Re: Accessing PCs that connect to SBS server 2003 via VPN

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BigMan wrote:
I need to be able to connect to provide user assistance, not so much for software installs. Whilst LogMeIn would work it would not be ideal.
As per Claus's suggestion I checked the subnet on VPN machines and they are on a different subnet to the office based machines. Could you tell me how to resolve this so that they are all on the same subnet?


No, it is vital that they are on a different subnet.

When you run the ipconfig /all command on a client after the VPN has connected, you will see a PPP entry, which should have an address on the SBS LAN, issued by DHCP. If it hasn't, there's your problem. If the address here isn't on the LAN, some things will work but not others. The client's Ethernet adaptor (and any other network adaptor) must be on a different subnet from this, otherwise the client won't know how to route messages to the SBS.

This isn't a subject that comes up often, and I suspect the answer is 'you can't do that', at least without some effort. It would appear that the VPN client is not inserted into DNS, so calling by name is not possible. I think you'll find pinging by IP address (of the PPP link address) will work.

A particular user can be assigned a fixed LAN IP address (either outside the DHCP pool or on a reservation) which will always be used when a VPN connection is made (Dial-In tab of User properties). Then, either work on this machine is done using the IP address, or the if the computer is not a domain member, its name can be added to the SBS DNS or the hosts file. There's a problem if the client computer is a domain member, in that it will already have a DNS entry which will conflict, which I suspect is why Microsoft didn't get fancy with VPN clients and automatic DNS entries. Domain members connecting by VPN are assigned addresses from the RRAS pool, but their DNS entries are unchanged, so they can't be reached by name either.
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