PowerON Platforms are No More

If you’re a follower of this website, you are undoubtedly familiar with PowerON Platforms as I have promoted their products extensively over the years. Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC) is a clever solution that enables Always On VPN client configuration provisioning and management using Active Directory group policy. They recently introduced a cloud-based centralized reporting solution for organizations with multiple VPN servers. I worked closely with PowerON and influenced many of the features of these great technologies.

Out of Business

Sadly, I learned recently that PowerON Platforms has entered insolvency. Effective October 16, 2024, PowerON Platforms now cease to exist. If you are a current customer of theirs, you likely have received a notification email already.

The Future

Many of my customers have asked what will become of DPC and their cloud-based reporting solution. Here is some additional information.

DPC

Fortunately, DPC will live on through open source. My good friend and primary developer of DPC, Leo D’Arcy, is currently working on refactoring the software to meet open-source specifications. Although I don’t have a timeline for when the software will be available for download, I hope it will be soon.

You can follow the GitHub repository for the open-source DPC here.

If you have a current DPC license, the product should continue to work without issue. You can upgrade to the open-source version of DPC in the future if you choose to. You will likely encounter problems if you use DPC with a trial license. If this happens, contact me directly, and I’ll assist you.

Reporting

The PowerON Platforms Always On VPN reporting solution is dead and will not continue. If you were using this product, I would suggest deleting the resource group you created in Azure for this and the PowerBI application installed for it.

In addition, Always On VPN administrators should remove the reporting agent software from their VPN servers. You can do this on GUI installations using the Add or Remove Programs control panel app.

If you’ve installed the reporting agent on Server Core systems, you can remove it by running the following PowerShell command.

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.IdentifyingNumber -Match ‘{FFFC6424-82BB-49C5-9112-2C1436717C9C}’ } |  Invoke-WmiMethod -Name Uninstall

Support

With PowerON Platforms out of business, their products are no longer supported. However, if you have issues with DPC or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll provide as much support as I can.

Additional Information

Always On VPN Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC) Open Source on GitHub

What’s New in Always On VPN DPC 4.3.1

The latest release of PowerON Platforms’ Always On VPN Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC), version 4.3.1, is now available for download. This recent update includes fixes for previously known issues. In addition, it contains some critical new features administrators will find helpful in addressing the challenges they face with Always On VPN client configuration.

What Is DPC?

Always On VPN DPC is a solution to manage Always On VPN client configuration settings. It was originally designed to be used with on-premises Active Directory but can also be deployed with Microsoft Intune. DPC streamlines the configuration and management of client settings and includes many advanced features to fine-tune and optimize Always On VPN.

What’s New in 4.3.1

The following essential features are new in the 4.3.1 release of DPC.

Add Device Tunnel Routes to User Tunnel

Always On VPN administrators can now configure DPC to add device tunnel routes to the user tunnel automatically. This configuration option ensures that all traffic flows of the user tunnel when both user and device tunnels are established.

Note: This feature also requires administrators to define route metric options in DPC. Ensure the user tunnel route metrics are set to a lower value than the device tunnel metrics for proper operation.

Restart RasMan

Always On VPN connections occasionally fail with error 602 (ERROR_PORT_ALREADY_OPEN). The workaround for this is to restart the RasMan service on the endpoint. DPC now supports automatically restarting the RasMan service when this error occurs, ensuring reliable operation for Always On VPN connections.

Machine Certificate Filtering

DPC 4.3.1 now includes a feature to allow administrators to enable machine certificate filtering for Always On VPN device tunnels. This addresses a challenge when the endpoint has multiple machine certificates in its local computer certificate store when the VPN server is configured to accept a certificate with a specific custom application policy (EKU).

Additional Features

In addition, the updated DPC agent core service now run as x64 processes. Also, DPC now supports VPN server FQDNs longer than 63 characters (good news for those using DPC with Azure VPN gateway!).

Download DPC

For those customers currently licensed for Always On VPN DPC you can download the latest release here.

https://support.poweronplatforms.com/support/solutions/articles/8000066807

Not using DPC?

If you’re not using DPC, you are missing out! You can learn more about DPC and register for a free evaluation by visiting the link below.

https://aovpndpc.com

Optionally, you can fill out the form below and I’ll provide you with more information.

Additional Information

PowerON Platforms’ Always On VPN Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC)

Always On VPN DPC Advanced Features

Always On VPN DPC with Microsoft Intune

Always On VPN RRAS Centralized Monitoring and Reporting

A while back, I wrote about the monitoring and reporting options for Windows Server Routing and Remote Access (RRAS) servers supporting Microsoft Always On VPN. In that article, I outlined how administrators can use the Routing and Remote Access Management console (rrasmgmt.msc) or the Remote Access Management console (ramgmtui.exe) to perform configuration tasks and review current user and device activity. However, neither solution is ideal in a distributed environment with multiple RRAS servers. Thankfully, there’s a new option available to address this crucial limitation today.

Centralized Reporting

I’m excited to announce the availability of a cloud-based, centralized reporting solution for Windows Server RRAS and Always On VPN from the folks at PowerON Platforms. Created by the folks that brought us the Dynamic Profile Configurator (DPC) solution for managing Always On VPN client configuration settings, PowerON Platforms’ new reporting solution allows administrators to aggregate configuration, performance, and user activity data from multiple individual RRAS servers across their organization.

Important! I’ll be joining the folks at PowerON Platforms for a webinar on Thursday, January 18 to introduce and demonstrate this new Always On VPN reporting solution. Register now!

Summary View

The Summary view page provides a consolidated high-level look at the environment’s health status and capacity of VPN servers. Administrators can quickly see if any servers are unhealthy and view current usage details to assess the capacity of the deployment.

Server Overview

The Server Overview page provides a more detailed look at individual server health status and configuration. Here, you’ll find information about the number of active and available connections and the TLS certificate status. In addition, you’ll find detailed information about provisioned CPU and RAM, disk space utilization, and system uptime. You will also see information about the size of the reporting database on disk and the number of IKEv2 and SSTP VPN ports provisioned.

VPN Server Configuration

The VPN Server Configuration page looks into the IP address pool configuration and current utilization. In addition, this page provides an in-depth look at the VPN server TLS certificate health status. Currently, configured authentication and accounting servers are also shown.

Server Performance

The Server Performance page shows granular details about resource utilization on RRAS servers. This includes CPU and memory utilization, disk space usage, and database size. Administrators can view aggregated data or select individual servers. The view can be further customized by filtering by date.

Connection History

The Connection History page details concurrent connections observed on all VPN servers. Data can be filtered by date, individual server, and user or device name.

Client Distribution

The Client Distribution page provides an intuitive graphical display of client activity by server and tunnel type. In addition, it includes details about usage by individual clients and the number of connections made by individual endpoints.

Connection Detail

The Connection Detail page allows administrators to view user activity across all servers in the organization. Once again, data can be filtered by date, individual server, and user or device name. This view provides granular details on user activity, enabling the administrator to drill down to view specific resources accessed over the VPN for individual sessions.

Data Flow

The Data Flow page displays information about data transfer through the VPN server.

Summary

The Always On VPN cloud-based centralized reporting solution for Microsoft Always On VPN by PowerON Platforms is sure to be helpful for organizations managing distributed RRAS server deployments. The reporting solution aggregates data from all RRAS servers in the enterprise, providing a holistic view of configuration, health status, and user activity in one management console. This consolidated visibility is crucial for capacity planning and configuration maintenance, making the identification of performance bottlenecks or misconfigured servers easy. Also, the ability to view certificate expiration status for all servers in the organization is sure to prevent outages. Security administrators will find the solution helpful for forensic reporting and to identify sources of data leakage and exfiltration.

You can contact PowerON Platforms and request additional information here.

More Information

Are you interested in learning more about PowerON Platforms Always On VPN reporting? Would you like an interactive solution demonstration or an evaluation license to trial the product in your environment? Fill out the form below, and I’ll contact you with more details.