Windows VPN Rollout Guide Page 2

Now that we’ve introduced some fundamental concepts for building a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 VPN server, let’s step through a basic remote access VPN deployment.

The very first thing you must decide when building a Windows VPN server is whether to use Microsoft’s Internet Authentication Service (IAS) to authenticate users connecting to your VPN. IAS is Microsoft’s implementation of RADIUS, and when building a VPN server you can have user’s credentials passed off to IAS for verification or you can have users authenticated directly against Active Directory (AD).

Using IAS provides several advantages. First, it has better logging capabilities, including the ability to send data directly to an SQL database. Second, it provides a central destination at which you can point several VPN servers. This allows you to maintain one set of remote access policies that all of your VPN servers can use. In a nutshell, remote access policies can be characterized as a powerful way to define who is allowed access to the VPN. Assuming IAS is your choice for authentication, let’s jump right into the configuration of an IAS server.

Follow the steps below to install your IAS server. If you are short on hardware, it can be installed on the same server you plan to use for VPN access. This is not recommended for a high security environment, however.

Figure 1.

1. Start » Control Panel » Add or Remove Programs » Add/Remove Windows Components » Networking Services » Details… » Internet Authentication Service
2. Start » Administrative Tools » Internet Authentication Service » Right-click “Internet Authentication Service (local) » Register Server in Active Directory
3. Start » Administrative Tools » Internet Authentication Service » Remote Access Logging » Choose the desired option
4. Start » Administrative Tools » Internet Authentication Service » right-click RADIUS Clients » New RADIUS Client » enter the appropriate information for your VPN server (you will be asked to enter a shared secret, enter one and save it for later)
5. If your IAS server has a firewall enabled, then make an exception to allow UDP port 1812 from the VPN server

While the IAS admin interface is open, let’s add a remote access policy to allow access to users who are in a specified AD group (the two default groups will not allow anyone to access your VPN server). Here are the steps:

Figure 2.

1. Start » Administrative Tools » Internet Authentication Service » right-click Remote Access Policies » New Remote Access Policy
2. Choose a name » Next
3. Choose VPN » Next
4. Click Add…
5. Click Locations… and select your domain
6. Add MyVPNaccessGroup » Next
7. Leave MS-CHAPv2 as the only option » Next
8. Leave “Strongest encryption” as the only option » Next » Finish

Finally, be sure to update the new remote access policy to prevent rogue computers on the remote user’s network from using the VPN connection to forward packets through the VPN server. Follow these steps:

Start » Administrative Tools » Internet Authentication Service » Remote Access Policies » right click your new policy and select properties » click Edit Profile… » IP tab » Input Filters… » New… » OK » click “Permit only the packets listed below” » OK » OK » OK

Our ISA server is now ready to receive authentication requests from a VPN server. Before you can begin configuring a VPN server, take care of these pre-requisites on the VPN server:

1. Setup two network interface cards (NICs) on your VPN server; connect one to the internal protected network and connect the other to your DMZ or publicly accessible network (we’ll refer to this as the external NIC)
2. Do not configure DNS or WINS on the external NIC
3. Do not define default gateways for the internal NIC, only define one default gateway for the external NIC

And now, here are the steps required to configure your new VPN server:

1. Start » Administrative Tools » Services » Stop the “Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing” service and set the startup mode to Disabled
2. Start » Administrative Tools » Routing and Remote Access
3. Right-click the server name and click Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access (the local firewall service must be disabled)
4. Choose Remote Access » Next » check the box for VPN » Next
5. Select the external NIC (notice the check box for “Enable security…”) » Next
6. Select the internal NIC » Next
7. Choose “Automatically” or “From a specified range of addresses” (this procedure will follow the 2nd option) » Next
8. Click New… » enter a range of IPs » OK » Next
9. Choose “Yes, set up this server to work with a RADIUS server” » Next
10. Enter your IAS server and shared secret » Next » Finish
11. Routing and Remote Access » YOURSERVER » IP Routing » DHCP Relay Agent » Add the IP address of a DHCP server to the DHCP Relay Agent configuration (note that the DHCP server is required to return information such as default domains, but shouldn’t be handing out any IP addresses because set a static pool of addresses)
12. If your internal network consists of only one network then you’re finished! Otherwise, a route will need to be added for clients to get to other internal networks. Routing and Remote Access » YOURSERVER » IP Routing » right-click Static Routes » New Static Route… » enter a route that will get traffic to any subnet on your internal network. The easiest way to do this is to point all traffic for your internal network to the default gateway that the internal NIC is using.

Client Side

Next you will need to setup a VPN connection from a client. Here are the steps on a Windows XP machine:

Start » Control Panel » Network Connections » Create a new connection » Next » Connect to the network at my workplace » Next » Virtual Private Network connection » Next » Choose a friendly name » Next » you probably want to select “Do not dial the initial connection” » Next » Enter the host name or IP address of your VPN server » Next » choose who to make the connection for » Next » Finish

That’s it! You should now be able to double click on the VPN connection you just created and logon with a user account that is a member of the group you granted VPN access to in the remote access policy created above.

You may notice that when you connect to the VPN you can’t access the Internet. This is a tricky issue to get around, and the solution depends on your network topology. One obstacle is the default IP filters created on the external NIC where Routing and Remote Access is configured. You can configure these from Routing and Remote Access » YOURSERVER » IP Routing » General » right click on your external interface and choose Properties » click on the Inbound Filters… and/or Outbound Filters … buttons. Be careful when changing these filters as they are created as a security measure.

To configure the split tunnel vs. full tunnel discussed above got to Start » Control Panel » Network Connections » right click your VPN connection » Properties » Networking tab » select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) » Properties » Advanced… » check or uncheck “Use Default Gateway On Remote Network”. Un-checking this option will create a split tunnel when you initiate the VPN connection; leaving it checked creates a full tunnel.

To connect to PPTP or L2TP/IPSec (remember that L2TP/IPSec requires certificates) go to Start » Control Panel » Network Connections » right click your VPN connection » Properties » Networking tab » change the Type of VPN drop down box.

That’s all folks. Two final pieces of information that may come in handy if you roll out a Windows VPN server: 1) Where applicable, user account settings on the dial-up tab of an AD user object override the remote access policy settings created on the IAS server and 2) Windows Server 2003 Standard edition supports up to 1,000 concurrent connections.

This article was originally published on Enterprise Networking Planet.