Where QuickVPN client gets DNS server IP

[jpleslie01]

Where does the QuickVPN client get the IP of the remote DNS server from? After connecting with the client and doing an IPConfig/all I see it list the IP address of the DNS server on the remote network ahead of the DNS server on my local network. I understand why that is, but I don't understand where the client gets the IP for the remote DNS server.

Jonathan

[Te-Kai Liu]

Remote DNS Server is provided by QuickVPN server as part of the reponse to the connection request made by a QuickVPN client.

[jpleslie01]

So I assume the QuickVPN server is the router since that's what the client connects to. I looked all through the router and there is no place in there where the IP of the DNS server is listed. Had I found that DNS server IP somewhere in the router, I would assume that's where it came from. But as I said, the IP of the internal DNS server is not to be found on any screen of the router. That's why I'm asking how the client gets the internal DNS server IP address.

Jonathan

[Te-Kai Liu]

By default QuickVPN router gives its LAN IP to QuickVPN client as the remote DNS server.

[jpleslie01]

That's not true in this case. The router's LAN IP is x.x.x.1 and the DNS IP being handed out to remote clients is x.x.x.2 which is the address of one of the DNS server's on the LAN. I want to know how that IP is obtained so I can change it to the other DNS server on the LAN.

Jonathan

[Te-Kai Liu]

When you specify a custom DNS server in the DHCP page of RV0xx, that DNS server's IP address will be provided to QuickVPN client.

[jpleslie01]

I now realize that I've made a big mistake by not providing all pertinent information right up front. Otherwise you wouldn't have been wasting your time and could have zeroed in on the heart of the problem.

The RVS router does not provide DHCP or anything else. It only functions as a router and that's it. The small Windows domain located on the LAN servers providing DC, DHCP, and DNS services among others. One of the DNS servers is what is always provided for the VPN and I'm trying to figure out how change it to the other DNS server.

Jonathan

[jpleslie01]

Something is not right with DNS, that much I know.

It used to be that I could ping a hostname on the network I connect to via QuickVPN and get it's LAN IP, but now I can't. When I ping the hostname (either short name or FQDN) I get an IP that is a public IP and I can't figure out where it's coming from. In fact, it doesn't matter which hostname on the internal network that I ping, it always returns the same IP.

If I do a ping -a IPaddress, it does resolve to the correct hostname.

I have found that after connecting via QuickVPN, if I manually change the IP of the first DNS server in my NIC's list to the other DNS server on the LAN I'm connecting to, I can ping any hostname on that LAN by FQDN and I'll get it's correct LAN IP.

That tells me something on the one DNS server on that LAN isn't right so I need to investigate that.

But I still want to know how to change which DNS server the QuickVPN client assigns me since it now is assigning the DNS server that doesn't appear to be working correctly via QuickVPN.

Jonathan

[jpleslie01]

I have found that the file vpnserver.conf is where the IP of the DNS server and domain name are held. But it is not a static file. I changed it in Notepad and the next time I connected to the router, the entries were set back to what they were before.

So there is someplace in the router where these values are held. But I cannot find it. I went through every screen on the router and I found only 2 places where the IP of the DNS server that's getting transmitted to me is located. One is on the Administration/Management page under SNMP, it has the IP of the Trap To there. The other is the Syslog Server IP. Neither of those have anything to do with DNS.

So I am still in the dark about knowing just where the router gets the IP of the DNS server and the domain name (it comes across as Linksys). I want them changed but I cannot see where in the router to do that.

Jonathan