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mapped drives in Win 10 not working with VPN on remote computers
Windows server 2008 R2 Domain Controller
Windows 10 x64 desktop (fresh install updated as of 10-14-2015)
Offline files have been setup
Users documents folder is mapped to \\server02\userdata$\user
Mapped network drives show up and can be accessed
I have setup offline files on this desktop because I want it to work just like a laptop that is off the network would work. When a user with a laptop connects to the office through the VPN any changes they have made to documents will sync with their user folder on the server. It also allows them access to other mapped network drives (Public, Accounting, Projects, etc.).
So this is how it currently works with a windows 7 pro setup
1) login to the computer while it is connected to the domain.
2) open the Public network drive
3) shut down the computer
4) go home, login to your computer, connect to your network.
5) I get the usual error about not all network drives connected, but all the mapped drives are still there but now they have red X’s on them to denote the connection to that drive is not up. So if you try to open the Public drive it gives you an error to let know that you can’t access it. (this is expected behavior)
6) the drive that is mapped to \\server02\userdata$\user is still there and shows up as Network Drive (H:) and I can access the offline versions of the files just cant get to the network version of the files.
7) Start up the vpn connection to the server
8) Open the public drive and you have access to the files
So why does this not work the same with windows 10?
If I follow the same procedure as above with a windows 10 setup, I get the usual error message about not all network drives connected which is what is supposed to do.
I start up the VPN and try to access the Public drive and it says its not there.
the network drives are visible with the red X’s on them, and should open as they do in step 8 on the Windows 7 setup but they don’t.
To top it all off, I rebooted the computer and the network drives are now all gone, no message about not all network drives were reconnected, no drives with red X’s on them, just nothing.
So I think maybe a DNS issue (still think the is the problem but need some help so here I am)
So with the VPN up I try to ping the server by name and not IP address
ping server01
Pinging server01.domain.local [192.168.1.30] with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
So this ping works exactly as it should
I try to ping another server on the network and this is what happens
ping server02
Pinging server02.Home [198.105.244.23]-- where the heck does .home come from and why?
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
nslookup domain.local
server: domain.local
address: 198.105.254.23 <-----????? should be 192.168.1.31
DNS request timed out.
Timeout was 2 seconds
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?ip=198.105.244.23
I can ping all four servers at the other end of the VPN rainbow by IP address just fine.
sorry bout the long post, sometimes more info is helpful, I hope this is one of those times.
Any help would be appreciated
V
Windows 10 x64 desktop (fresh install updated as of 10-14-2015)
Offline files have been setup
Users documents folder is mapped to \\server02\userdata$\user
Mapped network drives show up and can be accessed
I have setup offline files on this desktop because I want it to work just like a laptop that is off the network would work. When a user with a laptop connects to the office through the VPN any changes they have made to documents will sync with their user folder on the server. It also allows them access to other mapped network drives (Public, Accounting, Projects, etc.).
So this is how it currently works with a windows 7 pro setup
1) login to the computer while it is connected to the domain.
2) open the Public network drive
3) shut down the computer
4) go home, login to your computer, connect to your network.
5) I get the usual error about not all network drives connected, but all the mapped drives are still there but now they have red X’s on them to denote the connection to that drive is not up. So if you try to open the Public drive it gives you an error to let know that you can’t access it. (this is expected behavior)
6) the drive that is mapped to \\server02\userdata$\user is still there and shows up as Network Drive (H:) and I can access the offline versions of the files just cant get to the network version of the files.
7) Start up the vpn connection to the server
8) Open the public drive and you have access to the files
So why does this not work the same with windows 10?
If I follow the same procedure as above with a windows 10 setup, I get the usual error message about not all network drives connected which is what is supposed to do.
I start up the VPN and try to access the Public drive and it says its not there.
the network drives are visible with the red X’s on them, and should open as they do in step 8 on the Windows 7 setup but they don’t.
To top it all off, I rebooted the computer and the network drives are now all gone, no message about not all network drives were reconnected, no drives with red X’s on them, just nothing.
So I think maybe a DNS issue (still think the is the problem but need some help so here I am)
So with the VPN up I try to ping the server by name and not IP address
ping server01
Pinging server01.domain.local [192.168.1.30] with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
Reply from 192.168.1.30: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=127
So this ping works exactly as it should
I try to ping another server on the network and this is what happens
ping server02
Pinging server02.Home [198.105.244.23]-- where the heck does .home come from and why?
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
nslookup domain.local
server: domain.local
address: 198.105.254.23 <-----????? should be 192.168.1.31
DNS request timed out.
Timeout was 2 seconds
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?ip=198.105.244.23
I can ping all four servers at the other end of the VPN rainbow by IP address just fine.
sorry bout the long post, sometimes more info is helpful, I hope this is one of those times.
Any help would be appreciated
V
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Since this is a domain computer the mapped drives are defined in the login script (same script is used for 100's of computers). Only trouble i have ever had is when i connected this computer to an Apple Airport Extreme router and it adds a .home suffix to the computer name.
i started up the VPN and then i mapped a drive using the FQDN instead of the host name which works for that session. on a reboot the drive i just mapped is gone, what i normally would expect is mapped drives to still be there with red X's on them, then i would start the VPN up and double click a mapped drive an the files would show up.
i just want it to work the same as it would work if i plugged it into any other (non Apple network)
i started up the VPN and then i mapped a drive using the FQDN instead of the host name which works for that session. on a reboot the drive i just mapped is gone, what i normally would expect is mapped drives to still be there with red X's on them, then i would start the VPN up and double click a mapped drive an the files would show up.
i just want it to work the same as it would work if i plugged it into any other (non Apple network)
Did you have the "reconnect at logon" option checked when creating the mapped drive?
My recommendation would be to just adjust the GPO which creates the mappings to use the FQDN.
Other than that, it sounds like the connection-specific DNS suffix is being appended as it should, while the primary DNS suffix isn't. You might double-check that the primary DNS suffix is set correctly, or specify through GPO which DNS suffixes should be used.
My recommendation would be to just adjust the GPO which creates the mappings to use the FQDN.
Other than that, it sounds like the connection-specific DNS suffix is being appended as it should, while the primary DNS suffix isn't. You might double-check that the primary DNS suffix is set correctly, or specify through GPO which DNS suffixes should be used.
Can you access the servers via Network when the VPN is on?
Have you tried flushing the local DNS cache?
Have you tried flushing the local DNS cache?
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@Mike Lazarus,
When the VPN is on i can ping all computers on the remote network by IP but not by host name.
DNS was flushed with
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
When the VPN is on i can ping all computers on the remote network by IP but not by host name.
DNS was flushed with
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
Can you browse the share in file explorer via the ip? \\192.168.X.X
When doing an nslookup of server02, it should tell you what DNS server was used. If it is your router at home then for some reason it is responding with something then I would power it off and power it back on to clear the DNS cache on it. If it is the DNS server on the other side of the VPN then see below.
If the server02 is a file server with a static IP you could also modify the host file on your machine to point to the proper IP address. Host modification is pretty easy to do but not always recommended since it can cause issues later if IP addresses change.
When doing an nslookup of server02, it should tell you what DNS server was used. If it is your router at home then for some reason it is responding with something then I would power it off and power it back on to clear the DNS cache on it. If it is the DNS server on the other side of the VPN then see below.
If the server02 is a file server with a static IP you could also modify the host file on your machine to point to the proper IP address. Host modification is pretty easy to do but not always recommended since it can cause issues later if IP addresses change.
Sorry for the slow reply, this remote machine is at the home of the owner, it has been difficult to get over and be in front of the machine to troubleshoot it.
i believe the Century Link - ActionTech Router is causing most of this problem when it adds the .home suffix to the computer. Windows then thinks it should change the profile to Private or Home and then all the mapped drives are gone because they were mapped in the Domain profile.
I am used to seeing the mapped drives still there but with red X's on them because they are not connected. After windows would boot you would then just start the VPN up an get access to those mapped drives. In this case the drives are gone.
i believe the Century Link - ActionTech Router is causing most of this problem when it adds the .home suffix to the computer. Windows then thinks it should change the profile to Private or Home and then all the mapped drives are gone because they were mapped in the Domain profile.
I am used to seeing the mapped drives still there but with red X's on them because they are not connected. After windows would boot you would then just start the VPN up an get access to those mapped drives. In this case the drives are gone.
I split the points to all who gave feedback. The real issue is the century link router adding the .home to the computer name and i am unable to configure the router to not do that. Solution was to purchase a new router that is not locked down by Century link. The mapped drives are network profile specific so if i map a bunch of drives in the domain profile and then the century link router changes the computer name to .home then windows will use the Home network profile which has none of the mapped drives in it. I have a few clients that use Century link and all of them have issue with how Century link functions.
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You might try using the FQDN (both for the nslookup/ping tests, and the mapped drive), rather than just the host name.