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Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NAT

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NATOver the last few weeks, I’ve worked with numerous organizations and individuals troubleshooting connectivity and performance issues associated with Windows 10 Always On VPN, and specifically connections using the Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) VPN protocol. An issue that appears with some regularity is when Windows 10 clients fail to connect with error 809. In this scenario, the server will accept connections without issue for a period of time and then suddenly stop accepting requests. When this happens, existing connections continue to work without issue in most cases. Frequently this occurs with Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) servers configured in a clustered array behind an External Load Balancer (ELB).

Network Address Translation

It is not uncommon to use Network Address Translation (NAT) when configuring Always On VPN. In fact, for most deployments the public IP address for the VPN server resides not on the VPN server, but on an edge firewall or load balancer connected directly to the Internet. The firewall/load balancer is then configured to translate the destination address to the private IP address assigned to the VPN server in the perimeter/DMZ or the internal network. This is known a Destination NAT (DNAT). Using this configuration, the client’s original source IP address is left intact. This configuration presents no issues for Always On VPN.

Source Address Translation

When troubleshooting these issues, the common denominator seems to be the use of Full NAT, which includes translating the source address in addition to the destination. This results in VPN client requests arriving at the VPN server as appearing not to come from the client’s original IP address, but the IP address of the network device (firewall or load balancer) that is translating the request. Full NAT may be explicitly configured by an administrator, or in the case of many load balancers, configured implicitly because the load balancer is effectively proxying the connection.

Known Issues

IKEv2 VPN connections use IPsec for encryption, and by default, Windows limits the number of IPsec Security Associations (SAs) coming from a single IP address. When a NAT device is performing destination/full NAT, the VPN server sees all inbound IKEv2 VPN requests as coming from the same IP address. When this happens, clients connecting using IKEv2 may fail to connect, most commonly when the server is under moderate to heavy load.

Resolution

The way to resolve this issue is to ensure that any load balancers or NAT devices are not translating the source address but are performing destination NAT only. The following is configuration guidance for F5, Citrix ADC (formerly NetScaler), and Kemp load balancers.

F5

On the F5 BIG-IP load balancer, navigate to the Properties > Configuration page of the IKEv2 UDP 500 virtual server and choose None from the Source Address Translation drop-down list. Repeat this step for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 virtual server.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NAT

Citrix ADC

On the Citrix ADC load balancer, navigate to System > Settings > Configure Modes and check the option to Use Subnet IP.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NAT

Next, navigate to Traffic Management > Load Balancing > Service Groups and select the IKEv2 UDP 500 service group. In the Settings section click edit and select Use Client IP. Repeat these steps for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 service group.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NAT

Kemp

On the Kemp LoadMaster load balancer, navigate to Virtual Services > View/Modify Services and click Modify on the IKEv2 UDP 500 virtual service. Expand Standard Options and select Transparency. Repeat this step for the IKEv2 UDP 4500 virtual service.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing and NAT

Caveat

Making the changes above may introduce routing issues in your environment. When configuring these settings, it may be necessary to configure the VPN server’s default gateway to use the load balancer to ensure proper routing. If this is not possible, consider implementing the workaround below.

Workaround

To fully resolve this issue the above changes should be made to ensure the VPN server can see the client’s original source IP address. If that’s not possible for any reason, the following registry key can be configured to increase the number of established SAs from a single IP address. Be advised this is only a partial workaround and may not fully eliminate failed IKEv2 connections. There are other settings in Windows that can prevent multiple connections from a single IP address which are not adjustable at this time.

To implement this registry change, open an elevated PowerShell command window on the RRAS server and run the following commands. Repeat these commands on all RRAS servers in the organization.

New-ItemProperty -Path ‘HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\IKEEXT\Parameters\’ -Name IkeNumEstablishedForInitialQuery -PropertyType DWORD -Value 50000 -Force

Restart-Service IKEEXT -Force -PassThru

Additional Information

IPsec Traffic May Be Blocked When A Computer is Behind a Load Balancer

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with Citrix NetScaler ADC

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with F5 BIG-IP

Windows 10 Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with Kemp LoadMaster

77 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on April 13, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in ADC, Always On VPN, AOVPN, application delivery controller, BIG-IP, Citrix ADC, device tunnel, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, F5, High Availability, IKEv2, Kemp, Load Balancing, LoadMaster, local traffic manager, LTM, Mobility, Netscaler, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, user tunnel, VPN, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on April 13, 2020

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2020/04/13/always-on-vpn-ikev2-load-balancing-and-nat/

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMasterInternet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) is an IPsec-based VPN protocol with configurable security parameters that allows administrators to ensure the highest level of security for Windows 10 Always On VPN clients. It is the protocol of choice for deployments that require the best possible protection for communication between remote clients and the VPN server. IKEv2 has some unique requirements when it comes to load balancing, however. Because it uses UDP on multiple ports, configuring the load balancer requires some additional steps for proper operation. This article demonstrates how to enable IKEv2 load balancing using the Kemp LoadMaster load balancer.

IKEv2 and NAT

IKEv2 VPN security associations (SAs) begin with a connection to the VPN server that uses UDP port 500. During this initial exchange, if it is determined that the client, server, or both are behind a device performing Network Address Translation (NAT), the connection switches to UDP port 4500 and the connection establishment process continues.

IKEv2 Load Balancing Challenges

Since UDP is connectionless, there’s no guarantee that when the conversation switches from UDP 500 to UDP 4500 that the load balancer will forward the request to the same VPN server on the back end. If the load balancer forwards the UDP 500 session from a VPN client to one real server, then forwards the UDP 4500 session to a different VPN server, the connection will fail. The load balancer must be configured to ensure that both UDP 500 and 4500 from the same VPN client are always forwarded to the same real server to ensure proper operation.

Port Following

To meet this unique requirement for IKEv2 load balancing, it is necessary to use a feature on the KEMP LoadMaster load balancer called “port following”. Enabling this feature will ensure that a VPN client using IKEv2 will always have their UDP 500 and 4500 sessions forwarded to the same real server.

Load Balancing IKEv2

Open the web-based management console and perform the following steps to enable load balancing of IKEv2 traffic on the KEMP LoadMaster load balancer.

Create the Virtual Server

  1. Expand Virtual Services.
  2. Click Add New.
  3. Enter the IP address to be used by the virtual server in the Virtual Address field.
  4. Enter 500 in the Port field.
  5. Select UDP from the Protocol drop-down list.
  6. Click Add this Virtual Service.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Add Real Servers

  1. Expand Real Servers.
  2. Click Add New.
  3. Enter the IP address of the VPN server in the Real Server Address field.
  4. Click Add This Real Server.
  5. Repeat the steps above for each VPN server in the cluster.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Repeat all the steps above to create another virtual server using UDP port 4500.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Enable Layer 7 Operation

  1. Click View/Modify Services below Virtual Services in the navigation tree.
  2. Select the first virtual server and click Modify.
  3. Expand Standard Options.
  4. Uncheck Force L4.
  5. Check Transparency (additional configuration may be required – details here).
  6. Select Source IP Address from the Persistence Options drop-down list.
  7. Choose an appropriate value from the Timeout drop-down list.
  8. Choose an appropriate setting from the Scheduling Method drop-down list.
  9. Click Back.
  10. Repeat these steps on the second virtual server.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Enable Port Following

  1. Click View/Modify Services below Virtual Services in the navigation tree.
  2. Select the first virtual server and click Modify.
  3. Expand Advanced Properties.
  4. Select the virtual server using UDP 500 from the Port Following drop-down list.
  5. Click Back.
  6. Repeat these steps on the second virtual server.

Always On VPN IKEv2 Load Balancing with KEMP LoadMaster

Demonstration Video

The following video demonstrates how to enable IKEv2 load balancing for Windows 10 Always On VPN using the KEMP LoadMaster Load Balancer.

Summary

With the KEMP LoadMaster load balancer configured to use port following, Windows 10 Always On VPN clients using IKEv2 will be assured that their connections will always be delivered to the same back end VPN server, resulting in reliable load balancing for IKEv2 connections.

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN Certificate Requirements for IKEv2

Windows 10 Always On VPN Protocol Recommendations for Windows Server RRAS

43 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on September 17, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in ADC, Always On VPN, AOVPN, application delivery controller, device tunnel, Enterprise, enterprise mobility, IKEv2, Kemp, Load Balancing, LoadMaster, Mobility, Operational Support, Remote Access, routing and remote access service, RRAS, user tunnel, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on September 17, 2018

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2018/09/17/always-on-vpn-ikev2-load-balancing-with-kemp-loadmaster/