It is with great pleasure that I announce Richard M. Hicks Consulting, Inc. has been included in Enterprise Networking Magazine’s Top 10 VPN consulting services for 2020! Enterprise Networking Magazine is a leading magazine and web site dedicated to the enterprise networking industry and its professionals.
You can read the full write-up on Richard M. Hicks Consulting, Inc. at Enterprise Networking’s web site here.
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on May 18, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/05/18/enterprise-networking-magazine-top-10-vpn-consulting-services-2020/
During the planning phase of a Windows 10 Always On VPN implementation the administrator must decide between two tunneling options for VPN client traffic – split tunneling or force tunneling. When split tunneling is configured, only traffic for the on-premises network is routed over the VPN tunnel. Everything else is sent directly to the Internet. With force tunneling, all client traffic, including Internet traffic, is routed over the VPN tunnel. There’s been much discussion recently on this topic, and this article serves to outline the advantages and disadvantages for both tunneling methods.
Force tunneling is typically enabled to meet the following requirements.
By routing all the client’s Internet traffic over the VPN tunnel, administrators can inspect, filter, and log Internet traffic using existing on-premises security solutions such as web proxies, content filters, or Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW).
Enabling force tunneling ensures privacy and protection of all Internet communication. By routing all Internet traffic over the VPN, administrators can be certain that all communication from the Always On VPN client is encrypted, even when clients access unencrypted web sites or use untrusted or insecure wireless networks.
While configuring force tunneling for Always On VPN has some advantages, it comes with some serious limitations as well.
User experience is often degraded when all Internet traffic is routed over the VPN. These suboptimal network paths increase latency, and VPN encapsulation and encryption overhead increase fragmentation, leading to reduced throughput. Most Internet traffic is already encrypted in some form, and encrypting traffic that is already encrypted makes the problem even worse. In addition, force tunneling short-circuits geographic-based Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) further reducing Internet performance. Further, location-based services are often broken which can lead to improper default language selection or inaccurate web search results.
Additional resources may need to be provisioned to support force tunneling. With corporate and Internet traffic coming over the VPN, more CPU, memory, and network resources may be required. Deploying additional VPN servers and higher throughput load balancers to support the increase in network traffic may also be necessary. Force tunneling also places higher demands on Internet Service Provider (ISP) links to the corporate datacenter.
The alternative to force tunneling is “split tunneling”. With split tunneling configured, only traffic destined for the internal corporate network is routed over the VPN. All other traffic is sent directly to the Internet. Administrators define IP networks that should be routed over the VPN, and those networks are added to the routing table on the VPN client.
The challenge of providing visibility and control of Internet traffic with split tunneling enabled can be met using a variety of third-party security solutions. Microsoft Defender ATP recently introduced support for web content filtering. Also, there are numerous cloud-based security offerings from many vendors that allow administrators to monitor and control client-based Internet traffic. Zscaler and Cisco Umbrella are two popular solutions, and no doubt there are many more to choose from.
The general guidance I provide customers is to use split tunneling whenever possible, as it provides the best user experience and reduces demands on existing on-premises infrastructure. Enabling split or force tunneling is ultimately a design decision that must be made during the planning phase of an Always On VPN implementation project. Both configurations are supported, and they each have their merits.
In today’s world, with many applications accessible via public interfaces, force tunneling is an antiquated method for providing visibility and control for managed devices in the field. If required, investigate the use of Microsoft or other third-party solutions that enforce security policy in place without the requirement to backhaul client Internet traffic to the datacenter over VPN for inspection, logging, and filtering.
Whitepaper: Enhancing VPN Performance at Microsoft
Whitepaper: How Microsoft Is Keeping Its Remote Workforce Connected
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 14, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/14/always-on-vpn-split-vs-force-tunneling/
Over the last few weeks, I’ve worked with numerous organizations and individuals troubleshooting connectivity and performance issues associated with Windows 10 Always On VPN, and specifically connections using the Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) VPN protocol. An issue that appears with some regularity is when Windows 10 clients fail to connect with error 809. In this scenario, the server will accept connections without issue for a period of time and then suddenly stop accepting requests. When this happens, existing connections continue to work without issue in most cases. Frequently this occurs with Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) servers configured in a clustered array behind an External Load Balancer (ELB).
It is not uncommon to use Network Address Translation (NAT) when configuring Always On VPN. In fact, for most deployments the public IP address for the VPN server resides not on the VPN server, but on an edge firewall or load balancer connected directly to the Internet. The firewall/load balancer is then configured to translate the destination address to the private IP address assigned to the VPN server in the perimeter/DMZ or the internal network. This is known a Destination NAT (DNAT). Using this configuration, the client’s original source IP address is left intact. This configuration presents no issues for Always On VPN.
When troubleshooting these issues, the common denominator seems to be the use of Full NAT, which includes translating the source address in addition to the destination. This results in VPN client requests arriving at the VPN server as appearing not to come from the client’s original IP address, but the IP address of the network device (firewall or load balancer) that is translating the request. Full NAT may be explicitly configured by an administrator, or in the case of many load balancers, configured implicitly because the load balancer is effectively proxying the connection.
IKEv2 VPN connections use IPsec for encryption, and by default, Windows limits the number of IPsec Security Associations (SAs) coming from a single IP address. When a NAT device is performing destination/full NAT, the VPN server sees all inbound IKEv2 VPN requests as coming from the same IP address. When this happens, clients connecting using IKEv2 may fail to connect, most commonly when the server is under moderate to heavy load.
The way to resolve this issue is to ensure that any load balancers or NAT devices are not translating the source address but are performing destination NAT only. The following is configuration guidance for F5, Citrix ADC (formerly NetScaler), and Kemp load balancers.
On the F5 BIG-IP load balancer, navigate to the Properties > Configuration page of the IKEv2 UDP 500 virtual server and choose None from the Source Address Translation drop-down list. Repeat this step for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 virtual server.
On the Citrix ADC load balancer, navigate to System > Settings > Configure Modes and check the option to Use Subnet IP.
Next, navigate to Traffic Management > Load Balancing > Service Groups and select the IKEv2 UDP 500 service group. In the Settings section click edit and select Use Client IP. Repeat these steps for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 service group.
On the Kemp LoadMaster load balancer, navigate to Virtual Services > View/Modify Services and click Modify on the IKEv2 UDP 500 virtual service. Expand Standard Options and select Transparency. Repeat this step for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 virtual service.
Making the changes above may introduce routing issues in your environment. When configuring these settings, it may be necessary to configure the VPN server’s default gateway to use the load balancer to ensure proper routing. If this is not possible, consider implementing the workaround below.
To fully resolve this issue the above changes should be made to ensure the VPN server can see the client’s original source IP address. If that’s not possible for any reason, the following registry key can be configured to increase the number of established SAs from a single IP address. Be advised this is only a partial workaround and may not fully eliminate failed IKEv2 connections. There are other settings in Windows that can prevent multiple connections from a single IP address which are not adjustable at this time.
To implement this registry change, open an elevated PowerShell command window on the RRAS server and run the following commands. Repeat these commands on all RRAS servers in the organization.
New-ItemProperty -Path ‘HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\IKEEXT\Parameters\’ -Name IkeNumEstablishedForInitialQuery -PropertyType DWORD -Value 50000 -Force
Restart-Service IKEEXT -Force -PassThru
IPsec Traffic May Be Blocked When A Computer is Behind a Load Balancer
Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with Citrix NetScaler ADC
Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with F5 BIG-IP
Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with Kemp LoadMaster
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 13, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/13/always-on-vpn-ikev2-load-balancing-and-nat/
With the COVID-19 global pandemic forcing nearly everyone to work from home these days, organizations that implemented force tunneling for their VPN clients are likely encountering unexpected problems. When force tunneling is enabled, all client traffic, including Internet traffic, is routed over the VPN tunnel. This often overloads the VPN infrastructure and causes serious slowdowns, which degrades the user experience and negatively impacts productivity. This is especially challenging because so many productivity applications like Microsoft Office 365 are optimized for Internet accessibility. It is one of the main reasons that force tunneling is not generally recommended.
When enabling split tunneling is not an option, administrators frequently ask about enabling force tunneling with some exceptions. The most common configuration is enabling force tunneling while still allowing Office 365 traffic to go outside of the tunnel. While this is something that third-party solutions do easily, it has been a challenge for Always On VPN. Specifically, Always On VPN has no way to route traffic by hostname or Fully-Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
To address this challenge, the administrator can configure Exclusion Routes. Exclusion Routes are supported in Windows 10 1803 with update KB4493437, Windows 10 1809 with update KB4490481, and Windows 10 1903/1909.
Exclusion routes are defined in the client routing table that are excluded from the VPN tunnel. The real challenge here is determining all the required IP addresses required for Office 365.
Given current events and the heavy demands placed on enterprises supporting exclusively remote workforces, Microsoft has recently published guidance for configuring Always On VPN force tunneling while excluding Office 365 traffic. Their documentation includes all the required IP addresses to configure exclusions for. This will make it much simpler for administrators to configure Always On VPN to support this unique scenario. The following links provide detailed configuration guidance for enabling force tunneling for Always On VPN with exceptions.
Windows 10 Always On VPN Split vs. Force Tunneling
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 9, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/09/always-on-vpn-force-tunneling-with-office-365-exclusions/
Join me this Thursday, April 9 at 10:00AM EDT for a Remote Access Q&A session hosted by Kemp Technologies. During this free live webinar, I’ll be answering all your questions as they relate to enterprise mobility, remote access, scalability and performance, security, and much more. Topics are not limited to Kemp products at all, so feel free to join and ask me anything you like! Register now and submit your questions!
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 7, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/07/remote-access-qa-webinar-hosted-by-kemp/
Recently I wrote about Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel operation and best practices, explaining its common uses cases and requirements, as well as sharing some detailed information about authentication, deployment recommendations, and best practices. I’m commonly asked if deploying Always On VPN using the device tunnel exclusively, as opposed to using it to supplement the user tunnel, is supported or recommended. I’ll address those topics in detail here.
To start, yes, it is possible to deploy Windows 10 Always On VPN using only the device tunnel. In this scenario the administrator will configure full access to the network instead of limited access to domain infrastructure services and management servers.
Generally, no. Remember, the device tunnel was designed with a specific purpose in mind, that being to provide pre-logon network connectivity to support scenarios such as logging on without cached credentials. Typically, the device tunnel is best used for its intended purpose, which is providing supplemental functionality to the user tunnel.
The choice to implement Always On VPN using only the device tunnel is an interesting one. There are some potential advantages to this deployment model, but it is not without some serious limitations. Below I’ve listed some of the advantages and disadvantages to deploying the device tunnel alone for Windows 10 Always On VPN.
Using the device tunnel alone does have some compelling advantages over the standard two tunnel (device tunnel/user tunnel) deployment model. Consider the following.
While there are some advantages to using the device tunnel by itself, this configuration is not without some serious limitations. Consider the following.
The choice to deploy Windows 10 Always On VPN using the device tunnel alone, or in conjunction with the user tunnel, is a design choice that administrators must make based on their individual requirements. Using the device tunnel alone is supported and works but has some serious drawbacks and limitations. The best experience will be found using the device tunnel as it was intended, as an optional component to provide pre-logon connectivity for an existing Always On VPN user tunnel.
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel with Azure VPN Gateway
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration with Microsoft Intune
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Does Not Connect Automatically
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Missing in Windows 10 UI
Deleting a Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration using PowerShell
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 6, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/06/always-on-vpn-device-tunnel-only-deployment-considerations/
Unlike DirectAccess, Windows 10 Always On VPN settings are deployed to the individual user, not the device. As such, there is no support for logging on without cached credentials using the default configuration. To address this limitation, and to provide feature parity with DirectAccess, Microsoft later introduced the device tunnel option in Windows 10 1709.
The device tunnel is designed to allow the client device to establish an Always On VPN connection before the user logs on. This enables important scenarios such as logging on without cached credentials. This feature is crucial for organizations who expect users to log on to devices the first time remotely. The device tunnel can also be helpful for remote support, allowing administrators to manage remotely connected Always On VPN clients without having a user logged on. In addition, the device tunnel can alleviate some of the pain caused by administrators resetting remote worker’s passwords, or by users initiating a Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR).
The device tunnel requires Windows 10 Enterprise edition 1709 or later, and the client device must be joined to the domain. The device tunnel must be provisioned in the context of the local system account. Guidance for configuring and deploying a Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel can be found here.
The device tunnel is authenticated using a certificate issued to the client device, much the same as DirectAccess does. Authentication takes place on the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) VPN server. It does not require a Network Policy Server (NPS) to perform authentication for the device tunnel.
Eventually an administrator may need to deny access to a device configured with an Always On VPN device tunnel connection. In theory, revoking the client device’s certificate and terminating their IPsec Security Associations (SAs) on the VPN server would accomplish this. However, Windows Server RRAS does not perform certificate revocation checking for Windows 10 Always On VPN device tunnel connections by default. Thankfully an update is available to enable this functionality. See Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation for more details.
As the device tunnel is designed only to support domain authentication for remote clients, it should be configured with limited access to the on-premises infrastructure. Below is a list of required and optional infrastructure services that should be reachable over the device tunnel connection.
Limiting access over the Always On VPN device tunnel can be accomplished in one of the following two ways.
The administrator can configure traffic filters on the device tunnel to restrict access only to those IP addresses required. However, be advised that when a traffic filter is enabled on the device tunnel, all inbound access will be blocked. This effectively prevents any remote management of the device from an on-premises system over the device tunnel.
An alternative to using traffic filters to limit access over the device tunnel is using host routes. Host routes are configured with a /32 prefix size and define a route to a specific individual host. The following is an example of host route configuration in ProfileXML.
Note: A PowerShell script that enumerates all enterprise domain controllers and outputs their IP addresses in XML format for use in ProfileXML can be found here.
Some organizations may have hundreds or even thousands of domain controllers, so creating individual host route entries for all domain controllers in profileXML may not be practical. In this scenario it is recommended to add host routes only for the domain controllers that belong to the Active Directory site where the VPN server resides.
The device tunnel can be safely deployed in conjunction with the user tunnel whenever its functionality is required.
If the device tunnel and user tunnel are both deployed, it is recommended that only one of the tunnels be configured to register in DNS. If the device tunnel is configured to register its IP address in DNS, be advised that only those devices with routes configured in the device tunnel VPN profile will be able to connect remotely to Always On VPN clients.
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel with Azure VPN Gateway
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel and Certificate Revocation
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration with Microsoft Intune
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Does Not Connect Automatically
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Missing in Windows 10 UI
Deleting a Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel
Windows 10 Always On VPN Device Tunnel Configuration using PowerShell
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on March 30, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/03/30/always-on-vpn-device-tunnel-operation-and-best-practices/
Administrators who have deployed Windows 10 Always On VPN may encounter a scenario in which an Always On VPN connection fails, yet the connectivity status indicator perpetually reports a “Connecting” status.
This is a known issue for which Microsoft has recently released updates to address. Affected clients include Windows 10 1909, 1903, and 1809.
The following Windows updates include a fix to resolve this problem.
KB4541335 – Windows 10 1909 and 1903
KB4541331 – Windows 10 1809
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on March 25, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/03/25/always-on-vpn-client-connections-fail-with-status-connecting/
When deploying Windows 10 Always On VPN, administrators can configure Trusted Network Detection (TND) which enables clients to detect when they are on the internal network. With this option set, the client will only automatically establish a VPN connection when it is outside the trusted network. Trusted network detection can be configured on both device tunnel and user tunnel connections.
When trusted network detection is configured, the VPN client will evaluate the DNS suffix assigned to all physical (non-virtual or tunnel) adapters that are active. If any of them match the administrator-defined trusted network setting, the client is determined to be on the internal network and the VPN connection will not connect. If the DNS suffix is not present on any of these adapters, the client is determined to be outside the internal network and the VPN connection will establish automatically.
Trusted network detection is defined in the Intune UI or in ProfileXML as a string that matches the DNS suffix assigned to clients on the internal network. In this example, the DNS suffix on the internal network is lab.richardhicks.net.
Note: Your organization might have more than one DNS suffix. Ensure that the trusted network detection configuration includes all DNS suffixes in use in the environment to ensure reliable operation.
Follow the steps below to configured trusted network detection in Microsoft Intune.
To define Trusted Network Detection in ProfileXML, add the TrustedNetworkDetection element as follows.
In some instances, an Always On VPN client connection may persist, even if the client is connected to the internal network. A common scenario is when a client device connects to a Wi-Fi network that is not connected to the corporate network (for example guest Wi-Fi), then connects to the internal network with Ethernet via a docking station. If the Wi-Fi connection is still available, the Always On VPN connection will persist, even though the machine is connected to the internal network. This is expected and by design.
To address this specific scenario, administrators can implement changes via group policy to the way Windows handles multiple connections to the same network. For example, beginning with Windows 10 1709, group policy can be configured to ensure that Windows 10 clients prefer wired Ethernet network connections over Wi-Fi, and to ensure that Wi-Fi connections disconnect when an Ethernet connection is detected.
Open the Group Policy management console (gpmc.msc) and perform the following steps to create the required group policy objects.
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on March 24, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/03/24/always-on-vpn-trusted-network-detection/
NetMotion Software and Microsoft have now partnered to integrate NetMotion Mobility with Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Intune. NetMotion Mobility is a purpose-built enterprise VPN solution that has many advantages over competing remote access technologies. Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager or Intune, organizations can now quickly and easily provision NetMotion client software to their managed devices.
NetMotion Mobility is a popular remote access solution designed to meet the needs of enterprise organization with diverse mobility requirements. NetMotion Mobility uses a proprietary transport protocol that, unlike any other solution, is designed for mobility from inception. It includes many advanced features not found anywhere else. You can learn more about NetMotion Mobility here.
More information about the NetMotion Software and Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Intune partnership here.
5 Things NetMotion Mobility Can Do that Microsoft DirectAccess Can’t
5 Things NetMotion Mobility Can Do that Microsoft Windows 10 Always On VPN Can’t
Comparing NetMotion Mobility and Microsoft DirectAccess
Interested in learning more about NetMotion Mobility? Complete the form below and I’ll provide you with more information.
Posted by Richard M. Hicks on March 11, 2020
https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/03/11/netmotion-mobility-with-microsoft-endpoint-manager-and-intune/
