accessing windows network drive over vpn

I have this exact problem. I connect to work via Apani Nortel VPN client and cannot connect to any share. Works fine in the office. I don't get it.

I too have the same problem. Apani seems to connect fine, but I can't see any network drives at work.

There is always the chance the VPN is blocking access. My company has set up VPN groups with access to only specific servers. If the SMB server you are trying to reach is blocked that could be it.

Another possibility is that the Mac is not getting DNS services for the internal network. Can you ping or browse the server the SMB share is hosted on? If this is the case try accessing the server via its' IP Address instead of name next time your on the VPN.

Thanks for your help.

I loaded the Apani 3.5 client on my MBP. We use group security. I have obtained the proper security settings and I am able to establish a successful connection. I normally use my work-provided laptop to work from home. Its a Dell PC running XP. When I use the PC, I simply connect via VPN and access our network drives (which are mapped). Nothing is mapped on my MBP. I try to "connect to server" using smb:\\xxxxx-fs02 where xxxx-fs02 is the server. I could use smb:\\xxxx-fs02\Vol3 to get to a specific drive, but it shouldn't matter. All of this works with the PC, but I can't set up my MBP to do it.

I did notice that "connect to server" automatically defaults to afp://smb:\\xxxx-fs02. Perhaps I'm setting this up wrong? I get an error code -36 (can't complete this operation because some data in "afp://smb%5C%5Cxxxx-fs02" could not be read or written.

I am able to ping the destination IP address that Apani gives me. I can't browse the server because "connect to server" doesn't see anything.

When I connect my MBP at work (ethernet) everything works fine. I can browse everything.

Not sure what to do. Any ideas?

Correction ...

I'm trying to connect using smb://xxxx-fs02. I get a message saying the server cannot be found on the network. I also noticed that the Apani client connection is simultaneously severed (negotiation with switch failed).

I can't help you with why the VPN connection may be dropping. Some larger companies modify the VPN clients they get from the vendor, so if you're trying to access with a plain vanilla Mac version and they have modified the PC version this probably isn't going to work.

If you are getting messages to the effect it can't find the server, then you might be having DNS issues when on the VPN.

There is something else you can try to see if your Mac is seeing any shares. Open Terminal, type findsmb and hit return. You should get a list of SMB servers that the mac "sees" on the network.

For SMB Shared Drives, I think you have to specify a valid share, not sure if just the server name will work. Your entry in the connect dialog box should look something like these;

smb://server name/sharename
smb://192.168.1.1/share_name

Substitute the actual IP address of the server in the 2nd example.

I'm running a somewhat different setup than you in that I'm running Windows XP Virtual Machines on my Mac and they are establishing the VPN connections that I need. Whole setup works great. I had thought about getting a Cisco VPN client working on my Mac, but went the Virtual Machine route instead.

Thanks again for the help. I haven't been able to find much support for this on the internet so I really appreciate it.

The connection with my Apani client has stabilized. So what I mentioned earlier about losing my network no longer seems to be an issue. I think I was attempting to map my drives wrong.

I tried findsmb as you suggested. My MBP isn't "seeing" any SMB servers on the network. For what its worth, I tested several connections while directly connected to the LAN via ethernet at work today. Everything worked great.

I don't think my company modifies our VPN clients, but I will follow up on this to be sure. I've been using the same VPN client on two different PC laptops for the last 5 years. I don't think our IT guys have touched the client.

I will also follow up on the DNS suggestion. I have to get the IP address from the IT department before I can test this. I do, however, know that the client on my PC uses the same DNS name I'm using in my Apani client (in fact I copied it from that client).

I'm also thinking about contacting Apani to see if they can help. I should be able to get some support seeing as I just bought the software.

I have VMWare Fusion running on my MBP. I've thought about connecting the way you've done it, but I really need to connect via OS X. I manage our company's intranet, and I use Adobe's suite of design tools (all running on OS X) to create content. I also use MS Visual Studio 2008 to create ASP.Net web applications in VB.Net so I will inevitably need to connect to our network via Vista too ... but I want the Mac piece up and running now.

This is the last piece of the puzzle. If it can be solved I will have a laptop that can do everything from running complex assembly models in Pro/Engineer in Vista 64 to Final Cut Studio on OS X. Visual Studio works great through Fusion. I even have Ansys loaded on Vista 64 though I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. These new Apple laptops are simply amazing. I'm very pleased. All I need is VPN.

You can obtain the IP addresses of the servers on your own. When on the network just ping them;

From Windows - Start->Run...->cmd & type ping server_name and hit enter, IP address will be shown.

From Mac - Network Utility (in Applications/Utilities folder), Ping tab, enter server's name and click Ping button, I would set for a limited number of pings, 3 or 5 should be plenty.

Then use that address when your home. I would try the ping from the mac at home & connected to the VPN with both the server's name and IP address to isolate between just a lookup problem and an actual connectivity problem (if it fails by name, but works by IP you are only dealing with a lookup problem which can be worked around by using IP addresses. If you can't ping by IP you have a fundamental connectivity problem that will be harder to figure out).

The reason I'm staying with this possibility is that up through Tiger Mac OS did not leverage DHCP DNS configurations as well as Windows did, I ended up setting up a local DNS server on my G4 desktop running Tiger to get better internet performance. Leopard is much better in this regard, for normal access (non-VPN) Leopard also uses the DHCP configured DNS servers. I have noticed that both Nortel & Cisco VPN clients on Windows set up new DNS servers on the VPN connection, and I'm questioning whether Leopard + VPN client are doing that for your mac. Besides the shared drives do you have trouble getting to other servers by name on your company's network?

Also try the findsmb next time your in the office and see what response you get. I'm assuming these servers show up in finder under the shared section in the left pane when you're on the network.

Other problem may be that the SMB port (or ports) is somehow being blocked when you're accessing with the Mac via VPN. I don't remember the SMB ports off hand, or the details of whether there are any firewall ports that have to be open on the Mac (and whatever firewall behavior the VPN client has).

If you really get stuck on the Mac VPN use, I'm pretty sure I remember some discussions about using a VPN connection from a Windows Virtual Machine to allow the Mac to share that connection. Don't remember if that discussion resulted in it can't be done, or provided steps to set it up. My situation is almost the opposite of yours, I don't want my mac on the vpn because then I have access to local network resources like printers and shares (both VPN clients I use block access to the local network) and I need to connect to 2 different VPNs at the same time so I can't have the host connected to one of them.

Not sure what your network background is like, but this is an analogy I find useful. Consider DNS as the lookup that helps you find a house, easier if you can find it by name, but worst case you "find it" by IP address. Pinging in most cases will tell you if you have found the house, any reply indicates you can talk to it. Once you find it and can talk to it you still have to get access to the share you want to use. Think of that as what door or window do I need to enter through (analogous to the port you need to use to access that) and is that door or window open (can I enter through that specific port). You can be standing in front of the house (either DNS is working or you have the right IP address) but a firewall or some other blocking issue may be preventing you from connecting to the needed port.

Agree with you these Apple laptops are great. I've been using UNIX for the last 20 years, and having that under my productivity operating system is great, and I can run Mac OS and Windows side by side on the same machine, what more could one ask for.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide a helpful response.

I have been able to successfully ping the network from home while connected with my Apani client using both the domain name and the IP address. I'm not a network person. I know about enough to get done what I need to get done. If I understand correctly, you're suggesting that I actually ping a server on my work network. I haven't tried this, but I will give it a try.

It is my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) that Nortel Networks offers minimal support for the Mac. You can download a client from Nortel, but its actually Apani's. This appears to be the only client available for Nortel. I don't think I can use another client to make this connection, right?

After scouring the internet, I found an obscure discussion which indicated the problem might be at the Contivity switch. Apparently the switch can be configured to block non-contivity (i.e. non-Windows) devices. It is possible that is how our network is configured. I am working with our VP of information technology (a bit of a Mac enthusiast) to ascertain whether or not this is the case. In our situation, we have to now turn to corporate for answers. This will, of course, complicate the matter. As if that weren't enough, our corp IT department is undergoing restructuring. I fear help will be limited in the near term. The pinging suggestion you offered should answer this question.

I also obtained a copy of the Nortel Contivity Client for Windows. However, the client I have does not appear to be compatible with Vista 64 (we're running XP at work). So this is yet another roadblock, but I'll work with IT to get an upgrade. I plan to use this in conjunction with VMWare Fusion. This will solve part of my connectivity problem (allowing me to connect with the server when I write code in Visual Studio).

I also learned that our company has a project in the works to bring Citrix onboard at some point. Perhaps there is better support for this software. Of course, this is not a "near term" solution (if its a solution at all).

Do you think I'm limited to using the Apani client, or can I (in theory) also connect using other clients? I'm unclear on this, and I haven't found any good answers online. Again, my networking experience is quite limited.

Again, I really appreciate the help.

I don't know if I'm doing this right?

My server address is smb://work01/Vol1

I should ping //work01 right?

Thanks.

gbullman,

Thanks a ton for your help! This was a DNS problem. Your troubleshooting advice helped me to resolve the issue. I am now connected to our Nortel Network via the Apani Contivity Client running on OS X Leopard. I am very thankful for your assistance!

Note for anyone else who might run into this problem. The current release of Apani was built for OS X Tiger. It appears to run fine on Leopard.

Hi - what exactly do you mean by DNS problem and what did you do to solve it?
It sounds like I have the same problem that you had, but I'm running CheckPoint VPN. All my symptoms are the same as yours.
I have not yet ping'd the network from home, but that will be my next step.
Any help is appreciated.