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    Is windows file sharing through OpenVPN possible?

    OpenVPN
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    • D
      doc_holiday last edited by

      I have just successfully set up OpenVPN for my laptop when I am on the road and need to connect back to my home office.  Question: With PPTP, I could open file shares and browse my network because I have a WINS server on my LAN.  Is it possible to do the same thing with OpenVPN?  I haven't seen anything in the configuration docs.

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      • S
        sh_man last edited by

        It works fine for me. I can access all my Windows network, shares, printers etc.

        I can also go the other way round - ie from the network to the road machine

        I have a very open set of rules on the VPN ie from anywhere to any where can do anything.

        If you are having problems try looking at the rules in the VPN tab and the LAN tab to check that TCP ports 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 and UDP ports 137, 138, 139 can get through and you should be OK.

        To be honest I dont use WINS but it should work OK with these ports open

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        • D
          doc_holiday last edited by

          @sh_man:

          It works fine for me. I can access all my Windows network, shares, printers etc.

          I can also go the other way round - ie from the network to the road machine

          I have a very open set of rules on the VPN ie from anywhere to any where can do anything.

          If you are having problems try looking at the rules in the VPN tab and the LAN tab to check that TCP ports 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 and UDP ports 137, 138, 139 can get through and you should be OK.

          To be honest I dont use WINS but it should work OK with these ports open

          Yup, a bit more tweaking and we're up and running.  Thanks!

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          • W
            Wolfgang last edited by

            @sh_man:

            …
            If you are having problems try looking at the rules in the VPN tab and the LAN tab to check that TCP ports 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 and UDP ports 137, 138, 139 can get through and you should be OK.
            ...

            With OpenVPN i have not seen any options to apply Firewall Rules.
            So which rules in the VPN tab do you refer to?
            Also, how can you set rules in the LAN tab that would apply to OVPN connections and not to WAN connections?

            Regards

            Wolfgang

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            • D
              doc_holiday last edited by

              @Wolfgang:

              @sh_man:

              …
              If you are having problems try looking at the rules in the VPN tab and the LAN tab to check that TCP ports 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 and UDP ports 137, 138, 139 can get through and you should be OK.
              ...

              With OpenVPN i have not seen any options to apply Firewall Rules.
              So which rules in the VPN tab do you refer to?
              Also, how can you set rules in the LAN tab that would apply to OVPN connections and not to WAN connections?

              Regards

              Wolfgang

              I have been able to make it work without any firewall rules.  My theory was if I needed them, I would use the OpenVPN subnet as the source for my firewall rules.  Someone could correct me if this is flawed.

              One thing I have not been able to do with OpenVPN is browse the network neighbourhood.  This is not a big deal because I know all my machines on my network, but it would be nice.  I do have a WINS server on the network, which I can plug the details into PPTP, but in OpenVPN I have not seen anything like this.

              I'll keep experimenting with this, but I will probably phase out PPTP all together if my trials on the road prove that I can do anything I could do with PPTP.

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              • N
                Nick last edited by

                According to this, Network Neighborhood works via NetBIOS Broadcasts.  Since it wouldn't pass over an IPSec tunnel, I would guess it wouldn't pass over an OpenVPN tunnel.  You could always setup a bridged OpenVPN tunnel and everything would be like a big switch.

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                • D
                  doc_holiday last edited by

                  @Nick:

                  According to this, Network Neighborhood works via NetBIOS Broadcasts.  Since it wouldn't pass over an IPSec tunnel, I would guess it wouldn't pass over an OpenVPN tunnel.  You could always setup a bridged OpenVPN tunnel and everything would be like a big switch.

                  Yes, I found something that I forgot about which talks about this: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Setting_up_OpenVPN_with_pfSense#OpenVPN_Client_Bridging

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                  • D
                    daniell last edited by

                    Hi,

                    you can push your WINS-Servers IP to the Roadwarrior using the DHCP-Options. These Options can be configured in the pfsense GUI /VPN/OpenVPN/OpenVPN: Server (Edit your OpenVPN-Server config)/custom options. We use:

                    push "dhcp-option DNS xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"; push "dhcp-option WINS xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx";

                    The first option is for pushing the DNS-Servers IP, the second Option is for pushing the WINS-Servers IP to the client. Exchange xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP-Address of your DNS- or WINS-Server. You may push other DHCP-Options as well. Seperate the options with ;

                    Hopefully this will improve network browsing for you.

                    Regards,
                    Daniel

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                    • D
                      doc_holiday last edited by

                      @daniell:

                      Hi,

                      you can push your WINS-Servers IP to the Roadwarrior using the DHCP-Options. These Options can be configured in the pfsense GUI /VPN/OpenVPN/OpenVPN: Server (Edit your OpenVPN-Server config)/custom options. We use:

                      push "dhcp-option DNS xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"; push "dhcp-option WINS xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx";

                      The first option is for pushing the DNS-Servers IP, the second Option is for pushing the WINS-Servers IP to the client. Exchange xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP-Address of your DNS- or WINS-Server. You may push other DHCP-Options as well. Seperate the options with ;

                      Hopefully this will improve network browsing for you.

                      Regards,
                      Daniel

                      Hi, Thanks for that.  I put in the various settings and was able to pick up the WINS server through my OpenVPN connection. (see below), but for some reason, the neighborhood of computers still does not appear (only the client machine).  I'm a bit puzzled by this.  Would the fact that OpenVPN requires that you assign a separate subnet to your LAN be part of the problem?  As far as I know, this should work unless I need a rule for some sort of broadcast stuff…

                      Anyhow, it's not a big deal because I can still access network shares through OpenVPN.  I just need to know the name of the computer that I want.

                      Ethernet adapter OpenVPN:

                      Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
                              Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TAP-Win32 Adapter V8
                              Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-3B-2B-69-CB
                              Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
                              Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
                              IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.16.6
                              Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.252
                              Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
                              DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.16.5
                              DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.67.1
                              Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.67.5
                              Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 19 February 2007 20:14:23
                              Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 19 February 2008 20:14:23

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