Network Setup
Overview
You must have a working TCP/IP network before you can install WinGate.
Before beginning to install WinGate, you should test to see that TCP/IP is working properly by pinging each computer on your network.
(Click here for instructions on testing TCP/IP connectivity)
Note:
All Windows PCs have had TCP installed by default since Windows 98. Once your network is configured correctly you can proceed with installing WinGate.
Considerations for Active Directory Domains
Active Directory Overview
When implementing WinGate in a native mode Active Directory environment there are numerous features of the Active Directory, which will affect the way that WinGate needs to be configured.
Active Directory requires a DNS (Dynamic DNS (DDNS) server be available to register client IP address details. It can either receive this from a MS DHCP server when it issues the client an IP address, or it can be configured to receive this information straight from client.
DNS servers are also required by clients to find info about Domain Controllers in the AD. When a domain controller is setup correctly it registers specific AD info (thru SVR records) with the MS DDNS server.
To provide Internet address resolution for clients in the Active Directory, the DDNS server has a Forwarders configuration, which can be set to a specified Internet DNS server that it will refer to for DNS requests that are outside of the domain that it is responsible for.
Client workstations will use the DDNS server for the Domain requests for their Active Directory, and any Internet requests will be sent by the DDNS server to the Internet DNS server specified in the Forwarders configuration.
Unfortunately when MS DDNS (Active Directory DNS server) is first installed, a scenario can arise where it is unable to find any other DNS servers, and so it sets itself as the Root server for all Domain Name Requests, which inturn effectively disables the use of Forwarder lookup capability. If this is how the DDNS is configured in your Active Directory then you will need to read from MS Support how to enable Forwarders on a DDNS server.
Active Directory and WinGate
DNS
When WinGate is being used in the Active Directory environment the internal Network Interface address of the WinGate server should be listed in the Forwarders section(tab) of the DNS server properties on the Active Directory(D)DNS server.
This is found in the DNS server's properties.(configured in the DNS.mmc)
This way all of the clients Internet requests will be forwarded by the Active Directory DNS server to the WinGate Server for completion .
It is a requirement in an Active Directory, that clients have their network setting for DNS pointed at the Active Directory DNS server. All WinGate clients will work fine this way, so long as the WinGate server IP address is listed, as mentioned previously, on the Forwarders tab on the Active directory DNS server properties.
Note:
- If WinGate has been installed on a different machine to the Active Directory DNS server then there is no further DNS configuration required in WinGate.
- If WinGate has been installed to the same machine as running the Active Directory DNS Server, then the WinGate DNS service should be disabled.
DHCP Considerations
In most Active Directory scenarios clients will be receiving an IP addresses(and other network settings) from a MS DHCP server on the network.
If WinGate clients are using NAT through WinGate, then Administrators should make sure that the Router(Gateway) option in the MS DHCP Server configuration is set to issue clients with the internal IP address of the WinGate Server.
Due to the common use of DHCP in Active directory, the WinGate DHCP service should be disabled so it does not to interfere with the Active Directory DHCP server operations.
