[pptp-server] Netmask woes... Last thing I'm sure.

[Cowles, Steve]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Dege [mailto:rcd at amherst.com]
> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 4:18 PM
> To: pptp-server at lists.schulte.org
> Subject: Re: [pptp-server] Netmask woes... Last thing I'm sure.
> 
> I too am having similar problems as .... Dread Boy.  I posted earlier 
> about it, but became so frustrated with NetBios that I decided to
> take a little vacation from that project :)

I've taken a few of these so called vacations also. :)

> 
> Anyways, my question.  We are converting to DHCP, so pinging 
> machines is not as easy since there is not an easy way to resolve
> NetBios name to IP.

WINS and DNS really have nothing to do with each other. When your using
Network Neighborhood - your using WINS/Netbios. If your using ping - your
using the resolver libs. i.e. DNS  Although, both WINS/DNS can be configured
to play together to resolve the problem you have described with DHCP.

For instance, with Windows 2000, its TCP/IP stack has an option to "Register
this connections address with DNS". I have actually tried this and it works
if my DNS servers zone file has the "allow updates" option enabled.

The reverse of this would be (using Samba/WINS) and enable the "wins hook"
option. I have not tried this yet, but from what I have read - when a client
registers/de-registers with a WINS server, the corresponding DNS zone could
be updated/modified through an external program.

Of course, if your using Microsoft's DNS/WINS servers, you can make DNS and
WINS play together by enabling the "Use WINS Resolution" when you define
your DNS zones. I have used this feature with very little problems. In fact,
one of my customers has 4500 nodes on their network. Trust me, I was not
about to manually add 4500 netbios names to the DNS zones. I enabled this
option and was able to use Network Neighborhood and ping DHCP enabled
clients by their NetBios name. whew!

> I was able to pass the 3 Steve Cowles tests with flying colors,
> but still suffer the fate of Net Hood failure.

If you passed all three tests, then TCP/IP and the PPTP tunnel are
functioning properly and you can move on to resolving your NetBios problems.

Maybe you are already aware of the following; in case you not...

In order for any remote PPTP client to be able to use Network Neighborhood,
you must first have an active WINS server on your LAN. IN addition, all
clients and servers on that LAN "must" register with that WINS server. This
also includes the PPTP client.

In order to get a MS client to register with a WINS server, it must be
configured to  use a WINS server (instead of broadcasting) for netbios name
resolution. This can be accomplished by:

1) Through your DHCP scope.
2) Manually add the IP address(s) of the WINS server in the WINS tab of the
MS TCP/IP stack properties.

For PPTP clients... the "ms-wins" parameter needs to be specified in your
/etc/ppp/options file so the PPTP client knows to query the WINS server.

All MS clients "netbios node type" should be set to "hybrid" when they are
properly configured to use WINS instead of broadcasting. You can use
"winipcfg" of "ipconfig" to verify the netbios node type.

Also, on the PPTP client, are the netbios WORKGROUP and/or DOMAIN names set
to match what the other clients on the LAN are set to when they register
with the WINS server?

>
> Does it matter if I have Network firewalling (ipchains) disabled
> in my kernel?  I assumed that NOT having it installed would be the
> equivalent as having ACCEPT for forwards, inputs & outputs.

Personally, I have never compiled a linux kernel without enabling network
firewalling. So I have nothing to reference to. I would think that this
would be equivelent to specifing an implied ipchain ACCEPT for the
input/output/forward policy chains.

Steve Cowles