VPN ok, can't connect to Remote Desktop to reach Windows Server 2003

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Level 1

8 points

VPN ok, can't connect to Remote Desktop to reach Windows Server 2003

Hi everyone!

At work there are all windows machines connected to a windows server 2003. I recently bought a Mac and would like to be able to access my account at the windows server which i have at work.

With my laptop (windows XP) I used to (and still can) connect through VPN and Remote Desktop (RDC) to my account at the windows server. Unfortunately with the Mac I seem to be able to only connect to the VPN server, but it failed to log me on into the windows server with Remote Desktop for Mac (beta).

I use the same login settings as the ones I use on the laptop. Am I doing something wrong? I did try a search in google, but either I found problems getting the VPN connection established or statements that it worked fine to work with remote desktop.

Have I got to change something in the settings of the windows server 2003?
Do the settings of VPN or RDC vary with the Mac? If so, how?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on May 22, 2008 8:00 AM

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Answer 1

Suzshie Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 15, 2008 1:06 AM in response to Suzshie

This worked for me:

"After establishing a VPN connection, open a terminal session, type sudo ifconfig then Enter.
Type your admin password when prompted.
At the bottom of the the screen, you see inet 192.XXX.XXX.X. Note this number.
Now type sudo route add 192.XXX.XX.X/24 192.XXX.XXX.X <-this is the inet number above.
Press Enter.
Now you are able to connect using RDC."

Though I'm, so far, only able to connect to the admin server and not the users server.

Odd thing is that this is a different number than the one you'd use on your pc.

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Answer 2

May 29, 2008 6:18 AM in response to Suzshie

I'm having the same problem with my Imac. I can remote with my laptop, but not my imac. Both mac are Leopard and are connected to the same wireless router.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,186 points

May 29, 2008 6:25 AM in response to Suzshie

Do you have the Mac Firewall running? Try connecting with the firewall off. It could be that the ports are being blocked by the firewall. I haven't been able to try RDC with Leopard as my server uses smart card authentication and RDC for the Mac does not support it. It worked fine in Tiger.

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Answer 4

_xdbx_

Level 1

0 points

Jun 5, 2008 3:31 PM in response to Suzshie

Same problem here. I can rdc with any computer I use except for one laptop using Leopard. Have no idea what to do - Firewall off, won't work with Cord or RDC. I'd like to blame windows, but this is a purely mac/leopard problem. After the upgrade from Tiger, these connections stopped working.

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Answer 5

Jun 6, 2008 2:25 PM in response to Suzshie

VPN and remote desktop is a pain on the Mac but it is possible. Simply check your VPN settings and make sure you "Send all traffic over VPN connection"

This does suck somewhat as all traffic then goes through your servers but it does make it work. I have noticed however that any load on the VPN connection and Remote Desktop will die.

The only other option is to get a copy of Parallels and XP and do the VPN in Windows which works better.

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