An Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) for the domain “x.x.com” could not be contacted (Windows Azure)

When you attempt to join a Windows 2012 R2 server to a domain in Windows Azure, you may receive the error An Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) for the domain “x.x.com” could not be contacted

If you click Details, the relevant part of the explanation is:

“The following error occurred when DNS was queried for the service location (SRV) resource record used to locate an Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) for domain “x.x.com”:
The error was: “DNS name does not exist.”
(error code 0x0000232B RCODE_NAME_ERROR)
The query was for the SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.x.x.com”

In most cases, the domain controller is reachable. If you have enabled PING to your DC, you can try to ping and you will probably get an answer back. In that case, this error can easily be resolved by manually adding a DNS Server Address in the Advanced TCP/IP settings of the network adapter.

There’s a screenshot below (click to enlarge!) that visualizes the following steps to fix this problem:

First, logon to the machine that you want to join to the domain (your client)

1. Go to your Network and Sharing Center
2. Click the Network Adapter that you use to join the domain (typically there is only one adapter, but in some scenarios you may have multiple NICS connected to your network)
3. In the window “Network Adapter” Status, click Properties
4. In the new window, select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
5. Then click Properties
6. In the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) window, click Advanced…
7. In the Advanced TCP/IP Settings, select the tab DNS
8. Beneath the “DNS Server addresses, in order of use” click Add…
9. A small window pops up. Enter the IP address of your Domain Controller, and click OK
10. Close all Windows with the OK button. It may be necessary to restart the computer. Retry to join the domain.