name resolution in a vpn setup 2

[rsoxhater]

Hi - I've setup a Win2k vpn server with no problems. Home users can login with no problem at all, and can access resources and whatnot.

One small problem I have - for internal users to access a server, all they have to do is type in "servername" If I'm browsing the network from home, I need to type in "servername.domainname.local"

For example to access the local intranet site from home, I need to type:

http://servername.domain.local,

but from my office all I need to do is

http://servername

Doing that works fine, but i'd prefer to get the correct setup. I'm positive its one small thing I'm missing when I configured the server.

All the home users are on the same subnet as the servers and regular users. Home users are assigned IP's of xxx.xxx.xxx.72 - .99 by the VPN server, and the DHCP server assigns the addresses of .100-.250 to on site clients.


Any help would be greatly appreciated. Other than this small issue the VPN is working great.

Thanks,
Patrick Mangan
Town of New Windsor

 

[ChicagoTechNet]

Does VPN server assign the internal DNS to the VPN clients?

Robert Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Windows, Network and How to at

http://www.ChicagoTech.net

 

[rsoxhater]

yes - when I do an ipconfig /all from home, the dns servers are listed as the correct ones.

 

[NWindsor]

Patrick,

Netbios name resolution does not get passed acrossed routers or Wan links because LAN broadcasts are not passed like they are on an internal network.

You should add the DNS suffix to the VPN client under the TCP/IP protocols and advance tab. I would also disable the assign remote gateway option so as not to have the DCHP assigned IP address from the RAS VPN services assigning the same IP address for your gateway configuration. This would be particularly important if you have other routers on the network.

Alternatively, If you don't have WINS running then you need to modify the LMHOSTS file with IP address and names for every LAN computer you want to access by name so it can resolve the IP address. Then import this file into every VP client.

MSHater

 

[attrofy]

Just adding this to my list of threads to find this easier later on. I have a similar scenario

 

[rsoxhater]

Theres actually a setting on the client side connection. In the properties of your VPN connection go to Networking, click on the TCP/IP protocol, and click advanced. In the DNS tab near the bottom is an DNS Suffix for this connection. Add in domain.local or whatever yours is. Works like a charm, now the names resolve with no problem.