Topic: VPN and Network Neighbour

[BK]

Hi,

I can connect to my server via VPN but when i go to network neighbourhood it is unable to show me the computers on the network but i am able to ping their IP.

Anyone knw how to solve this problem?

[Tony P.]

You need to specify a WINS (Windows Internet Name Server)server to your VPN Clients.

[Gene Cooper]

Do we configure the SME server to feed the WINS address to the VPN clients during the negotiation/authentication of the client? (sort of like PPP)

How?

TIA,
G

p.s.  I have, in the past, just used a Windows (DOS) command prompt to:

net use f: \ip.of.the.server\share-name

Using the IP address bypasses the whole name resolution thing.  But the WINS idea is superior, I think.

[BK]

Hi Tony,

How do i specify the WINS server. E-smith is the only server I have in my environment. Please advice.

Thanks,
BK

[BK]

just to add.

Is SME 5 also act as an WINS? i had upgraded it to samba2.2.2

[Gene Cooper]

Yes, it does by default.

I'm interested in configuring things so the client automatically gets the WINS server (SME Server) address upon login.

Can this be done?  Or do you have to manually configure each client individually?

G

[Tony P.]

I configure this manually. I cant say how to do it on Windows98 but on W2K select properties of the PPTP connection. Select the networking tab then TCP/IP properties. Select Advanced and then the WINS tab. Enter the IP of the WINS server in that location.
Again I don't know if SME is acting as a WINS Server. This is off the samba site.

To configure Samba to be a WINS server the following parameter needs to be added to the smb.conf file:
   wins support = Yes

If SME is not setup to run WINS you may be able to create a custom template to do this. I don't know what template to modify but from reading other posts in this group I am sure it could be done.

[Gene Cooper]

Thanks very much for the info.

I did (on SME5):

grep wins /etc/smb.conf

Which showed:

# the default order is "host lmhosts wins bcast". "host" means use the unix
name resolve order = wins lmhosts bcast
   wins support = yes
;   wins proxy = yes

[Filippo Carletti]

If your sme server is a Domain Master, it acts as wins and it pass itself as wins server to the vpn client.

[Gene Cooper]

Hi all,

Yesterday I configured a client's remote (Win 98) PC for PPTP VPN.  It wasn't to E-Smith, but it _was_ a Lineo Linux based firewall device (which I hide the SME server behind).

As I said before, I had always just mapped a drive using the IP address which worked well, but wasn't browser-friendy.

After keying in the WINS address in the client, Network Neighborhood worked great.  I'll never go back, though I will continue to map drive letters as well.

Here's the $2 question: How do you get the E-Smith/SME server (or any Linux pptp server, for that matter) to hand off the WINS address when the PPTP client negotiates the connection?  An NT server does this.

TIA,

G

[Bart]

stranhe, as essg passes the wins-server adress by default to the client.
(/etc/ppp/options.pptpd)