Can't Map Drive over VPN to Win2K Server but can to desktops

Hi, Seems there are various threads on mapping drives over VPN but none
seem to answer this. I have set up a VPN to the network at my office
and can connect from home ok but I can't connect any drives to shares
on the Windows 2000 Domain controller. I can connect to shares on the
XP Pro desktops with no problem.

The Server is Win2k Small Business Server and is configured as the
domain controller running DHCP, DNS, Exchange, SQL Server, etc. The
network uses the 192.168.0.0 (255.255.255.0) range of addresses with
the first 20 reserved for fixed addresses. The desktops within the LAN
are XP Pro/Win2k Workstation and don't have any problems connecting
to shares on the server during normal network operation. The VPN is
using a D-Link DFL-700 Firewall/VPN which comes straight into the
network switch. The PC at home is running XP Pro and is using the
D-Link client software to connect. The PC is not in the domain and
connects to the internet using BT Broadband (U.K. ADSL). I have also
tried a 56k dial-up and get the same results.

After connecting with the VPN I can ping the desktops and the server
using both IP addresses and the host names (I set up the domain suffix
on the client connection). If I connect to shares on the XP Pro
desktops then I am prompted for a user id and password which connects
if entered ok. The problem is connecting to shares on the Win2K
Server. I just get the message 'network path not found'.

In simple terms, from home I can do 'net view xxxx' for the
desktops ok (although get the 'access denied' message as expected)
but for the server I get the 'network path not found' message.
(Strangely, I can do 'net view' to one of the Win2k Workstation
desktops and it gives me the list of shares without asking for a
user/pwd). I have tried using WINS on the server but that seems to
make no difference. NetBIOS is enabled on the clients. I've even
tried NetBEUI on the server. I am assuming the problem is in the
configuration of the NT Server as connecting to the XP Pro & Win2K
Workstation machines work. Reading various posts I think it has
something to do with WINS or NetBIOS but the fact is I can connect to
shares on the XP Pro machines without WINS. (All machines are fully
service packed).

Martini Murphy wrote:
> Hi, Seems there are various threads on mapping drives over VPN but
> none seem to answer this. I have set up a VPN to the network at my
> office and can connect from home ok but I can't connect any drives to
> shares on the Windows 2000 Domain controller. I can connect to
> shares on the XP Pro desktops with no problem.
>
> The Server is Win2k Small Business Server and is configured as the
> domain controller running DHCP, DNS, Exchange, SQL Server, etc. The
> network uses the 192.168.0.0 (255.255.255.0) range of addresses with
> the first 20 reserved for fixed addresses.

Fine, but remember that nobody on the other side of the VPN tunnel can be
using the same IP addressing scheme.

> iThe desktops within the
> LAN are XP Pro/Win2k Workstation and don't have any problems
> connecting
> to shares on the server during normal network operation. The VPN is
> using a D-Link DFL-700 Firewall/VPN which comes straight into the
> network switch. The PC at home is running XP Pro and is using the
> D-Link client software to connect. The PC is not in the domain and
> connects to the internet using BT Broadband (U.K. ADSL). I have also
> tried a 56k dial-up and get the same results.
>
> After connecting with the VPN I can ping the desktops and the server
> using both IP addresses and the host names (I set up the domain suffix
> on the client connection). If I connect to shares on the XP Pro
> desktops then I am prompted for a user id and password which connects
> if entered ok. The problem is connecting to shares on the Win2K
> Server. I just get the message 'network path not found'.
>
> In simple terms, from home I can do 'net view xxxx' for the
> desktops ok (although get the 'access denied' message as expected)
> but for the server I get the 'network path not found' message.
> (Strangely, I can do 'net view' to one of the Win2k Workstation
> desktops and it gives me the list of shares without asking for a
> user/pwd). I have tried using WINS on the server but that seems to
> make no difference.

Did you configure WINS properly? In your DHCP scope on the server, make sure
you also select hybrid node (0x8) and make sure the server also points at
itself for WINS. Then the VPN user should specify the WINS server private IP
in his/her ip config.

> NetBIOS is enabled on the clients.

Doesn't matter - it's broadcast, and won't go across the VPN tunnel

> I've even
> tried NetBEUI on the server.

No - and it won't help you either - not routable. Take it out.

I am assuming the problem is in the
> configuration of the NT Server as connecting to the XP Pro & Win2K
> Workstation machines work. Reading various posts I think it has
> something to do with WINS or NetBIOS but the fact is I can connect to
> shares on the XP Pro machines without WINS. (All machines are fully
> service packed).

Hi Lanwench, thanks for the reply:

Just a few comments:
- VPN Clients are using a different address scheme
- I think WINS is ok. As a test, I set up a static address in WINS as
an alias for the server and, from the VPN client, I can 'ping' with
the new name and it resolves the IP address of the server. When I do
a 'net view' of this alias I still get the same error 53 (network path
was not found).
- I added the WINS details to the DHCP scope. Not sure why though.
The internal LAN was working fine anyway without WINS and the VPN
clients don't get their details from DHCP. The server already points
to itself (proper IP address, not the loopback address) in WINS. I
aslo have DNS to forward unresolved names to WINS.

I've tried mapping drives from Explorer and from the command line,
both with host name & IP address.
In summary, I can map drives with no problem from the VPN client onto
shares on XP Pro & Win2k Workstation desktops but not the Win2K server
(which is the PDC). I can only guess that this points to a
configuration problem with the server maybe at an IP traffic level or
a security level as everything else works.

Solved with the help of the excellent Microsoft support guys. Thanks
Lanwrench for the reply.

The problem was the SMB protocol was not enabled on the Domain
Controller and so TCP port 445 was closed. This only seems to affect
VPN clients.

The solution was to set
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NetBT\Parameters\SMBDeviceEnabled
to 1

Martini Murphy wrote:
> Solved with the help of the excellent Microsoft support guys. Thanks
> Lanwrench for the reply.
>
> The problem was the SMB protocol was not enabled on the Domain
> Controller and so TCP port 445 was closed. This only seems to affect
> VPN clients.
>
> The solution was to set
>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\NetBT\Parameters\SMBDev
iceEnabled
> to 1

Great; glad to hear it. Thanks for posting back.