Always On VPN and the PSPKI PowerShell Module

Certificates are a crucial part of a secure Always On VPN implementation. Certificates are phishing-resistant forms of authentication that, when configured correctly, provide robust and multifactor authentication for remote access users and devices.

AD CS

Most commonly, certificates are issued by an on-premises Microsoft Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) server. Administrators configure and deploy a Certification Authority infrastructure to issue and manage user and device authentication certificates in their organization. CA certificates are also required on the VPN server to support Always On VPN device tunnel connections and IKEv2 user tunnel connections. The NPS server also requires an enterprise CA certificate. Of course, the CA can issue certificates for other purposes, including Wi-Fi authentication, document signing, and code signing, just to name a few.

PSPKI

PSPKI is a PowerShell module available in the PowerShell Gallery for configuring, managing, and troubleshooting Microsoft AD CS. Created by Vadims Podans of PKI Solutions, PSPKI includes over 100 functions for various AD CS and certificate-related tasks. Always On VPN administrators will find this PowerShell module helpful when configuring and troubleshooting certificate-related issues for their Always On VPN deployments.

Note: The AD CS remote server administration tools (RSAT) must be installed to access all of the PSPKI module’s functionality.

Installation

Run the following PowerShell command to install the PSPKI PowerShell module.

Install-Module -Name PSPKI

Always On VPN and PSPKI

Always On VPN Administrators will immediately find a few PSPKI functions helpful when implementing and supporting Always On VPN.

Test-WebServerSSL – This function will connect to a remote web server and display details about the TLS certificate included in the response. This can be especially helpful when troubleshooting SSTP VPN connections.

Convert-PfxToPem – This is a handy utility for converting a PFX file to the PEM format. This is commonly required when importing CA certificates on non-Microsoft platforms, security devices, and load balancers.

Convert-PemToPfx – Occasionally, administrators must convert a certificate and private key in PEM format to PFX to install on a Windows server. This tool allows administrators to perform this task easily.

Get-CertificationAuthority – This function quickly enumerates all enterprise CA servers and displays information about their hostname, accessibility, service status, and type.

Ping-ICertInterface – This function helps troubleshoot CA connectivity issues. Administrators can quickly determine if a CA is reachable and capable of issuing a certificate using this command.

Get-CaTemplate – This command displays a list of certificate templates published on the specified target CA server. The certificate template’s display name and the minimum support CA version are provided. In addition, the output indicates if certificate autoenrollment is enabled on the template.

Much More

The PSPKI PowerShell module for AD CS has many tools for configuring and managing AD CS. PSPKI recently received a major update to version 4.0. Download and install PSPKI today. It will make your life easier, I can assure you!

Additional Information

PSPKI PowerShell Module – PowerShell Gallery

PSPKI PowerShell Module – GitHub

AOVPNTools PowerShell Module – PowerShell Gallery

AOVPNTools PowerShell Module – GitHub

InboxAccountingDatabaseManagement PowerShell Module

InboxAccontingDatabaseManagement – PowerShell Gallery

InboxAccountingDatabaseManagement – GitHub

Always On VPN Authentication Failure with Azure Conditional Access

Always On VPN Clients Prompted for Authentication when Accessing Internal Resources

Integrating Microsoft Azure Conditional Access with Windows 10 Always On VPN has several important benefits. The most important is that it allows administrators to improve their security posture by enforcing access polices that can be dynamically applied. For example, requiring multifactor authentication (MFA) for privileged users (e.g., administrators) or sign-ins that appear to be risky, the type of device they are connecting with, the health of the endpoint, and much more.

Authentication Failure

When configuring Always On VPN to support Azure Conditional Access, administrators may expeirence a failed authentication during preliminary testing. Specifically, an event ID 20227 from the RasClient source may be encountered with the following error message.

“The user <username> dialed a connection named <connection name> which has failed. The error code returned on failure is 812.”

Looking at the event logs on the Network Policy Server (NPS) server reveals an event ID 6273 from the Microsoft Windows security auditing source with Reason Code 258 and the following Reason.

“The revocation function was unable to check revocation for the certificate.”

Root Cause

When Azure Conditional Access is configured for Always On VPN, a short-lived certificate (1 hour lifetime) is provisioned by Azure. This certificate does not include revocation information because, by design, a short-lived certificate does not need to be revoked. However, by default NPS always checks revocation when client authentication certificates are used for authentication. Since the certificate does not include this information, certificate revocation fails.

Resolution

The way to resolve this issue is to disable certificate revocation checking for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) authentication requests. To do this, open an elevated PowerShell window on the NPS server and run the following command.

New-ItemProperty -Path ‘HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\PPP\EAP\13\’ -Name IgnoreNoRevocationCheck -PropertyType DWORD -Value 1 -Force

Once complete, restart the NPS server for the changes to take effect.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Network Policy Server (NPS) Load Balancing

Windows 10 Always On VPN Network Policy Server (NPS) Server 2019 Bug

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token ErrorConfiguring Multifactor Authentication (MFA) is an excellent way to ensure the highest level of assurance for Always On VPN users. Azure MFA is widely deployed and commonly integrated with Windows Server Network Policy Server (NPS) using the NPS Extension for Azure MFA. Azure MFA has a unique advantage over many other MFA providers in that it supports MFA when using Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP). This makes Azure MFA the solution of choice for integrating with Windows 10 Always On VPN deployments using client certificate authentication, a recommended security configuration best practice.

NPS Configuration

Installing and configuring the NPS extension for Azure MFA is straightforward. Configuration guidance from Microsoft can be found here.

Connection Issues

After installing the NPS extension for Azure MFA, administrators may find that Always On VPN connections fail and the user is never challenged for authentication. The connection eventually times out and returns the following error message.

“A connection to the remote computer could not be established, so the port used for this connection was closed.”

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

In addition, the Application event log on the Windows 10 client contains an Event ID 20221 from the RasClient source that includes the following error message.

“The user [username] dialed a connection named [connection] which has failed. The error code returned on failure is 0.”

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

NPS Event Log

Reviewing the event logs on the NPS server reveals more information. The Security event log contains an Event ID 6274 from the Microsoft Windows security auditing source that includes the following error message.

“Network Policy Server discarded the request for a user. Contact the Network Policy Administrator for more information.”

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

ESTS Token Error

Digging deeper in the operational event log on the NPS server, the AuthZAdminCh log (Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > AzureMfa > AuthZ) contains an Event ID 3 from the AuthZ source indicating an ESTS_TOKEN_ERROR message.

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

Troubleshooting ESTS Token Error

Follow the steps below to troubleshoot the ESTS_TOKEN_ERROR.

Prerequisites

Ensure that all prerequisites are met. Validate the user is being synced to Azure Active Directory and that it is properly licensed for Azure MFA.

Certificates

As part of the NPS extension configuration, a certificate is created on the NPS server that is uploaded to Azure Active Directory. To validate the certificate was created and uploaded correctly, follow the troubleshooting guidance found here.

Enterprise Applications

The Azure Multi-Factor Auth Client and the Azure Multi-Factor Auth Connector enterprise applications must be enabled to support the NPS extension for Azure MFA. To confirm they are enabled, open an elevated PowerShell command window on the server where the Azure AD Connector is installed and run the following PowerShell commands.

Import-Module MSOnline
Connect-MsolService

Get-MsolServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalId “981f26a1-7f43-403b-a875-f8b09b8cd720” | Select-Object DisplayName, AccountEnabled

Get-MsolServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalId “1f5530b3-261a-47a9-b357-ded261e17918” | Select-Object DisplayName, AccountEnabled

Always On VPN and Azure MFA ESTS Token Error

If either or both enterprise applications are not enabled, enable them using the following PowerShell commands.

Set-MsolServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalId “981f26a1-7f43-403b-a875-f8b09b8cd720” -AccountEnabled $True

Set-MsolServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalId “1f5530b3-261a-47a9-b357-ded261e17918” -AccountEnabled $True

Once complete, restart the IAS service on the NPS server using the following PowerShell command.

Restart-Service IAS -PassThru

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Network Policy Server (NPS) Load Balancing Strategies

Deploy Windows 10 Always On VPN with Microsoft Intune

Windows 10 Always On VPN Hands-On Training Classes Now Available