Tag Archives: “Windows Vista”

FireBox, Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS 2011, Small Business Server 2008, Small Business Server 2011, SSL VPN, Watchguard, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, XTM

Watchguard – SSL VPN clients cannot resolve internal host names despite DNS servers being configured for the connection

You may find that when you configure your Watchguard XTM Firewall to accept SSL VPN connections that clients can connect to

the VPN and ping IP addresses of internal resources, however you cannot resolve internal hosts even via FQDN using DNS.  You

may also find that when you run NSLOOKUP on the SSL VPN connected client that the  result is your Internet Service Providers

DNS servers rather than the DNS servers assigned via the VPN connection.

 

To resolve the issue you can change your SSL VPN configuration from a “Routed VPN” to a “Bridge VPN”, the routed VPN uses a

virtual IP address pool (192.168.113.0/24) which does not match your internal IP range or the address range of the internal

DNS Servers.  When a Windows client connects to the “Routed VPN” it appears that due to the DNS server mismatch they are not

utilised by the client.

 

When you configure the VPN in “Bridge VPN” mode you can work around this issue, the Bridge VPN configuration allows you to

exclude some addresses from your Windows DHCP Server Pool and add the into them “Start” and “End” IP addresses on your

Watchguard SSL VPN Configuration Page. The Watchguard will now become responsible for assigning these internal IPs to VPN

clients as they connect rather than the Windows DHCP Server.

 

You should now find that when your SSL VPN clients connect that they are assigned an IP address and DNS server that are all

within the existing internal IP range of your network.  An NSLOOKUP should now return your internal DNS server address and

you should be able to ping hostnames and FQDNs that reside within your internal network.

 

Examples:

ping windowsserver

ping windowsserver.exampledomain.local

 

Please remember that the only down side with this configuration is that a “Bridge VPN” bridges to the “Trusted” interface,

this means that the client computer can access any internal resources that they have permissions for by default. A “Routed

VPN” allows you to offer traffic to Optional/secondary networks and gives you more control by letting you lock down access

using “Specify allowed resources”.

Command Prompt, Microsoft, SBS 2008, Small Business Server 2008, Windows, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista – SP1 or SP2 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 – SP1 or SP2 – How to Easily Free Up Some Disk Space

Have you started to notice that C drive is getting a little full or do you just want to have a spring clean, well you may not realise it but when you installed Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 onto your Windows Vista or Windows 2008 Server that Microsoft very sensibly backed up all the old system file before replacing them with new ones.

Assuming that you have had Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 installed for sometime without issue it may be good to know that you might be able to reclaim some disk space by dumping these obsolete system files.

Simply launch an elevated Command Prompt by right clicking “Command Prompt” and selecting “Run as administrator”.  Once you are in a command prompt simply paste in the following according to the Service Pack you are currently running:

Service Pack 1 you need to paste: VSP1CLN.EXE

Service Pack 2 you need to paste: Compcln.exe

Be patient with these commands they will need time to enumerate a large number of files and could take up to 60 minutes to complete.  Once finished I would recommend a reboot.

With these commands we are telling the operating system to remove any of the superseded service pack files.  If you do not have any files to remove it might be because someone else has already removed them or your computer/server may have already come with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 pre-installed/integrated.

HP, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

Poor Computer Performance due to Windows Power Management Settings

In an effort to be more “Green” you will often find that your shiny new computer, laptop or server have Power Management already set to “Balanced” or “Power Saver”.  This can be very useful for cutting your energy bills and saving the planet but sometimes you just get the need for speed.

It’s easy to check your current “Power Plan” in Microsoft Windows Vista, 7, Server 2008 or Server 2008 R2.  Simply click on the Windows Start Menu or Orb if you are using the Aero theme and then select “Control Panel”.  Once in “Control Panel” you can either find it under it’s category “Hardware and Sound” then “Power Options” or if you are in classic control panel mode then you will just need to click “Power Options”.

Once in Power Options you will usually only be presented with three options to choose from, most will find “High Performance” the best option if they want to avoid the occasional slowdowns that power management can introduce.  You will also find that on a laptop the screen brightness is usually increased in this mode and the laptop is not going to keep going to sleep if you walk away from your desk for a few minutes.

If you favour a nice balance between the two then your next best option is “Balanced”.

The “Power Saver” Plan which is the third option is really just for laptop users in my opinion, it’s great for a long flight or train ride where you just need to get some basic Word Documents typed up or reviewed.