Newbie looking to setup home virtual lab to do Windows Server 2012 R2 Labs for school

Question

Hey all, hopefully someone can point me in the right direction here. Im looking to setup a virtual lab with 3 windows server 2012 r2 machines running, all connected to the internet and within the same network so I can work on labs for class.
I have all 3 machines installed and running fine together though figuring out how to get them all connected is confusing the hell out of me.
I've been scouring google and forums and such looking for some sort of guide and i cant seem to find anything. All help is much appreciated thanks!

Answer 1

Alright sorry for the delay, I was given exact setup instructions so I figured I'd be good to go but I'm still hung up basically at the same spot.
Here's the setup guide:
Two servers, a domain controller and an application server. Follow
the setup instructions below.
1. Open your server’s Networking and Sharing Center.
2. Double-click the Ethernet connection to open the Ethernet Status dialog box.
3. Click Properties to open the Ethernet Properties dialog box.
4. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to open the Internet Protocol
Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog box.
5. Enter the following information:
IP address: 192.168.1.50
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Preferred DNS server: 192.168.1.50
6. Click on the Advanced button.
7. In the IP addresses section, click the Add button.
8. When the TCP/IP Address dialog box opens, enter the following information:
IP address: 192.168.100.55
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
9. Change the name of the server to RWDC0x, where x is the number of your table from
1 to 6
Installing Active Directory
The RWDC0x virtual machine will be the primary Active Directory domain Controller and
the DNS server. Therefore, to configure the RWDC0x server, use the following steps:
1. Login to RWDC0x as Administrator.
2. On the Server Manager console, open the Manage menu and click Add Roles and
Features.
3. When the Add Roles and Features Wizard starts, click Next.
4. On the Select installation type page, click Next.
5. On the Select destination server page, click Next.
6. On the Select server roles page, click to select Active Directory Domain Services and
click Next.
When the Add Roles and Features Wizard dialog box opens, click Add Features.
8. Back on the Select server roles page, click to select DNS Server and click Next.
9. When the Add Roles and Features Wizard dialog box opens, click Add Features.
10. Back at the Select server roles page, click Next.
11. On the Select features page, click Next.
12. On the Active Directory Domain Services page, click Next.
13. On the DNS Server page, click Next.
14. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
15. When the installation is complete, click Close.
16. On the Server Manager console, click the Tools menu (upper left) and click DNS.
17. When the DNS Manager console opens, right-click RWDC0x and click New Zone.
18. When the New Zone Wizard appears, click Next.
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19. On the Zone Type page, Primary zone will already be selected. Click Next.
20. On the Forward or Reverse Lookup Zone page, Forward lookup zone will already be
selected. Click Next.
21. For the Zone name, type contoso.com and click Next.
22. On the Zone File page, click Next.
23. On the Dynamic Update page, click Next.
24. When the wizard is complete, click Finish.
25. On the Server Manager console, click the Yellow Exclamation Symbol and click
Promote this server to a domain controller.
26. When the Active Directory Domain Services Configuration Wizard starts, click Add a
new forest.
27. In the Root domain name text box, type contoso.com. Click Next.
28. On the Domain Controllers Options page, for the Directory Services Restore Mode
(DSRM) password boxes, type Password01. Click Next.
29. On the DNS Options page, click Next.
30. On the Additional Options page, click Next.
31. On the Paths page, click Next.
32. On the Review Options page, click Next.
33. On the Prerequisite Check page, click Install.
34. After the computer reboots itself, login to RWDC01 as contoso\administrator with the
password of Password01.
35. Open the DNS Manager console.
36. In the DNS Manager console, expand RWDC01, expand Forward Lookup Zones, and
click contoso.com. Then right-click contoso.com and click Properties.
37. When the Contoso.com Properties dialog box opens, click the Change button.
38. When the Change Zone Type dialog box opens, select Store the zone in Active
Directory and click OK.
39. When it asks if you want the zone to become Active Directory integrated, click Yes.
40. For Dynamic Updates, select Non-secure and secure.
41. Click OK to close the contoso.com Properties dialog box.
42. Click Reverse Lookup Zones. Then right-click Reverse Lookup Zones and click New
Zone.
43. When the wizard opens, click Next.
44. On the Zone Type page, click Next.
45. On the Active Directory Zone Replication Scope page, click Next.
46. On the Reverse Lookup Zone Name page, click Next.
47. On the Reverse Lookup Zone Name page, type 192.168.1 in the Network ID and click
Next.
48. On the Dynamic Update page, click Next.
49. When the wizard is complete, click Finish.
Installing DHCP
The RWDC0x will also be the primary DHCP server for the virtual environment. Therefore,
use the following steps to install and configure DHCP on the RWDC0x:
1. Login to RWDC0x as Administrator.
2. On the Server Manager console, open the Manage menu and click Add Roles and
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Features.
3. When the Add Roles and Features Wizard starts, click Next.
4. On the Select installation type page, click Next.
5. On the Select destination server page, click Next.
6. On the Select server roles page, click to select DHCP and click Next.
7. When the Add Roles and Features Wizard dialog box opens, click Add Features.
8. Back at the Select server roles page, click Next.
9. On the Select features page, click Next.
10. On the DHCP page, click Next.
11. On the DNS Server page, click Next.
12. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
13. When the installation is complete, click Close.
14. Using Server Manager, open the DHCP console.
15. Expand the rwdc0x.contoso.com node.
16. Right-click IPv4 and click New Scope.
17. When the New Scope Wizard starts, click Next.
18. For the Name, type Main Scope.
19. For the Start IP address, type 192.168.1.30. For the End IP address, type 192.168.1.40.
Click Next.
20. On the Add Exclusions and Delay page, click Next.
21. On the Lease Duration, change the lease duration to 1 day. Click Next.
22. On the Configure DHCP Options page, click Yes, I want to configure these options
now. Click Next.
23. On the Router (Default Gateway) page, click Next.
24. On the Domain Name and DNS Servers page, type contoso.com for the Parent domain.
In the IP address, type 192.168.1.50, and click Add. Click Next.
25. On the WINS Servers page, click Next.
26. On the Activate Scope, make sure Yes, I want to active this scope now, and click Next.
27. When the wizard is complete, click Finish.
28. In the DHCP console, right-click rwdc01.contoso.com and click Authorize.
29. Close the DHCP console.
Creating a Software Folder
Because you will not have Internet access, you must create a Software folder to hold
the software and share the folder using the following steps:
1. On RWDC0x, create a folder called C:\Software.
2. Open the properties dialog box for the C:\Software folder
3. Share the Software folder using the name Software.
4. Assign the Allow Full Control share permission to the Everyone special identity.
5. Copy all files and folders from the Software folder from your instructor’s thumb drive to
the Software folder.
6. Close the Explorer windows.
Now, configure your application server.
1. Login to Server01 as Administrator.
2. Open your server’s Networking and Sharing Center.
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3. Double-click the Ethernet connection to open the Ethernet Status dialog box.
4. Click Properties to open the Ethernet Properties dialog box.
5. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to open the Internet Protocol
Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog box.
6. Enter the following information:
IP address: 192.168.1.60
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Preferred DNS server: 192.168.1.50
7. Click OK to close the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties dialog box.
8. Click Close to close Ethernet Statusdialog box.
9. Double-click the computer name to open the System Properties dialog box.
10. Click Change to open the Computer Name/Domain Changes dialog box.
11. Type Server01 in the Computer name text box.
12. Click Domain and type Contoso.com in the text box. Click OK.
13. When it asks for a name and password of an account with permissions to join the
domain, use contoso.com\administrator and Password01. Click OK.
14. When the Welcome to the contoso.com domain message appears, click OK.
15. When a message appears stating that you must restart your computer, click OK.
16. Click the Close button to close the System Properties dialog box.
17. When it says that you must restart your computer, click Restart Now.
I went through this once and I couldnt get past "12. Click Domain and type Contoso.com in the text box. Click OK" without an error.
I uninstalled all machines and VMware entirely, reinstalled VMware and then reinstalled machines, went though the guide again, same error when trying to connect the app server to the contoso.com domain.
Here's a screenshot of the error:
I also tried changing both machines to bridged connection, no luck, as well as NAT connection, still no luck.
Any help is greatly appreciated... Thanks guys!