Gnome-rdp (re-post)

[Christopher A. Williams]

On Sat, 2012-06-30 at 23:06 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote:
> On 06/30/2012 10:00 PM, Christopher A. Williams wrote:
> > So, I hope that helps a little more with the situation. We could use a
> > hand on this from the vpnc and rdp folks on the list...
> 
> I looked back on the messages in the thread.  I don't think I missed anything....but
> this is the first time I can find anything being mentioned about a VPN.

I missed the first part of the thread, so I don't know if it was
mentioned or not. But, yes, there is a VPN. I'll be in the building
later today, so I'll also be able to test this from the inside network,
taking the VPN piece out of the picture. I'll get back to you with more
on that.

> First it sounded as if there was a simple problem with making a Remote Desktop
> connection.  Then it sounded like either a misunderstanding between how hostnames are
> resolved. 
> 
> I, for one, am confused.  I don't know the network topology.  I don't know what
> "boxes" are involved or IP addresses or anything that would "really" define the
> problem. 
> 
> I'll tell you what I *think* may be the layout.
> 
> You have a Cisco VPN Gateway with 2 interfaces.  Let's call them "inside" and
> "outside". 
> For argument sake I'll assign the IP addresses for the Cisco as
> inside=192.168.0.1
> outside=192.168.1.1

...Not exactly the IP address ranges used, but for argument's sake the
basic part here is correct.

> You have 2 Linux boxes.  One on the outside and one on the inside.  The one on the
> inside is running the xrdp server....and the client is on the outside.
> 
> For argument sake I'll call them IN and OUT with the following IP addresses.
> IN=192.168.0.20
> OUT=192.168.1.20

Again, pretty close. Actually the box (actually, there are several) are
running Windows Server 2008 and have the standard Windows RDP server
(Windows Terminal Services) running for remote administration purposes.
All of these boxes are actually VMs running in a VMware vSphere based
virtual environment (not necessary to the conversation, but so you have
the full picture).

> First you establish a VPN connection from OUT to the Cisco.  Then, you want to use
> the Gnome-rdp client or Remmina client to obtain a remote desktop connection.
> 
> Is that correct so far?  If it is, could you fill in the correct names/IP addresses
> involved?
> If not, could you correct my understanding of the topology?

Correct, with exceptions noted as above...

> Now, assuming the topology is correct......
> 
> Without making a RDP attempt....  Can you ping IN from OUT using the hostname?  IP
> address?  Can you ssh to IN from OUT using the hostname?  IP address?

Here's where the answer is a little more complicated:

When using a Windows system with the Cisco VPN client, the answer across
the board is yes. We can ping, use Remote Desktop, and use all Web
services on the inside network. We can also use the VI Client from
VMware to remotely administer the system and all additional feature
work.

When using the vpnc client and Network Manager, the answers are
different. We are able to ping (at least to allowed systems), and we can
use Web based network services. However Gnome-RDP and Reminna fail as
noted earlier. Host names are not resolved by either client, and both
are unable to connect and maintain RDP sessions.

That's why I'm certain there is nothing wrong with the VPN
configuration. The reason I suspect there couls be something amiss with
Network Manager / vpnc is that the VPN connection with these does error
out and drop with a frequency that's best described as frustrating. I'm
also pretty suspicious that something with RDP is also gone awry.

Hope that makes sense!

Chris

-- 
Christopher A. Williams <chriswfedora at cawllc.com>