workstation fails to join the domain during configmgr task sequence

during an operating system deployment, if you find that your workstations are failing to join the domain, check your netsetup.log.  if you find a line like this…

01/01/2009 12:00:00:000 NetpGetComputerObjectDn: Specified path 'CN=Computers,DC=myDomain,DC=com' is not an OU

… it’s generating because the path specified is, in actuality, not an ou (organizationalUnit).  instead, the default computers location is a container.  feels like i’m splitting hairs when it comes to this, but if you point the “Apply Network Settings” to either a domain ou or blank, it works.