When configuring and deploying Windows Always On VPN using Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM)/Intune, administrators may find that some settings are not exposed in the MEM UI. In some cases, deploying the configuration profile using custom XML is the workaround. However, many crucial Always On VPN settings are not exposed using either method. Here, administrators must resort to editing settings in the VPN configuration file on the client after provisioning the VPN profile.
Phonebook
A file called rasphone.pbk stores all Windows VPN settings on the endpoint. It includes name/value pairs that correspond to many settings administrators change manually in the GUI. Other settings can be changed using PowerShell. Depending on the connection type, the file can be found in one of two locations.
- User Tunnel: $env:AppData\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk\rasphone.pbk
- Device Tunnel: $env:ProgramData\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk\rasphone.pbk
Documentation for Windows VPN client phonebook entry settings can be found here.
Limitations
Unfortunately, editing the rasphone.pbk file isn’t always convenient. Making the changes is technically easy. Administrators can write a simple PowerShell script to update the text file as required. However, automating this at scale is challenging. Thankfully, Intune Proactive Remediations can help.
With Intune Proactive Remediations, administrators can create and deploy script packages to monitor and optionally update specific configuration settings. The package includes two scripts, a detection script, and a remediation script. The detection script looks at the current value of a particular setting and reports on its compliance. The remediation script is triggered to update the setting if the value is incorrect.
Requirements
Intune Proactive Remediations has some specific licensing requirements. Administrators must also enroll devices into Endpoint analytics and provision a Windows Health Monitoring configuration profile. There are also limitations on the size and type of scripts that administrators can use. More information on prerequisites can be found here.
Script Packages
Administrators can create detection and remediation PowerShell scripts to update settings in rasphone.pbk, or optionally, they can download sample scripts from my GitHub repository here. This repository contains user and device tunnel detection and remediation scripts for many popular settings in rasphone.pbk. Examples include updating the VPN Strategy, changing VPN interface metrics, disabling class-based default routes, and many more.
Note: The scripts in my GitHub repository are examples only. While they can be used in production environments, they are basic and may not work as expected in all scenarios. For example, the scripts as written today assume only a single VPN profile provisioned. Unexpected results may occur if more than one VPN profile exists. Please use them at your own risk.
Deployment
In this example, we’ll deploy a Proactive Remediation to disable IKE mobility for user tunnel VPN connections. To configure an Intune Proactive Remediation, open the Microsoft Endpoint Manager portal (https://endpoint.microsoft.com/) and navigate to Reports > Endpoint analytics > Proactive remediations. After creating or downloading the detection and remediation scripts, perform the following steps to create and deploy a Proactive Remediation script package.
- Click Create script package.
- Enter a name for the package in the Name field.
- Enter a description for the package in the Description field (optional).
- Click Next.
- Click the blue folder icon next to the Detection script file field and upload the detection script.
- Click the blue folder icon next to the Remediation script file field and upload the associated remediation script.
- For user tunnel connections, click Yes next to Run this script using the logged-on credentials. For device tunnel connections, click No.
- Click Next.
Assign scope tags and group assignments as necessary, then click Create. Click Refresh to update the UI to display the newly created script package.
Caveats
Be advised that Proactive Remediation script packages run immediately after the first device sync and then every 24 hours after that. Timing issues could lead to delays in functionality. For example, if an Always On VPN profile is provisioned after a Proactive Remediation script runs, the changes made by the remediation script won’t be available until much later. Also, changes made while the VPN is active will not take effect until after restarting the connection.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Tom Klaver at Inspark for turning me on to this feature. It has been an absolute lifesaver for sure!
Microsoft Intune Proactive Remediation Tutorial
Windows VPN Phonebook Entry Settings
Intune Proactive Remediation Script Samples on GitHub
Microsoft Windows Always On VPN Class-Based Default Route and Intune
Microsoft Windows Always On VPN Short Name Access Failure
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