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Tunnel Netmask must be /31?

OpenVPN
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  • N
    neik
    last edited by Feb 12, 2013, 11:59 PM Feb 12, 2013, 6:25 PM

    I had trouble getting a site-to-site PKI connection working. I used a tunnel network of 10.0.0.0/24 (a slight variation of the recommended numbering 10.0.8.0/24).

    In this configuration only the client pfsense itself was able to ping hosts on the remote (server) network. Clients were not. I noted that the routing table of the client pfsense mentioned three ip addresses 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.5 and 10.0.0.6.

    Changing the netmask to /31 caused the numbering to become more reasonable: 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2, and the tunnel to start working properly.

    I don't understand what is going on here. Is the tunnel network address of 10.0.8.0 special in some way? Is this a bug?

    Here is the routing table of the client pfsense when things were broken. Note the upstream link of this machine is a 192 network.

    Internet:
    Destination        Gateway            Flags    Refs      Use  Netif Expire
    default            192.168.7.1        UGS         0     4666    vr1
    10.0.0.1/32        10.0.0.5           UGS         0        0 ovpnc2
    10.0.0.5           link#9             UH          0        0 ovpnc2
    10.0.0.6           link#9             UHS         0        0    lo0
    domain.redacted.com      00:00:24:cb:18:cd  UHS         0       31    vr1
    101.0.0.0          10.0.0.5           UGS         0        0 ovpnc2
    localhost          link#5             UH          0      186    lo0
    192.168.1.0        10.0.0.5           UGS         0       26 ovpnc2
    192.168.7.0        link#2             U           0      627    vr1
    192.168.7.101      link#2             UHS         0        0    lo0
    192.168.150.0      link#1             U           0     3588    vr0
    pfSense            link#1             UHS         0        0    lo0

    And when working

    Internet:
    Destination        Gateway            Flags    Refs      Use  Netif Expire
    default            192.168.7.1        UGS         0     9053    vr1
    10.0.0.1           link#9             UH          0        0 ovpnc2
    10.0.0.2           link#9             UHS         0        0    lo0
    domain.redacted.com      00:00:24:cb:18:cd  UHS         0       50    vr1
    101.0.0.0          10.0.0.1           UGS         0        0 ovpnc2
    localhost          link#5             UH          0      217    lo0
    192.168.1.0        10.0.0.1           UGS         0      192 ovpnc2
    192.168.7.0        link#2             U           0     1352    vr1
    192.168.7.101      link#2             UHS         0        0    lo0
    192.168.150.0      link#1             U           0     6447    vr0
    pfSense            link#1             UHS         0        0    lo0

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • C
      cmb
      last edited by Feb 13, 2013, 7:36 AM

      There's nothing special in the numbering or subnetting or mask. Something else going on there aside from just changing the mask, no telling what from that. Check the client log.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • J
        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
        last edited by Feb 13, 2013, 6:02 PM

        Actually on site-to-site PKI the subnet mask is important:

        For /30 and "smaller" networks it does NOT use "server" mode in OpenVPN - meaning, it works like Static Key - you don't need to use iroutes and you can't push routes, but it you can only have one client.

        For larger subnets, it uses server mode so you need routes and iroutes to connect to the potential multiple clients.
        http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/OpenVPN_Site-to-Site_PKI_%28SSL%29

        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • N
          neik
          last edited by Feb 14, 2013, 2:03 PM

          @jimp:

          Actually on site-to-site PKI the subnet mask is important:

          For /30 and "smaller" networks it does NOT use "server" mode in OpenVPN - meaning, it works like Static Key - you don't need to use iroutes and you can't push routes, but it you can only have one client.

          For larger subnets, it uses server mode so you need routes and iroutes to connect to the potential multiple clients.
          http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/OpenVPN_Site-to-Site_PKI_%28SSL%29

          Thanks for this. I just spent all day building this is a virtual environment. I can confirm that 10.0.8.0/24 does not work when 10.0.8.0/31 does.

          I think as a general rule these hints on the setup pages should be removed if they do not apply in all cases. Otherwise people like me waste a lot of time. I filed a feature request to this effect for another OpenVPN "gotcha", but it was rejected.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • J
            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
            last edited by Feb 14, 2013, 2:06 PM

            /24 does work, you just didn't have the rest of the setup in place to handle doing /24.

            /30 is simpler, it doesn't require the extra work that /24 does. See the link I posted for the rest of how to make it work with /24, you need to add client-specific override entries with iroute statements, etc.

            Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

            Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

            Do not Chat/PM for help!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • C
              cmb
              last edited by Feb 14, 2013, 2:45 PM

              If we removed every hint that didn't apply in every possible case, there would be no hints left anywhere. If we added explanation of every possibility, every page of the web interface would be 100 pages long and completely impossible to work with. What we have is a good balance, the hints that are there apply to the vast majority, and the documentation fills in the explanation.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • N
                neik
                last edited by Feb 14, 2013, 3:11 PM

                @cmb:

                If we removed every hint that didn't apply in every possible case, there would be no hints left anywhere. If we added explanation of every possibility, every page of the web interface would be 100 pages long and completely impossible to work with. What we have is a good balance, the hints that are there apply to the vast majority, and the documentation fills in the explanation.

                These hints don't apply in the default case though.

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                • C
                  cmb
                  last edited by Feb 14, 2013, 8:45 PM

                  yes they do.

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