OpenVPN with Windows Vista Bridging Server

dragonsen

Ok, I have a home network that I am trying to convert to a VPN. I've been able to get OpenVPN to run on the PC I will be using as the server. I can ping the network bridge but cannot ping 8.8.8.8. I suspect that my issue is NAT or maybe port forwarding but unsure on how to enable NAT. I want to get the server working before I try and get clients connected. When I ping on the server to 8.8.8.8, I get error 1231.

    port 1194
    proto udp
    dev tap
    dev-node tap-bridge
    ca "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\ca.crt"
    cert "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\server.crt"
    key "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\server.key"
    dh "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\dh1024.pem"
    ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
    server-bridge 10.12.5.59 255.255.255.0 10.12.5.60 10.12.5.80
    push "redirect-gateway def1"
    push "dhcp-option DNS 10.12.5.59"
    client-to-client
    keepalive 10 120
    comp-lzo
    persist-key
    status openvpn-status.log
    verb 3

dragonsen

The initial HOWTO I followed actually contradicts the HOWTO you linked to in regards to setting up the network bridge. I removed my NIC from the bridge so I only had the TAP connected to the bridge then I reconnected the NIC. I also put in IPs for the Gateway and DNS servers since those were empty. I suspect I chose the wrong IPs for those. My network setup is summarized below.

Router IP is 192.168.0.1 (Currently using DHCP to assign IPs to the network. Also has built-in firewall enabled.)
Server Bridge IP is 12.10.5.59
Server NIC IP is 192.168.0.105 (Currently but may change based on DHCP if PC is shut down, etc.)

I know the problem isn't OpenVPN. It's a setting that I'm missing, most likely NAT. I've enabled IP forwarding on the Router using Inbound UDP Port 1194 to 12.10.5.59 to private port 1194. The IP forwarding may be wrong as well. I used this document to enable TCP/IP forwarding http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315236 It could also be the wrong Gateway and DNS servers in the bridge connection.

Anyway, after redoing the bridge connection, I now get destination host unreachable when I try to ping 8.8.8.8.

dragonsen

dragonsen wroteOk, I have a home network that I am trying to convert to a VPN. I've been able to get OpenVPN to run on the PC I will be using as the server. I can ping the network bridge but cannot ping 8.8.8.8. I suspect that my issue is NAT or maybe port forwarding but unsure on how to enable NAT. I want to get the server working before I try and get clients connected. When I ping on the server to 8.8.8.8, I get error 1231.
    port 1194
    proto udp
    dev tap
    dev-node tap-bridge
    ca "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\ca.crt"
    cert "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\server.crt"
    key "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\server.key"
    dh "c:\\program files\\openvpn\\easy-rsa\\keys\\dh1024.pem"
    ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
    server-bridge 10.12.5.59 255.255.255.0 10.12.5.60 10.12.5.80
    push "redirect-gateway def1"
    push "dhcp-option DNS 10.12.5.59"
    client-to-client
    keepalive 10 120
    comp-lzo
    persist-key
    status openvpn-status.log
    verb 3

I did post my config for the server. I'm not trying to set up VPN on the client until I know the server can get out first. Therefore, there is no client config yet. Quite simply, I want to be able to get onto the internet via the VPN. There are no error codes because the VPN connects properly and says it is connected. The issue is with the bridging, either IP forwarding, NAT, or IP is configured incorrectly.

dragonsen

Thu Oct 31 22:53:36 2013 OpenVPN 2.3.2 i686-w64-mingw32 [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [PKCS11] [eurephia] [IPv6] built on Aug 22 2013
Enter Management Password:
Thu Oct 31 22:53:36 2013 MANAGEMENT: TCP Socket listening on [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25340
Thu Oct 31 22:53:36 2013 Need hold release from management interface, waiting...
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 MANAGEMENT: Client connected from [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25340
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'state on'
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'log all on'
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold off'
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold release'
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 NOTE: when bridging your LAN adapter with the TAP adapter, note that the new bridge adapter will often take on its own IP address that is different from what the LAN adapter was previously set to
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 1024 bit key
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 Socket Buffers: R=[8192->8192] S=[8192->8192]
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 open_tun, tt->ipv6=0
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 TAP-WIN32 device [tap-bridge] opened: \\.\Global\{97E34A7B-767C-432B-A273-0A4EF3E11C37}.tap
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 TAP-Windows Driver Version 9.9 
Thu Oct 31 22:53:37 2013 Sleeping for 10 seconds...
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 NOTE: FlushIpNetTable failed on interface [12] {97E34A7B-767C-432B-A273-0A4EF3E11C37} (status=1168) : Element not found.  
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 UDPv4 link local (bound): [undef]
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 UDPv4 link remote: [undef]
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 MULTI: multi_init called, r=256 v=256
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 IFCONFIG POOL: base=10.12.5.60 size=21, ipv6=0
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 IFCONFIG POOL LIST
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 Initialization Sequence Completed
Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1383281627,CONNECTED,SUCCESS,,

Just make sure you read that last line correctly, I will restate it once more.

Thu Oct 31 22:53:47 2013 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1383281627,CONNECTED,SUCCESS,,

As I've said, OpenVPN is working successfully. It is the bridge that is not.

dragonsen

I'm quite aware of that. I'm trying to figure which setting is screwed up that doesn't allow my server to access the internet via OpenVPN and bridging. Since I can connect to the internet when I remove the bridge and stop using OpenVPN, I naturally assumed that it was settings I altered as per the multitude of HOWTOs, guides, forum posts, etc, that I have tried following. Thank you for your attempt at assistance but since this is obviously a "Windows" support problem, I guess I will just have to uninstall OpenVPN and find a different solution for my needs. My apologies for wasting your time and server space.