Automate RAS/VPN connect.

[Rob Z]

Hello Folks -

I am trying to use some sort of scheduler (maybe AT ?) to
set up times when a remote site will connect to my main
office via RAS/VPN.

RASDial doesn't seem to be an answer, because it seems
that it is only suited for dial-up connections, not
PPTP/L2TP. Rasdial looks for a phonebook file (.pbk)

Instead of having a person at the remote site clicking on
a VPN icon, I want it to launch and connect at a specified
time each day. (then maybe disconnect later too).

Any suggestions?

-thanks,
Rob

 

[Rob Z]

I dug around until I came up with the answer:

When you create a VPN entry, there is a .pbk file
created/modified but hard to find: c:\documents and
settings\all users\application
data\microsoft\network\connections\pbk\

Inside that *hidden* folder you'll find "rasphone.pbk".
Copy it to c:\winnt\system32\ras\

Now, you can use the rasdial command from the DOS prompt.
From the command line, type Rasdial "connection_name_here"
username_here password_here /domain:your_domain_here

I did use/type the above quotes too.

Now, use the "AT" command to schedule events, and PRESTO.
You can schedule a VPN connection from a remote site to
connect to your main site automatically according to a
schedule.

-z-