All posts for the month April, 2017

Planning and Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016 Video Training Course on Pluralsight

Planning and Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016I’m excited to announce my latest video training course, Planning and Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016, is now available on Pluralsight! In this course, I’ll provide a high-level overview of DirectAccess, compare it with VPN, and outline supporting infrastructure requirements. In addition, you’ll learn how to choose the best network topology for a DirectAccess deployment, how to prepare Active Directory and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DirectAccess, and how to install and configure DirectAccess in Windows Server 2016 using the latest implementation and security best practices. You’ll also learn how to provision Windows 10 clients and understand the unique requirements for supporting Windows 7.

The course includes the following training modules:

Overview of DirectAccess
Planning for DirectAccess
Configuring DirectAccess with the Getting Started Wizard
Configuring DirectAccess with the Remote Access Setup Wizard
Provisioning DirectAccess Clients
Supporting Windows 7 Clients

Throughout the course, I share valuable knowledge and insight gained from more than 5 years of experience deploying DirectAccess for some of the largest organizations in the world. Pluralsight offers a free trial subscription if you don’t already have one, so watch my DirectAccess video training course today!

Additional Resources

Planning and Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016 on Pluralsight
Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016

4 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on April 17, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in DirectAccess, education, Pluralsight, Remote Access, Security, Training, troubleshooting, video, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 17, 2017

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2017/04/17/planning-and-implementing-directaccess-with-windows-server-2016-video-training-course-on-pluralsight/

Uninstalling and Removing DirectAccess

Uninstalling and Removing DirectAccess This web site is primarily dedicated to installing, configuring, managing, and troubleshooting DirectAccess on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016. However, there’s little documentation on how to properly uninstall and remove DirectAccess. This post provides guidance for gracefully uninstalling and removing DirectAccess after it has been deployed.

DirectAccess Clients

It is recommended that all clients be deprovisioned prior to decommissioning a DirectAccess deployment. This is especially true if the Network Location Server (NLS) is hosted on the DirectAccess server itself. Remove all client computers from the DirectAccess client security group or unlink DirectAccess client settings GPOs (but don’t delete them!) from any OUs where they are applied. Allow sufficient time for all clients to process security group membership changes and update group policy before uninstalling DirectAccess.

Network Location Server

If the NLS is installed separate from the DirectAccess server, it is recommended that it remain online for a period of time after DirectAccess has been decommissioned. Clients will be unable to access local resources if they still have DirectAccess client settings applied and the NLS is offline. Keeping the NLS online prevents this from happening. If this does happen, you’ll need to delete the Name Resolution Policy Table (NRPT) on the client to restore connectivity. To do this, run the following command in an elevated PowerShell command window and restart the computer.

Get-Item -Path “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient\DnsPolicyConfig” | Remove-Item -Confirm:$false

Uninstall DirectAccess

It is not recommended to decommission DirectAccess by simply turning off all DirectAccess servers and manually deleting all of the associated group policy objects (GPOs) in Active Directory. A better way is to gracefully remove DirectAccess using the GUI or PowerShell.

To uninstall DirectAccess using the GUI, open the Remote Access Management console, highlight DirectAccess and VPN, and then click Remove Configuration Settings in the Tasks pane.

Uninstalling and Removing DirectAccess

Alternatively, DirectAccess can be removed by running the following command in an elevated PowerShell command window.

Uninstall-RemoteAccess -Force

Additional Resources

DirectAccess Network Location Server (NLS) Guidance

DirectAccess Network Location Server (NLS) Deployment Considerations for Large Enterprises

Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016

32 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on April 13, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in DirectAccess, Remote Access
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 13, 2017

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2017/04/13/uninstalling-and-removing-directaccess/

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage Work

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage WorkiManage Work (formerly WorkSite) is a popular document management system commonly used in the legal, accounting, and financial services industries. Historically, there have been issues getting WorkSite to function over DirectAccess, because WorkSite used IPv4 addresses and DirectAccess clients use IPv6. When a DirectAccess client is outside of the office, it communicates with the DirectAccess server using IPv6 exclusively, so applications that make calls directly to IPv4 addresses won’t work.

One way DirectAccess administrators could make WorkSite function was to use portproxy to create v4tov6 address and port mappings on the client. However, this method is error prone, difficult to troubleshoot and support, and doesn’t scale effectively.

The good news is that beginning with release 9, the iManage Work client application has been upgraded to support IPv6. However, it is not enabled by default. To enable IPv6 support for iManage Work, add the following registry key on the client side (not the server!). No other changes are required.

HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\

Type: REG_SZ
String: IP Address Family
Value: IPv6

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage Work

You can also use the following PowerShell command to add this registry entry.

New-Item -Path “HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\” -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\”-Name “IP Address Family” -PropertyType String -Value IPv6 -Force

After validation testing is complete, deploy the registry setting via Active Directory group policy preferences to all DirectAccess clients and iManage Work will function perfectly over DirectAccess!

Additional Resources

Active Directory Group Policy Preferences on Microsoft TechNet

iManage Web Site

Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016

13 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on April 10, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in DirectAccess, iManage, IPv6, IPv6 Transition, PowerShell, Remote Access, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, WorkSite
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 10, 2017

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2017/04/10/directaccess-ipv6-support-for-worksite-and-imanage-work/

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