2. I gave the server the same IP address and host name that it had previously. I have just promoted it to a DC again.
The problem I am having is that I can not remote desktop to the server using it's host name. I get the following error:
Remote Desktop cannot verify the identity of the remote computer
because there is a time or date difference between your computer and
the remote computer. Make sure your computer's clock is set to the
correct time, and then try connecting again. If the problem occurs
again, contact your network administrator or the owner of the remote
computer.
I can assure you that the date, time (including AM/PM), and timezone are all correct on both the client and server. I have Googled this error and a lot of articles point to a DNS issue. However, DNS seems to be working fine on this server. Many clients are using this server as their DNS server without any issues. I can't find anything in event viewer either.
The only other far-fetched idea that I have is that when I demoted this DC something didn't get cleaned up properly, and it is still thinking that I am trying to remote into the old server. Although, I didn't get any errors when I demoted the DC.
Any help is appreciated.
UPDATE
I failed to mentioned that this was a Virtual Machine. The time was off on the host itself. After I fixed the time, I could remote in via host name. However, I don't know how the server knew anything about the host. For all it knows, it is a physical machine. And it was using a centralized server for NTP. But hopefully this can help someone out in the future.
Thank you all for your help.
Best Answer
Your workstation is storing connection data/certificate data for the old server and using it for the new server since they have the same hostname.
Navigate to HKEY_CU\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Servers.
Delete the key named the same as the server.