Configuration of standard server, 10.5.4 install disk, small office, DNS

Question

I've reinstalled more times than I care to count.
Been on the phone with support people- no one seems to know how to install standard in my config.
I have a fixed business class IP-
it connects from their modem to my Apple Extreme basestation N gigabit
which then connects to a 24 port gigabit ethernet switch.
The server is manually mapped by MAC address to 192.168.0.2
In the standard setup-
It asks for login to Apple Extreme basestation N gigabit- I provide- password- then configure manually (rest of computers use DHCP)
I supply.
Manual configured ip at 192.168.0.2
subnet 255.255.255.0
router 192.168.0.1
left DNS blank.
Standard install.
The ethernet is configured to run through an ethernet card from my xserve- since the internal one doesn't seem to register.
I used the MAC address for the machine in the Basestation to route to this mac address and reserve .2
once it gets completed- it whines: server cannot connect be found on the network check that the server hostname
etc.
System prefs> Network settings- DNS I've tried with 192.168.0.1, I've tried with 127.0.0.1 and with 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.1
nothing works. I've even tried with 192.168.0.2
It can't find server.name.lan (note I changed my actual 3 letter name for "name" in this example)
it can find 192.168.0.2 sometimes - but slowly.
I've reinstalled this about 50 times now.
I've even done it with someone on the phone-
at no time have we had:
Jabber working at server.name.lan
server.name.lan resolving to the wiki page
calender working
and vpn enabled.
I've lost countless hours with this-
My employees haven't been able to work at times (like tomorrow morning- because we keep all our files shared on this server).
this is getting to be uber ridiculous.
suggestions?
The last install- I tried it name.private
going to terminal- it still says to repair dns.
There is a spot in the airport Internet settings for domain name- should I put in name.private or server.name.lan?
I've also tried the disconnect the ethernet cable routine- that one tech had me do-
I now know how to go into terminal and check- using sudo ipconfig -checkhostname
where I have not been able to get the two entries- always get the message to repair dns.
This shouldn't be that difficult.
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

The most obvious problem from your posted details is:
left DNS blank.
You can't do this. You HAVE to have working DNS somewhere.
For the initial setup this could be a DNS server managed by your ISP. If you're configuring internal DNS then it could be your internal DNS server (or even 127.0.0.1), but not until that server is up and running.
I used the MAC address for the machine in the Basestation to route to this mac address and reserve .2
I don't understand this statement. MAC addresses don't (or, at least, shouldn't) come into the picture at all.
System prefs> Network settings- DNS I've tried with 192.168.0.1, I've tried with 127.0.0.1 and with 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.1
nothing works. I've even tried with 192.168.0.2
192.168.0.1 won't work - that is your base station and your base station is not a DNS server.
127.0.0.1 won't work until you configure and start up the DNS server in Mac OS X Server.
192.168.0.2 won't work either - for the same reason as 127.0.0.1. It will work once you configure the DNS server on this machine.
So it sounds to me like your first order of business is to setup the DNS server. During the installation process you were asked which services to run. Make sure you enabled DNS then use Server Admin to configure your DNS zone.