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mmark751969
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎10-22-2013 01:30 PM

esxi 5.5 and microsoft vpn

I have an esxi 5.5 server that was recently installed.  I've noticed that after the installation of esxi 5.5.  The microsoft pptp vpn servers no longer work.  . They hang at 'verifying username and password'.  Usually this is due to firewalls blocking the gre protocol.  But in this case, It has been verified that this is not the case from a combination of packet sniffing and elimination(other MS pptp vpn servers, running older esxi, behind the same firewall, with same rules, are working fine)and local server firewall is off as well.  I then had a fresh new windows server 2008 vm installed(on same esxi 5.5 server) and configured rras on it with same results.  This is trying from multiple client workstations some running win7 and another xp with their firewalls off as well.  Also(maybe the smoking gun)is that this all started last wednesday night - when esxi 5.5 was installed.  Earlier that day(when it was still on 5.0),i was using that pptp vpn fine.   So, was wondering what in esxi 5.5 could be conflicting with or causing this. Or if anyone as seen something similar(i've heard that 5.5 offers more features with respect to network filtering and the like). 

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6 Replies
dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
‎10-22-2013 01:42 PM

This is a known regression in ESXi 5.5: The e1000 virtual NIC does not correctly handle GRE packets, which breaks PPTP.  See the KB article: VMware KB: Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) connections may not work on ESXi 5.5

We'll be correcting the issue in a future update.  It should be possible to work around the issue by changing your vNIC from e1000 to something else (i.e. vmxnet3).

--

Darius

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daneholman
Contributor
Contributor
‎10-29-2013 10:09 AM

Thank you soooo much. This is exactly the answer I was looking for.

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bfroehlich
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-08-2014 12:59 PM

This worked! Thanks!

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leonhardtla
Expert
Expert
‎02-04-2014 09:08 AM

I had the same problem and has solved vmxnet3 the virtual network adapter of the PPTP server.

Greetings!

----- Leandro Ariel Leonhardt: Virtualized System Architect at GrupoSothis.com. VSAN vExpert 2016, vExpert 2017/16/15/14/13, VMware Certified Instructor, VCAP5-DCA, VCP6/5-DCV, VCA-DCV, Nutanix NPP/NSEN & Nutanix Technology Champions (NTC). | Founder of BlogVMware Blog: https://www.blogvmware.com & Nutanix Course http://vExpert.me/Z0 Si encuentras que esta o cualquier otra respuesta fue de utilidad, por favor da el voto. Gracias. If you find this or any other answer useful, please consider awarding points. Thank you.
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forevermayhem
Contributor
Contributor
‎02-14-2014 05:11 PM

Thank You! I was pulling my hair out. I was at the end of my troubleshooting rope. I changed the VM's adapter from E1000 to VMXNET 3 and voila, now I can connect to PPTP VPNs again. What a relief.

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fachex
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-19-2017 08:47 AM

Thank  you! I changed the NIC and now I can cannot to VPN pptp.

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