Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Needing EXPERTS! - OpenVPN (tun) Routing - Access PCs over Hostnames not IPs

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
    20 Posts 2 Posters 14.0k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • Cry HavokC
      Cry Havok
      last edited by

      1. Your Samba server can be a WINS server, if you configure it to be one
      2. If you can ping things then there isn't a lack of routers
      3. See (1)
      4. You don't need that

      Do you have entries in DNS for all hosts? If so ensure you push your DNS server and the correct search domain.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • O
        onkeldave83
        last edited by

        yeah havok - good morning,

        first point you mean….ok

        hmm where can i get the search-domain?
        (/etc/resolv.conf ?)
        in smb.conf i find:

        • workgroupname:DAV
        • domain-master, local master and preferred master server is that.
        • wins support = yes
        • name resolve order = wins lmhosts host bcast

        dns? our dns is our router :) or you want that i configured that lmhosts file with all computers?

        can you little bit helping me please

        thanks dave

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Cry HavokC
          Cry Havok
          last edited by

          Do you have a local DNS domain, or do you use WINS for everything? For any modern version of Windows (XP onwards) you should be using DNS if you can.

          If you're using WINS then you must push the WINS server address (which is your Samba server) in the OpenVPN settings. After that everything should just work - assuming you're using WINS everywhere.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • O
            onkeldave83
            last edited by

            we have a local dns domain - name: DAV
            you can login under domain DAV
            but we have besides a workgroup with same name.
            the pdc is the samba pdc server

            to dns:

            can i not push the dns router adress for name resolution?

            when not - i configure the pdc samba to wins

            thanks for help

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Cry HavokC
              Cry Havok
              last edited by

              Mixing an Active Directory domain and a workgroup with the same name is asking for trouble, to put it mildly. This may be part of your problem.

              Yes, you can push the DNS server for name resolution, just ensure you push the internal DNS domain too (either as part of the search path or the actual domain).

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • O
                onkeldave83
                last edited by

                hmm ok.

                how i can get or find the local dns domain of the router?

                @ home: i have a speeport router and there is it speedport.ip
                and dns adress is the router

                but here we have a linksys
                i cant find a domain name

                thanks for help

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Cry HavokC
                  Cry Havok
                  last edited by

                  Not the router, the DNS domain for your active directory domain.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • O
                    onkeldave83
                    last edited by

                    can i not install the dns package for pfsense and my ping over hostname problem is finito?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Cry HavokC
                      Cry Havok
                      last edited by

                      Ok, do you actually have an active Windows Domain or Active Directory? What device is acting as your Domain Controller?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • O
                        onkeldave83
                        last edited by

                        hello,
                        we have an active windows domain, i think!
                        a pdc samba debian server.
                        twelve clients (meber of domain) can connect over this server into domain.

                        but what is with the dns tool for pfsense?
                        is tinydns easy to use over gui in pfsense 2.0 beta 5 ?

                        i think, when the tinydns is a solution, i would kill and reconfigure the pdc samba debian server ;)

                        when not - i take debian to resolve the vpn and local hostnames over a wins server solution.
                        (little bit reconfigure the smb.conf)

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Cry HavokC
                          Cry Havok
                          last edited by

                          Stop over complicating things. You're just going to cause yourself pointless work and make the situation more confusing.

                          In the OpenVPN configuration on pfSense start by pushing the IP of the Samba server as the WINS server. As you're using Samba as a PDC then you're using a Windows NT domain, not Active Directory. That means that WINS is probably your primary name resolution service for the local network.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • O
                            onkeldave83
                            last edited by

                            ok i test it!
                            thanks

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • O
                              onkeldave83
                              last edited by

                              hmm when i push the pdc as wins server in openvpn config, i cant ping over vpn with hostnames :(
                              every host is registered in /etc/hosts

                              what is wrong?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Cry HavokC
                                Cry Havok
                                last edited by

                                /etc/hosts where - on the PDC or the client?

                                Are the client computers configured to use WINS for name resolution? What version of Windows are they running?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • O
                                  onkeldave83
                                  last edited by

                                  hello cry havok,

                                  on the pdc the /etc/hosts!

                                  the clients aren't configure to use wins for name resolution, i have for testing configured my pc to use the wins for name-resolution.
                                  but i can also ping with hostnames without wins entry on my machine ;)

                                  we use only windows xp 32 and 64 bit machines

                                  thanks

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Cry HavokC
                                    Cry Havok
                                    last edited by

                                    WINS is a broadcast protocol - you don't need to populate /etc/hosts on the PDC and I'm not sure the doing so will achieve anything.

                                    If you don't configure the client to use WINS how on earth do you expect WINS to work? Try doing that, and ensuring that when connected to the VPN a WINS server is defined (the output of ipconfig/all on a client should help you identify that).

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • O
                                      onkeldave83
                                      last edited by

                                      ok you are right!

                                      i have modified one hostname from pdc's /etc/hosts from rails to railsbitch
                                      AND I CAN PING IT! PORNO ;)

                                      ok i have to configured all clients in local network to use wins yes?

                                      and then i can ping everyone in local network over vpn?! right?

                                      thanks a lot forward havok

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • Cry HavokC
                                        Cry Havok
                                        last edited by

                                        And the remote devices need to be using WINS too - they need to have it enabled on the OpenVPN adapter and have the setting pushed to them by the OpenVPN server.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • O
                                          onkeldave83
                                          last edited by

                                          yes i pushed the wins server throw the tunnel to vpn-clients.
                                          i test it tonight thanks for tipps havok

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.