IMPORTANT NOTE: The guidance in this post will disable support for null SSL/TLS cipher suites on the DirectAccess server. This will result in reduced scalability and performance for all clients, including Windows 8.x and Windows 10. It is recommended that TLS 1.0 not be disabled on the DirectAccess server if at all possible.

When performing security hardening on the DirectAccess server it is not uncommon to disable weak cipher suites or insecure protocols such as SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0. However, after disabling SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 you will find that it is no longer possible generate reports. Clicking the Generate Report link in the Remote Access Management console returns no data.

In addition, the System event log indicates Schannel errors with Event ID 36871. The error message states that “A fatal error occurred while creating a TLS client credential. The internal error state is 10013.”

To resolve this issue and restore DirectAccess reporting functionality you must enable the use of FIPS compliant encryption algorithms on the DirectAccess server. This change can be made locally or via Active Directory group policy. Open the Group Policy Management Console (gpmc.msc) for Active Directory GPO, or the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) on the DirectAccess server and navigate to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options. Double-click System cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing and select Enabled.

If using Active Directory GPO, ensure that the GPO is applied all DirectAccess servers in the organization. A restart is not required for this setting to take effect. Once this change has been made, reporting should work as expected.

Additional Resources

DirectAccess IP-HTTPS SSL and TLS Insecure Cipher Suites
DirectAccess Video Training Courses on Pluralsight
Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016 Book on Amazon.com