Endpoint Manager and Intune Learning Resources for Always On VPN Administrators

Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM), formerly Intune, is the recommended solution for deploying and managing Windows Always On VPN client configuration settings. Always On VPN is designed for Mobile Device Management (MDM), with configuration settings deployed specifically to the VPNv2 Configuration Service Provider (CSP) interface.

Resources

Getting up to speed on all things MEM isn’t difficult at all. I’ve found the MEM community to be exceedingly helpful, and there are many available training resources in various formats from which to choose.

Books

The following is a list of Microsoft Endpoint Manager books Always On VPN administrators will find most helpful for learning about MEM.

YouTube

The Intune Training channel on YouTube is an incredibly valuable resource for Always On VPN administrators learning MEM. Hosted by Steven Hosking, Adam Gross, and Ben Reader, there are countless videos covering important MEM configuration tasks.

Pluralsight

Pluralsight offers video training courses for a wide variety of IT-related topics. Recently I published the  Implementing Always On VPN video training course. There are several Microsoft Endpoint Manager video training courses available as well. Pluralsight is available via subscription. You can sign up for a free trial here if you don’t have a subscription.

Conferences

The Midwest Management Summit (MMS) is the premier event for systems management professionals. Their annual conference takes place each spring in the U.S. (Minneapolis, MN). The event is the best place to learn about Microsoft Endpoint Manager and network with systems management professionals worldwide.

Additional Resources

As a reminder, MEM topics such as certificate deployment and Always On VPN profile deployment and management are covered in detail in both my Implementing Always On VPN book and the Implementing Always On VPN video training course on Pluralsight. 😁

Cannot Apply Remote Access Setup Wizard Settings in Windows Server 2012 R2

When configuring Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess with a dedicated network location server, the Remote Access Setup Wizard may fail with the following error:

The configuration was rolled back successfully. The URL specified for the network location server cannot be resolved to an IP address.

Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess Name Resolution Issue

However, the name can be resolved successfully and when stepping through the remote access setup, validation of the network location server is successful.

Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess Name Resolution Issue

This has been identified as an issue with the DNS client in Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft has now released a hotfix to resolve this problem. For more information, click here.

Windows 8 DirectAccess Client Quick Tip

On a Windows 8 or 8.1 DirectAccess client, issuing a Get-DAConnectionStatus may return the following error:

Get-DAConnectionStatus : Network Connectivity Assistant service is stopped or not responding.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-DAConnectionStatus
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (MSFT_DAConnectionStatus:root/StandardCi...onnectionStatus) [Get-DAConnect
   ionStatus], CimException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Windows System Error 1753,Get-DAConnectionStatus

DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant Error

This issue is easily resolved by starting the Network Connectivity Assistant service by issuing the following PowerShell command:

Start-Service ncasvc

Get-DAConnectionStatus should now respond normally.

DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant Error

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