[Openvpn-users] Time for a FAQ? Windows Networking, Bridging, Etc

[John Locke <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I see lots of posts in the group about these issues, and have spent days 
reading through, but still haven't figured out the best way to do this. 
I'm trying to set up OpenVPN for a small network, and make client 
configuration as easy as possible for all concerned.

1. How do I get a bridged connection to get an address from a DHCP 
server on the other side?

I've read through the list, and seen some posts indicating there were 
problems with this, and recommending against it--why?

Here's my basic configuration:

WinXP client, tap interface, connecting to remote network.

Remote network has the UDP port forwarded through the firewall to a Red 
Hat box that's the other end of the tunnel. The red hat box is also 
running ISC DHCPD, Bind, and Samba, with an internal TLD set up. I need 
the remote clients to be able to use DNS to get to a bunch of different 
virtual hosts on other web servers on the LAN. I also need Windows file 
sharing to work over the connection.

I can get the tunnel up, manually enter the DNS address, and see all the 
virtual web sites from the remote Windows box, but I'd like to have the 
dhcp server assign the DNS settings to the Windows box.

I've tried all sorts of --ifconfig options on both ends of the tunnel: 
on the LAN subnet, on a different subnet, no --ifconfig settings at all, 
etc.

I've found that it doesn't matter what --ifconfig setting I use on the 
Red Hat end (the bridged side), as long as it's different than the 
Windows --ifconfig setting. It can be unset, or on a different subnet, 
doesn't seem to make a difference. On the other hand, the Windows box 
only connects successfully if I set an --ifconfig option to a valid, 
unused address on the LAN subnet. How do I get this to accept the DHCP 
settings?


2. If I don't use DHCP over the bridged connection, how can I script the 
set up for the DNS and WINS server on a Windows box?

I'm deploying this for a small company, and many of the remote users are 
not very technical. I'd like to be able to have them run the installer, 
copy their key and configuration, and start it up from the configuration 
file. Does anyone have a good way of programmatically setting up the 
WINS/ DNS server settings on a Windows box? Or is there a configuration 
option I've overlooked?

3. What's the recommended way to stop the tunnel on the Windows box? 
I've been just closing the command window. I don't want to set it up as 
a service--is there a way to get it to run on demand without the command 
window, and if so, how do you stop it? Again, this is mainly for my 
non-technical users, I'm sure I'm going to get asked about it.

4. Completely different client question: Connecting to the same Red Hat 
server on the same LAN from a Linux box. My Linux box connects, and 
everything is working flawlessly. Except that when my local connection 
renews its DHCP settings, it deletes the nameserver I added to 
/etc/resolv.conf, and names stop resolving on the remote network. 
Anybody have a suggestion for dealing with this?

Thanks for your help. I'm really liking the looks of this--and the first 
connection I made, I couldn't believe how quick it was, tunneling 
through two slower DSL connections across the Internet...

Cheers,
--
John Locke
Open Source solutions for small business problems
http://freelock.com

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