PPP adapter not properly closes after VPN session end

PPP adapter not properly closes after VPN session end

avatar
vt

I am not sure if the following is a bug in RDM or in Windows 10. I assume it's the latter or a combination.

Recently, I noticed that I cannot establish new VPN connections after closing an open Microsoft VPN session that was made using rasdial.exe.

Specifically what happens is that the PPP adapter is not being properly closed. It remains open with media state "Media unoperational". As a consequence, new connections are not possible. This is how it looks like in ipconfig /all: 

C:\> ipconfig /all

PPP adapter :

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media unoperational
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.0.91
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0


A reboot solves the issue. To resolve it without reboot is complex and I could not get it to work properly in all cases (uninstall miniport adapter in device manager, reset winsock, reset ip stack etc.).

I never have this problem when initiating the connection not from rasdial but from the Windows Settings panel instead.

All Comments (9)

avatar
Gabriel Degrandpré

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us on that matter!

To start off, I have a few questions regarding your configuration to give me a better idea of what could be causing this behavior.

  • What version of RDM do you use?
  • What type of data source do you use?
  • Could you please send us screenshots of your VPN entry's configuration?


Best regards,


Gabriel Degrandpré

avatar
vt

Hi Gabriel,

I'm experiencing this issue with RDM 2020.1.13.0, 64bit, and the data source I use is MS SQL.

avatar
Gabriel Degrandpré

Hello,

Out of curiosity, does the problem still persist if you run RDM as Administrator? If my theory is correct, I believe this might solve the issue.

Best regards,


Gabriel Degrandpré

avatar
vt

Hi Gabriel,

Indeed, I can't seem to be able to reproduce the issue when running RDM as admin. Can you explain why?

Best regards,
Viktor

avatar
David Grandolfo

Hi Viktor,

I'm glad that now the behavior is fixed.

When starting a PPP VPN, we use RasPhone or RasDial and a standard run often doesn't have a right to close a VPN in command line.

I'm not sure which parts of Windows is preventing that but you can look near the UAC control if you don't want to run as admin you can reduce the UAC level base on your company's policy.

Regards,

David Grandolfo

avatar
vt

Hi David,

I guess we celebrated too early. The issue keeps happening, even when running RDM as Admin.

From what I've observed, it seems that the issue appears in particular when the connection stayed alive for a longer while (several hours), then RDM does not properly close the PPP adapter.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you troubleshoot this issue.

avatar
David Grandolfo

Hi,

That type of error is complex to diagnose, first before starting the VPN the next time. Go to Help -- Profiler -- Debug and set the Debug Level to 1.

Then run RDM and the VPN for several hours, and try to close the VPN.
If the error occurs:

  • Export logs from Help -- Application Log
  • Export logs in Windows Event Viewer -- application. And look if any VPN, RASDial or RASPhone error appears.


When you have these logs send it to us through the link I sent you in private messages.

Best regards,

David Grandolfo

avatar
vt

Hi David,

I didn't have time to check this yet but I fear that RDM may not be responsible for this behavior. Lately, I have been starting VPN connections directly from the network icon in the Windows taskbar and I'm experiencing the same issues.

I'll keep investigating.

Best regards,
Viktor

avatar
David Grandolfo

Thanks for the follow-up, if you find RDM related issue feel free to contact us.

Regards,

David Grandolfo