4.5 Connecting to VPN Server
By using PacketiX VPN Client to define the required connection
settings of a connection setting and then connecting to that connection
setting, you can start the connection to VPN Server.
4.5.1 Starting a VPN Connection
Starting a VPN Connection
To start the VPN connection of a registered connection setting,
double-click the connection setting or click [Connect] on the [Connect]
menu. When VPN Client is connecting to VPN Server, the following dialog
box displays the connection status in real-time. (The connection status
dialog box is not displayed when the [Don't display connection status
and error window when connecting to VPN Server] option for the
connection setting is enabled.)
Figure 4-5-1 Dialog Box Displaying the VPN Connection Status |
Establishing a VPN Connection
When a VPN connection is established, the connection status changes
to Connected (Established). Depending on the Windows setting, when the
status of the Virtual Network Adapter changes from the network cable
being unplugged to the VPN client being online, the notification
[Connected] is displayed in the notification area of the taskbar.
Figure 4-5-2 Status of the Virtual Network Adapter Changes
When a VPN Connection is Established |
VPN Communication after Establishing a VPN Connection
When a VPN connection is established, VPN Client establishes VPN
communication with the Virtual HUB on the destination VPN Server.
Once VPN communication is established, the operation of the Virtual
Network Adapter is the same as the operation of a physical network
adapter connected to Windows. To determine the IP address assigned to
the Virtual Network Adapter, double-click the connection icon of the
Virtual Network Adapter on the taskbar or use the ipconfig /all
command.
4.5.2 Checking the Connection Status
Using VPN Client Manager to Check the Status in the Connection
Setting List
A list of connection settings registered to VPN Client is displayed
in the VPN Client Manager window.
This list displays the current status of each connection setting in
the [Status] column. The three connection statuses displayed here are as
follows.
| Status |
Description |
| Offline |
Indicates that the connection to VPN Server for that
connection setting is offline. |
| Connecting |
Indicates that the connection setting is connecting to VPN
Server or that an error occurred and VPN Client is waiting
to reconnect. |
| Connected
(Established) |
Indicates that a connection to VPN Server is established and
a VPN session is established and communicating to VPN
Server. |
Obtaining Detailed Information on a Connecting or Connected
Connection Setting
To obtain the latest information in real-time on a connection setting
connecting or connected to VPN Server, double-click the connection
setting or click [View Status] on the [Connect] menu.
Figure 4-5-4 Window Displaying Detailed Information of a
Connection Setting |
The following are the main items displayed here.
| Setting |
Description |
| VPN Connection
Setting Name |
Displays the name of the connection setting. |
| Session Status |
Displays the connection status of the connection setting.
One of the following connection statuses is displayed.
- Starting Connection to VPN Server
- Negotiating
- Authenticating User
- Connection Established
- Retrying
- Idling
- Connecting
- Connection Established (Session Established)
|
| Server Name |
Displays the host name or IP address of the destination VPN
Server. The IP address of the VPN Server computer to which
VPN Client is actually connected is displayed even when
connected to a cluster, thereby letting you know to which
VPN Server of the cluster the client is connected. |
| Port Number |
Displays the destination TCP/IP port number. |
| Server Product Name |
Displays the product name and edition name of the
destination VPN Server. |
| Server Version |
Displays the version number of the destination VPN Server. |
| Server Build |
Displays the build number of the destination VPN Server. |
| Connection Start
Time |
Displays the time when the VPN connection process started
using the connection setting. For example, this indicates
the time when the user double-clicked the connection
setting. |
| Time that first
session was established |
Displays the time when the initial VPN session was
established and VPN communication started. |
| Number of
Established Sessions |
Displays the time when the current VPN session was
established and VPN communication started. |
| Number of Sessions
Established |
Displays the number of times that a VPN session has been
successfully established. This number increases each time a
VPN connection is established, the connection is terminated,
and a VPN connection is established again. |
| Half-Duplex TCP
Connection Mode |
Displays whether the PacketiX VPN protocol communication
mode for the VPN session is the half-duplex connection mode. |
| VoIP / QoS Support
Function |
Displays whether the VoIP / QoS support function (for
details, see 「1.9 VoIP / QoS Support Function」) is enabled for this session. |
| Number of TCP
Connections |
Displays the number of current TCP/IP connections in the VPN
session. |
| Maximum Number of
TCP Connections |
Displays the maximum number of TCP/IP connections that can
be used in the VPN session. |
| Encryption |
Displays whether the VPN session is protected using
encryption or a digital signature. |
| Use of Compression |
Displays whether the VPN session is using compressed data
communication via a data compression algorithm. |
| Session Name |
Displays the ID identifying the session. |
| Session Key
(160-bit) |
Displays the internal management ID uniquely identifying the
session created by VPN Server. |
| Bridge/Router Mode |
Displays whether the session type is the bridge/router mode. |
| Monitoring Mode |
Displays whether the session type is the monitoring mode. |
| Outgoing Data Size |
Displays the number of data bytes sent from the VPN client
to VPN Server using the PacketiX VPN protocol (approximate
number of packets actually flowing through the physical IP
network). |
| Receive Data Size |
Displays the number of data bytes sent from VPN Server to
the VPN client using the PacketiX VPN protocol (approximate
number of packets actually flowing through the physical IP
network). |
| Incoming Data Size |
Displays the number of virtual Ethernet frame packets sent
and received and the total data size (updated in real-time). |
Displaying the VPN Session Security Policies
When a VPN session is established, the [Security policy] button on
the [Connection status] window is enabled. Clicking this button displays
a list of security policy values associated with the VPN session in
which the VPN client is currently connected to VPN Server.
Figure 4-5-5 Window Displaying the Security Policies of the
VPN Session |
Displaying the Server and Client Certificates
Once a VPN session is established, you can display the X.509
certificate presented by the destination VPN Server by clicking [Server
Certificate] on the [Connection status] window.
If client certificate authentication or smart card authentication is
used to authenticate the user when connecting to the current VPN,
clicking [Client Certificate] displays the X.509 certificate presented
by VPN Client to VPN Server at the time of authentication.
Figure 4-5-6 Window Displaying the Server and Client
Certificates |
4.5.3 Terminating a VPN Connection
The VPN Client user can terminate a connected session at any time.
When a connected VPN session is terminated, the connection setting
returns to the offline status.
To terminate a VPN connection by specifying a connection setting,
select the connection setting and click [Disconnect] on the [Connect]
menu. Depending on the network status, it can take anywhere from several
milliseconds to several seconds to send the message to terminate the
connection to VPN Server.
4.5.4 Operations When an Error Occurs
When an Error Occurs
When a communication error, such as a communication timeout when
connecting or connected to VPN Server, occurs, an error message is
displayed, as shown below. The error message displays the error code and
error description. For information about the error codes, please refer
to 「12.5 Error Codes」.
Figure 4-5-7 Window Displayed When a Communication Error
Occurs |
If no action is taken when an error message is displayed and the
automatic reconnection function is set for the connection setting, after
the interval between attempts to reconnect, the error message
automatically disappears and the VPN client automatically starts an
attempt to reconnect to the desired VPN Server.
Please note that error messages are not displayed when the [Don't
display connection status and error window when connecting to VPN
Server] option for the connection setting is enabled or when the
checkbox next to [Hide this Window when Connecting Next Time] is
checked.
When Password Authentication Fails
When the connection setting is set to [Standard password
authentication] or [RADIUS or NT domain authentication] and access to
the Virtual HUB is denied because the user name or password does not
match, the following window for re-entering the password is displayed.
Figure 4-5-8 Window Displayed When Password Authentication
Fails |
When the box next to [Don't Save Password] is checked on the above
window, the entered password is not saved, so you must enter the
password again the next time you connect to VPN Server.
If you do not want the password saved to VPN Client, enable the
[Don't Save Password] option. (Checking this box also enables this
option the next time you connect.)
|