[Solved] Windows File Sharing over VPN unreliable

[Sam Graf]

I wrote that the clients are still the same as before, meaning that no new software has been added, nor changes have been made to their firewalls, etc. Yes, the client bundles were replaced (many times, in fact, since I have been testing all kind of things to make it work). Also the client program was reinstalled (not sure if in all the clients, but in most of them).

Thank you, much clearer than "no change has been made in the clients, just moved from zentyal 2.2 to 3," which I read literally as change only to the server.

to certain - everybody is using and having problems with Zentyal 3?

I had no problems with Zentyal 3 in a test environment where clients were not joining a domain, but that was local only. I'm not aware of Zentyal 3 problems specific to VPN connections.

[akhasis]

My Zentyal 2.2 was set up as a client of my Windows 2003 AD. I haven't set up this Zentyal 3 as a client (because it throws an error about Windows forest functional level that I have to investigate deeper). May this "outside the domain" setup of Zentyal be causing the problem? If so, is it normal that clients can access the files, and use them, some times for a long time, but they randomly disconnect? (with error messages like "you don't have permissions to access this file" or "the net machine you are trying to access doesn't exist any more - sorry, translating the error messages I get, because I couldn't find the original English equivalent).

Thank you all for your comments, I'm really lost when it comes to networks, and would never be able to fix it without your help.

[christian]

"the net machine you are trying to access doesn't exist any more"

Sorry to push again but this really looks like master browser related error. Just give a look closer 

[akhasis]

Thank you for the hint, christian.

I didn't want to reply till I had solved the problem, because it really seems that it is a Master Browser issue here. But no luck yet.

I have spent all this time reading about Master Browser, but still don't know what to try. So I'll post here in case you can help me again.

This is how my network works:
Most of the machines in the headquarters of the company are inside a domain. They are all connected via lan, and there are a few windows XP and a lot of Windows 7 (a few home and the rest professional - of course, only the professional ones are inside the domain). Then, the main server is a Windows 2003, and there are a couple of other servers, a Linux web server, outside the domain, and the Zentyal server, inside the domain, which has the file sharing module enabled, among others.

Then there are other offices that connect to our lan via (zentyal) VPN. This are the ones that are having problems sharing data. Some Windows XP, some Windows 7, all out of the domain.

At first, I thought the problem was due to the mix of computers belonging to the domain with others outside of the domain and in different workgroups. I also read that having a network with machines running windows 7 can mess up your samba shares because they all fight to be the master browser. But again, the computers in my LAN can access to shares properly, no matter what operating system they are using or wether they are inside the domain.

Just for testing purposes, I made one of the computers (windows 7, belongs to the domain) inside the LAN connect via VPN. As soon as it connects through the VPN, it starts getting the same errors as the other ones in the offices outside the LAN.

I don't know what else to try. Any ideas?

[akhasis]

Ok, in my case it finally didn't happen to do with any of the things I was investigating (domain issues, win7 mixed with win xp in the domain, master browser misconfiguration, etc...), but a much simpler reason.

I found out, by running net session in the file server to which the machines had to connect, that the IP address of all of them was the one of my Zentyal VPN server. That is, when a client connected, adopted that IP address. When a new one connected, adopted that very same address, throwing the first client out.

Once I knew what the problem was, it was very easy to solve: I just had to disable the NAT option and everything went smooth.

The thing is, that was one of the first things I tried and it didn't work at first, so I had to spend months trying other solutions. If you are in the same situation, if possible, create the VPN server from scratch and issue new certificates for every client.

I don't know if Vertel, the creator of the thread, has already fixed his problem with the VPN. Either if he has or he is not interested in it any more, I think this thread should be marked as solved, in case other people come here looking for a solution for a similar problem.

[Escorpiom]

I've marked this as solved, perhaps the OP can confirm this in time.

Cheers.