Strange issue with RDP connection from a mac over a VPN connection

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Neddine - 12 Nov 2007 15:34 GMT

Hello,

I encounter a very strange problem when trying to connect to a terminal
server from Macintosh computers.

This is the setup:
There's is one Windows 2003 Server running terminal services. PC users
connect to this server to do their daily job. Users are working in the local
network, from a remote site (trough a site to site VPN) and from home over a
VPN connection and trough Remote Web Workplace. None of the PC users have
trouble to log on to the server.
User authentication and admission to the network is done by ISA server 2006.

The issue occurs with Mac clients:
They can connect to the Terminal server when they are in the local network
and when they are in the remote site (trough ipsec tunnel).
When they try to log in from home, the user first dials the VPN dialer to
connect to the corporate network. So far so good.
When they try to connect to the Terminal server, no connection is made.

Following things hav been checked in depth:
- ping to the terminal server trough the VPN tunnel from the mac client works
- Connection to other Windows servers (W2000 non Terminal servers) works as
well
- I replaced the RDP client with the new 2.0 Beta client --> doesn't resolve
the problem
- I replaced the RDP client with a third party client --> no sollution
- I tried to connect with a regular PC from the same cable at home from the
user trough a VPN connection --> this works, so it is not related to network
problems
- I tried to connect to the terminal server of another customer trough a VPN
tunnel --> this works as well
- I tried with other Macintosh computers --> doesn't work neither

Can anyone help me on this issue? It's really driving me nuts, as the logic
of the problem is not really what I should expect.

Does it has something to do with the ISA config?

Thanks in advance,

Laurent Evrard
Neddine ICT consultants

Reply to this Message

ac2006 - 12 Nov 2007 18:16 GMT

Hi Neddine,

Have you checked that you have available licenses on your Terminal Server?
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I believe that Windows 2000
Pro and XP Pro bring 1 Terminal Server connection license with them (so when
they connect, they don't use a license)

Other OSes (Mac, Linux) need an available license to connect. Also, you
might want to check for any old connections that might be taking up a
license, even though they aren't connected anymore.

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
> Laurent Evrard
> Neddine ICT consultants

Reply to this Message

Vera Noest [MVP] - 12 Nov 2007 21:39 GMT

Since the server runs 2003 TS, *all* clients need a purchased TS
CAL.
But apart from that, my first thought was also a licensing issue.
Neddine, have you checked the EventLog on the Terminal Server for
any errors and warnings at the time you try to connect? If it's a
licensing issue, it will tell you so, loud and clear :-)

If that doesn't help, can you post the *exact* error message that
you get when you try to connect?

Other things to look at are the security layer and excryption level
for the connection.
_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___

=?Utf-8?B?YWMyMDA2?= <ac2006@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote on
12 nov 2007 in microsoft.public.mac.rdc:

> Hi Neddine,
>
[quoted text clipped - 55 lines]
>> Laurent Evrard
>> Neddine ICT consultants

Reply to this Message

Neddine - 13 Nov 2007 08:05 GMT

Hello Vera Noest,

Thank you for your reply.

It's definitively not an licensing issue. Besides, it is working from the
internal network from that Macintosh computer, so the Mac client already has
acquired a license from the TS server.
When a connection is made (or at least when I try to make one from the Mac),
there are no errors, nor warnings on the terminal server.

On the macintosh side, I just get a message telling me that a connection can
not be made. The error is not specific enough to tell me what the problem is.
It's just one error message to cover all errors.
Is there a log file that's been created on the Mac which can tell me what
causes the problem?

Kind regards,

Laurent

> Since the server runs 2003 TS, *all* clients need a purchased TS
> CAL.
[quoted text clipped - 76 lines]
> >> Laurent Evrard
> >> Neddine ICT consultants

Reply to this Message

Vera Noest [MVP] - 13 Nov 2007 21:32 GMT

I'm not sure about the logging capabilities of the Mac client,
maybe others in this ng can answer that. The server would do some
logging in the EventLog, but hardly if you aren't able to reach it
at all.
Seems to me that the only source of a problem left is a firewall
somewhere between you and the server. You mention an ISA server,
have you checked the logs there? Maybe it only allows traffic on
port 3389 from a fixed list of clients?
_________________________________________________________
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
TS troubleshooting: http://ts.veranoest.net
___ please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ___

=?Utf-8?B?TmVkZGluZQ==?= <Neddine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
on 13 nov 2007 in microsoft.public.mac.rdc:

> Hello Vera Noest,
>
[quoted text clipped - 100 lines]
>> >> Laurent Evrard
>> >> Neddine ICT consultants

Reply to this Message

Mac Forum / Applications / Other MS Products / November 2007

Strange issue with RDP connection from a mac over a VPN connection