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Always On VPN Device Tunnel Issues with April 2024 Security Update

Always On VPN administrators may find that their device tunnel connections no longer connect automatically after applying the April 2024 security updates. The device tunnel connection is optional and only required under specific conditions, so end users may not be immediately impacted. However, administrators should be aware of this issue.

Note: The issues outlined in this post have been resolved with the May 14, 2024, security updates.

Error Messages

When manually establishing an Always On VPN device tunnel connection using rapshone.exe or rasdial.exe, you may receive one of the following error messages.

Rasphone.exe

Error 0x80070057: The parameter is incorrect.

Rasdial.exe

Connecting to <Name of Device Tunnel>…The parameter is incorrect.

Affected Devices

The issue affects all supported versions of Windows with an Always On VPN device tunnel connection configured to require a specific Enhanced Key Usage (EKU) OID. Administrators can run the following PowerShell command to identify this configuration.

Get-VpnConnection -AllUserConnection -Name <Name of Device Tunnel> | Select-Object MachineCertificateEkuFilter

If the output of this PowerShell command returns data, it is affected by this issue.

Workaround

To restore Always On VPN device tunnel functionality on devices with the April 2024 security updates installed, open an elevated PowerShell command window and run the following command.

Set-VpnConnection -AllUserConnection -Name ‘Always On VPN Device Tunnel’ -MachineCertificateEKUFilter $Null

After running this command, the output should now be blank.

Caveat

The problem with implementing the workaround described here is that you likely enabled this configuration to address an issue where the wrong certificate was selected for use with the device tunnel. In this case, the workaround may result in unexpected behavior and may not restore full functionality.

Known Issue Rollback

Currently, Microsoft is aware of the issue and is actively working to resolve it. If you are experiencing this issue, open a support case with Microsoft, and they will provide you with more information and possibly a private Known Issue Rollback (KIR). I will update this post as soon as Microsoft publishes a permanent fix.

Additional Information

Always On VPN Device Tunnel Operation and Best Practices

Always On VPN Device Tunnel Only Deployment Considerations

Considerations for Always On VPN with Azure VPN Gateway and Virtual WAN

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by Richard M. Hicks on April 23, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in Always On VPN, AOVPN, Certificate Authentication, certificates, device tunnel, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, IKEv2, Microsoft, Mobility, Operational Support, PowerShell, Remote Access, Security, Security Update, troubleshooting, Update, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 23, 2024

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2024/04/23/always-on-vpn-device-tunnel-issues-with-april-2024-security-update/

When Always On VPN Isn’t

Microsoft Always On VPN is a beautiful thing. VPN profiles are assigned to the user (and, optionally, their device). When users power up their device and log on, they are automatically connected to the corporate network and can access all the applications and data they need on-premises. Until recently, though, end users could disconnect the VPN. Why they would do this is beyond comprehension, but sadly, it happens all too often. When it does, it presents a problem for Always On VPN administrators because they must now rely on the user to re-enable this feature. And until they do, they often suffer productivity loss, and their devices may fall out of compliance.

Connect Automatically

When an Always On VPN profile is provisioned to a user (or a device), the VPN profile has the option to ‘Connect automatically’ enabled by default. Unfortunately, this setting is cleared if a user terminates the VPN.

This setting will remain cleared until the user rechecks the box to enable it. Until then, the VPN will no longer connect automatically.

Workarounds

Instead of relying on the grace of the end user to restore Always On functionality, administrators have a few options to correct this problem programmatically.

Intune Remediation

Administrators can use Intune Remediations to deploy a set of detection and remediation scripts I’ve published to update this setting. Now, administrators can enforce ‘Always On’ VPN connections with the assurance that if the user turns off this feature, it will be quickly re-enabled.

Detect-AutoTriggerDisabledProfile.ps1

Remediate-AutoTriggerDisabledProfile.ps1

SCCM

You can find a standalone version of this script here if you use System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) or another systems management solution to manage your endpoints.

Clear-AutoTriggerDisabledProfile.ps1

AovpnTools

In addition, you will find the Clear-AutoTriggerDisabledProfile function is included in my AOVPNTools PowerShell module, which can be installed from the PowerShell gallery.

Install-Module -Name AOVPNTools -Force

Disable Disconnect Button

To avoid this pain in the future, Always On VPN administrators can prevent users from disconnecting the VPN using the UI by leveraging the DisableDisconnectButton option in ProfileXML. This setting is supported for both user and device tunnels on Windows 11 and later devices.

Additional Information

AOVPNTools PowerShell Module

AOVPNTools PowerShell Module on GitHub

Always On VPN and Intune Remediations

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by Richard M. Hicks on January 15, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, Compliance, Deployment, Device Management, device tunnel, Endpoint Manager, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, GitHub, InTune, MDM, MEM, MEMCM, Microsoft, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Microsoft Intune, Mobile Device Management, Mobility, Operational Support, PowerShell, ProfileXML, Remote Access, SCCM, Security, System Center Configuration Manager, systems management, troubleshooting, user tunnel, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11, XML
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on January 15, 2024

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2024/01/15/when-always-on-vpn-isnt/

10 PowerShell Commands Always On VPN Administrators Should Know

Managing a secure and reliable VPN infrastructure is critical for supporting today’s highly mobile workforce. For Always On VPN administrators, PowerShell is an indispensable tool for achieving this goal. Not only can PowerShell be used to automate the installation and configuration of Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) server, but it can also be used to audit configuration and monitor system health and user activity as well. In addition, it is highly recommended that the RRAS role be installed on Server Core for optimum security and performance. Administrators must be familiar with these PowerShell commands and more to support RRAS on Windows Server Core in their environment.

RemoteAccess Module

The RemoteAccess PowerShell module should be installed when the RRAS server is configured. There are 122 commands in this module, but only a subset of those pertain to the VPN server role. Here are ten popular commands for monitoring and managing an Always On VPN RRAS server.

Configuration Review

The following PowerShell commands are useful for reviewing the current RRAS server configuration.

Get-RemoteAccess – Displays the current configuration of the VPN server. Details include installation status, TLS certificate configuration, VPN client IP address assignment method, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing information (if using the static address assignment method), authentication type, and configured RADIUS servers.

Get-VpnAuthProtocol – Displays authentication configuration details such as accepted authentication types for both user and device connections, root certification authority (CA) certificate restrictions (if enabled), and certificate advertisement and EKU restrictions if enabled.

Get-VpnServerConfiguration – Displays additional VPN server configuration information, such as the IPsec configuration for IKEv2, the number of VPN ports configured, and more.

System Health

Get-RemoteAccessHealth – Displays the current health status of various VPN server services. The command’s default output is a little noisy. I recommend filtering it as follows:

Get-RemoteAccessHealth | Where-Object HealthState -NotMatch Disabled | Format-Table -AutoSize

User Activity

The following PowerShell commands can be used to view current and historical user activity details.

Get-RemoteAccessConnectionStatistics – Displays all active VPN connections on the server.

Get-RemoteAccessConnectionStatisticsSummary – Displays cumulative information about VPN connections on the server since the last service restart or reboot, such as the total number of connections, the number of unique users, the maximum number of concurrent connections, and the amount of data transferred.

Get-RemoteAccessUserActivity – Displays all active VPN connections for a specific user or device.

Management

The following PowerShell commands are helpful for reviewing authentication and logging settings.

Get-RemoteAccessRadius – Allows the administrator to view the currently configured RADIUS servers on the VPN server.

Get-RemoteAccessAccounting – Allows the administrator to view the current accounting repository (RADIUS or inbox) on the VPN server.

Clear-RemoteAccessInboxAccountingStore – Allows the administrator to remove log data from the Inbox Accounting database. Removing log data from the database can be helpful when transitioning a test server to production or to free up disk space by reducing the size of the logging database.

Additional Modules

In addition to the PowerShell commands above, Always On VPN administrators can leverage my custom PowerShell modules for advanced server and client configuration. These modules are published in the PowerShell Gallery.

AovpnTools – PowerShell module to configure and optimize Windows RRAS servers to support Always On VPN.

Install-Module -Name AovpnTools

InboxAccountingDatabaseManagement – PowerShell module to configure and manage the Inbox Accounting database for logging system information and user activity on the VPN server.

Install-Module -Name InboxAccountingDatabaseManagement

Additional Information

Always On VPN and RRAS on Windows Server Core

Inbox Accounting Database Management

AovpnTools PowerShell Module on GitHub

Inbox Accounting Database Module on GitHub

2 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on November 2, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in administration, Always On VPN, AOVPN, Deployment, Device Management, device tunnel, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, Mobility, Operational Support, PowerShell, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, Security, Server Core, systems management, troubleshooting, VPN, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on November 2, 2023

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2023/11/02/10-powershell-commands-always-on-vpn-administrators-should-know/

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