Clients don't get the DNS servers

[KJK::Hyperion]

* Background

The clients are various laptops, with different operating systems. The
one I'm currently testing this on runs Windows XP Professional

The server is a Windows 2000 Server, stand-alone, running RRAS and
WINS. It connects to Internet with an ISDN card, and listens for PPP
clients on a parallel port

RRAS is configured as a router with on-demand connections and as a PPP
server. It authenticates users as local users. It assigns IP addresses
for clients from a fixed range and routes IP packets. It reads DNS,
DHCP and WINS configuration for PPP clients from a virtual Ethernet
card (Microsoft Loopback with static IP, static WINS and no DNS
servers). It's configured for NAT, with the inbound PPP interface as
the private interface (had to add it manually with netsh) and the on-
demand connection as the public one. The DNS proxy is enabled and the
DNS protocol is enabled for NAT. The default route is set statically on
the on-demand interface. IGMP and the DHCP forwarder have been disabled

* Problem

The clients receive no DNS servers when connecting (they should receive
the servers assigned by the ISP for the Internet connection), and I
have to add them manually (yuck). I know RRAS is reading the settings
from the Microsoft Loopback card, which has no DNS server configured,
but then why isn't the DNS proxy working?

Thanks in advance

 

[Robert L [MS-MVP]]

assuming "client" means VPN client, it should receive both internet dns and
the LAN dns. if you use default remote gateway, vpn client should receive
the LAN DNS if the server LAN connection has correct DNS setting. or post
the ipconfig /all here.

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[KJK::Hyperion]

assuming "client" means VPN client,

nope, PPP clients, connecting from the parallel port

if you use default remote gateway, vpn client should receive the LAN
DNS if the server LAN connection has correct DNS setting

which it doesn't, like I said. In fact, until the on-demand connection
to Internet is done, the server has no DNS at all, just one WINS I set
up to resolve the client names from the server. My configuration (the
server is localized in Italian, if you don't understand something just
ask) is:

Configurazione IP di Windows 2000

Nome host . . . . . . . . . . . : [omitted]
Suffisso DNS primario . . . . . :
Tipo nodo . . . . . . . . . . . : Ibrido
IP Routing abilitato. . . . . . : Sì
WINS Proxy abilitato. . . . . . : No

- Scheda Ethernet Connessione alla rete locale (LAN):

Suffisso DNS specifico connessione:
Descrizione . . . . . . . . . . : Scheda Microsoft Loopback
Indirizzo fisico. . . . . . . . : 02-00-4C-4F-4F-50
DHCP abilitato . . . . . . . . . : No
Indirizzo IP. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.0.0.0
Gateway predefinito . . . . . . . :
Server DNS. . . . . . . . . . . :
Server WINS primario . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1

- Scheda PPP Interfaccia server RAS (In ingresso):

Suffisso DNS specifico connessione:
Descrizione . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Indirizzo fisico. . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP abilitato . . . . . . . . . : No
Indirizzo IP. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Gateway predefinito . . . . . . . :
Server DNS. . . . . . . . . . . :

- Scheda PPP { [omitted] }:

Suffisso DNS specifico connessione:
Descrizione . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Indirizzo fisico. . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP abilitato . . . . . . . . . : No
Indirizzo IP. . . . . . . . . . . : XXX.25.186.158
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Gateway predefinito . . . . . . . : XXX.6.131.50
Server DNS. . . . . . . . . . . : [omitted]
[omitted]

(I've blacked out the personal information)

Note how "Scheda PPP Interfaccia server RAS (In ingresso)", the inbound
RAS PPP interface, has no DNS servers. If I configure the clients to
use the DNS servers specified by the ISP (see the last interface, i.e.
the dial-on-demand interface), everything works, otherwise they get no
DNS server and they can resolve no names. Problem is, I can't configure
every single client manually. I could disable dial-on-demand, connect
with a scheduled operation and copy the DNS settings to the Loopback
virtual card with a script, but I'd really like not to