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Vyatta VPN User Management

Here are the basic commands needed for managing VPN users on the Brocade Vyatta vRouter available in RackSpace Cloud.

Add New User

Remove A User

Change User Password

Same as adding a new user.

 

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Error 850 When Connecting to Vyatta VPN With Windows 8

While setting up a Windows 8 workstation to connect to a Brocade Vyatta firewall on RackSpace Cloud, I got the following error:

Error 850: The Extensible Authentication Protocol type required for authentication of the remote access connection is not installed on your computer.

Turns out the fix is pretty simple – on the Connections Properties -> Security tab we need to explicitly set the authentication protocols as shown in this image:

Credit goes to Brendan at SysadminSpot for providing this solution:

https://sysadminspot.com/server-administration/error-connecting-to-virtual-private-network-pptp-error-850-the-extensible-authentication-protocol-type-required-for-authentication/

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Configure Vyatta To Allow Incoming MySQL Connections

VyattaMysql - New Page

This article demonstrates how to configure a Vyatta firewall to allow incoming requests from a group of clients to an internal MySQL server.

Assuming that you have three external MySQL clients with IPv4 addresses:

[A:y.y.y.y]
[B:y.y.y.y]
[C:y.y.y.y]

We’ll put these addresses in a group called [clientgroup]. You can name the group appropriately for your installation.

The external address of the firewall is [x.x.x.x] and the internal address of the MySQL server is [z.z.z.z].

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Secure Hosting On RackSpace Cloud

We’re going to build a highly secure hosting environment on RackSpace Cloud using Cloud Networks and the new Brocade Vyatta vRouter image. The diagrams shows the target configuration:

rscloudbrocade

There are 4 networks:

Public – this is the RackSpace Public Cloud/Internet network. The vRouter connects via eth0 to this network with public address of 1.1.1.1

LocalPrivate – this is a private Cloud Network that connects the vRouter and the servers. This network uses the private 192.168.3.0/24 subnet.

DBPrivate – this is a private Cloud Network that connects the web and database servers. This network uses the private 192.168.4.0/24 subnet.

Service – this is RackSpaces multi-tenent management network. This network is not being used and is not shown in the diagram.

On these networks are three servers:

Brocade Vyatta vRouter – this device provides a router, firewall and VPN termination point

Web Server – provides hosting for the web application.

Database Server – provides hosting for MySQL database used by web application

The Web and Database servers are not directly connected to the Internet. Instead all traffic passes through the vRouter. The vRouter provides a stateful inspection firewall to control access. There is also a private network (DBPrivate) between the web and database server.

Part 1 – Create Networks & Servers

To get started, login to your RackSpace Cloud account.

1. Verify that your account is enable for Cloud Networks and Brocade Vyatta vRouter. Go to Servers and click the Add Server button. Look in the list of available images and find the Brocade Vyatta vRouter. If it is not listed then open a support ticket and request access. Look towards the bottom of the New Server form and find the Cloud Networks section. If you don’t see this section then open a support ticket requesting access to Cloud Networks. Once you have verified that both Cloud Networks and Brocade Vyatta vRouter are available on your account then you can proceed to the next step.

2. Create a new server using the Brocade Vyatta vRouter image. The minimum size for the server should be 1GB. You can resize up later on as needed. You can not resize down. In the Cloud Networks section at the bottom of the form, add a new network named “LocalPrivate”.

3. Create the new database server using the latest CentOS 6.x image with at least 1GB of memory. In the Cloud Networks section, create a new network named “DBPrivate”. Also add the database server to the previously created “LocalPrivate” network.

4. Create the new web server using the latest CentOS 6.x image with at least 1GB of memory. In the Cloud Networks section, add the web server to the previously created “DBPrivate” and the “LocalPrivate” networks.

Take note the root passwords and IP addresses assigned to each server as they are created.

Part 2 – Configure vRouter

Connect to the vRouter with SSH. The login will be username “vyatta” and the password set when the server was created.

Execute the following commands in order. Be careful to replace bracketted items with your actual configuration values. Most lines can be copied and pasted to the vRouter including the comments.

 

Part 3 – Configure VPN Client

Next you can configure a client workstation. Here’s the procedure to configure a Windows client to connect to the VPN:

http://blogs.reliablepenguin.com/2013/08/22/windows-l2tpipsec-client-config

These instructions include an optional step to enable split tunneling. You’ll most likely want to complete this step so that only traffic for the secure hosts is routed on the VPN.

 

Part 4 – Configure Web Server

Initially the web server will not have a viable default gateway so it will not be accessible from the Internet or the VPN. So you’ll need to SSH to the vRouter and then SSH again into the web server. Open an SSH terminal to the vRouter and login as user “vyatta”. Now ssh from here to the web server:

We need to set a default gateway pointing to the vRouter. So edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts-ifcfg-eth2 and add this line to the bottom:

If you addresses or interfaces are numbered differently then you’ll need to adjust accordingly. The key issue is that the webserver needs to point to the internal LocalPrivate interface on the vRouter for it’s default gateway in order to route to the Internet.

 

Part 5 – Configure Database Server

We need to set a default gateway pointing to the vRouter. So edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts-ifcfg-eth1 and add this line to the bottom:

If you addresses or interfaces are numbered differently then you’ll need to adjust accordingly. The key issue is that the database server needs to point to the internal LocalPrivate interface on the vRouter for it’s default gateway in order to route to the Internet.

 

Notes

  • For database access from the webserver, make sure you use the DBPrivate network. I like to add an entry to the /etc/hosts file on the webserver that maps a name to the correct address on the database server like this:

 

References

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Windows L2TP/IPSec Client Config

Here’s the procedure to configure a Windows client to connect to a L2TP/IPsec VPN server. You’ll need to know:

VPN Server Address
IPSec Pre-shared Secret
Username
Password

To get started:

1. Open the “Start” menu, enter “setup a vpn” in the search box and hit Enter. The “Create a VPN connection” dialog will open. You can also get to this dialog by going to:

Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> “Setup a new connection or network” -> “Connect to a workplace” -> Next -> “Use my Internet connection (VPN)”

Windows Set Up VPN

2. Enter the VPN Server Address in the “Internet Address” field. Enter a name for the VPN connection like “My VPN” in the “Destination Name” field. Click the “Don’t connect now…” checkbox. Click the Next button.

Win Type the internet address to connect to

3. Enter the username and password. Click the Create button. Click the Close button.

Win Username and Password

4. Open the network connections dialog by clicking the network icon among the status icons in the tool bar or by going to:

Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> “Connect or disconnect”

You should see your newly created VPN connection listed by the name that you gave it.

Win Connect to a Network_0

Right click on the connection and select Properties. The Properties dialog will open.

Win Vyatta VPN Properties

4. Go to the Security tab and change VPN Type to “Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)”.

Win Vyatta VPN Security Tab

Click the “Advanced Settings” button. Select “Use preshared key for authentication” and enter your Pre-shared Secret. Click the OK button.

Win Vyatta Advanced Properites

5. OPTIONAL – If you want to allow split routing then select the Networking tab. Now select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” and click the Properties button. Click the Advanced button. Uncheck the “Use default gateway on remote network” checkbox and click OK. Click OK.

Win Split Tunneling

6. Click Ok to save modified properties.

Setup is now complete. You can start the connection from the network connections dialog which can be reach by clicking on the network status icon in the toolbar or by going to:

Start -> Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> “Connect or disconnect”

Select the connection and then click on the Connect button.

Later you can disconnect by repeating the process and clicking the Disconnect button.

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