How To Setup Windows Server

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  1. How To Setup Windows Server 2019 Essentials
  2. How To Setup Windows Server Vpn
  3. How To Setup Windows Server Failover Clustering
  4. How To Setup Windows Server 2016

A virtual private network (VPN) is one of the most popular methods to access files and resources, such as apps, intranet websites, and printers using an encrypted connection from a remote location and through the internet.

Jun 04, 2019  How to set up a VPN connection on Windows 10. After completing setting up the Windows 10 as a VPN server, you’ll need to configure the devices that will be accessing your local network remotely. You can set up any device, including your desktop, laptop, tablet,. In order to make the windows server 2012 domain controller we will install ADDS (Active Directory Domain Services) role from the server manager on Windows Server 2012. All the Latest security updates must applied before installing the Role. Install DNS Server Role in Server 2012 To add a new role to Windows Server 2012, you use Server Manager. Start Server Manager, click the Manage menu, and then select Add Roles and Features.

Often companies use VPN to extend their private network to allow employees access resources through a public network as if they were directly connected into the company’s network.

Windows 10 like other versions of the OS has a feature called “Incoming Connection” that enables you to set up a VPN server to connect remotely to your home network to access your computer’s files and peripherals, and even other computers in the network.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up a VPN server on your Windows 10 computer without the need of extra software on the Home or Pro version of the OS.

Setting up a Minecraft server on Windows Server may be preferable if you are familiar with the Windows GUI. In this guide, you will learn how to setup a Minecraft server on Windows Server (all versions). This article assumes that you have logged into your server with RDP, and that you have Java installed.

  • How to find your IP address information
  • How to set up port forwarding on your router
  • How to set up a VPN server on Windows 10
  • How to allow VPN connections through the firewall
  • How to set up a VPN connection on Windows 10

    • How to find your IP address information

    Before diving into the instructions, the first thing you need to know is your public IP address that has been assigned to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You will need this information in order to contact your VPN server remotely.

    To know your current public IP address, open your web browser, and using any search engine, do a search for “What’s my IP”, and your information should be listed in the first result.

    If you’re setting up Incoming Connection in your home computer, you probably have a dynamic public IP address, which can change at any time. If this is the case, you’ll need to configure DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System) in your router to avoid having to configure the VPN setup every time your public IP address changes.

    Here are the instructions that will help you set up DDNS on your router. Remember that you can visit your router’s manufacturer website for more assistance to configure DDNS.

    How to set up port forwarding on your router

    To be able to connect through a public network, such as the internet, to your home VPN server, you’ll need to forward port 1723 (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)) to allow VPN connections.

    Here are the instructions that will help you set up port forwarding on your router. Remember that you can visit your router’s manufacturer website for more assistance to configure Port Forwarding.

    How to set up a VPN server on Windows 10

    Once you have set up DDNS to use a domain name instead of a complicated IP address, and you forwarded port 1723, now you are ready to set up a VPN server on your device:

    Use these steps to create a VPN server on Windows 10:

    1. Open Control Panel.

    2. Click on Network and Sharing Center.

    3. Using the left pane, click the Change adapter settings link.

    4. On “Network Connections,” open the File menu pressing the Alt key, and select the New Incoming Connection option.

    5. Check the users you want to VPN access to your computer, and click the Next button.

      Alternatively, you can click the Add someone button to create a new VPN user:

    6. Check the Through the Internet option.

    7. Click the Next button.

    8. In the networking software page, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option.

    9. Click the Properties button.

    10. Check the Allow callers to access my local area network option.

    11. Under “IP address assignment,” click Specify IP addresses, and specify the number of clients allowed to access using a VPN connection. (You will do this by specifying an IP address range, and it’s recommended that you use high-order range of IP addresses to help avoid conflicts in the network with the IPs distributed by your router.)

      Quick Tip: To find out the range of IP addresses you can use, navigate to your router’s settings page, and look for the DHCP settings.

    12. Click the OK button.

    13. Click the Allow access button.

    14. Click the Close button to complete setting up the VPN server on Windows 10.

    How to allow VPN connections through the firewall

    While configuring the Incoming Connection feature on Windows 10 should automatically open the necessary Windows Firewall ports, you want to make sure the firewall is properly configured.

    Use these steps to allow VPN connections through the firewall on Windows 10:

    1. Open Start.

    2. Search for Allow an app through Windows Firewall, and click the top result to open the experience.

    3. Click the Change settings button.

    4. Scroll down and make sure Routing and Remote Access is allowed on Private and Public.

    5. click the OK button.

    How to set up a VPN connection on Windows 10

    After completing setting up the Windows 10 as a VPN server, you’ll need to configure the devices that will be accessing your local network remotely. You can set up any device, including your desktop, laptop, tablet, and even phone (e.g., Android and iPhone).

    Here are the instructions to set up a VPN connection on Windows 10.

    Once you set up a VPN connection on your computer, you’ll need to adjust the settings with these steps:

    1. Open Control Panel.

    2. Click on Network & Internet.

    3. Click on Network and Sharing Center.

    4. On the left pane, click the Change adapter settings link.

    5. Right-click the VPN adapter and select Properties.

    6. In the General tab, make sure you’re using the correct domain you created while configuring DDNS — or at least you’re using the correct public IP address.

    7. Click on the Security tab.

    8. Under “Type of VPN,” select the Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) option.

    9. Under “Data encryption,” select the Maximum strength encryption (disconnect if server declines) option.

    10. Click the OK button.

    11. Click on the Networking tab.

    12. Uncheck the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) option.

    13. Check the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option.

    14. Select the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option.

    15. Click the Properties button.

    16. Click the Advanced button.

    17. Clear the Use default gateway on remote network option.

      Important: We’re disabling this option to prevent your web traffic to go through the remote connection, which can dramatically slow down your internet connection. However, if you’re looking to access the internet through a VPN connection, then don’t change this last setting.

    18. Click the OK button.

    19. Click the OK button again.

    20. Click the OK button once more.

    21. Open Settings.

    22. Click on Network & Internet.

    23. Click on VPN.

    24. Select the VPN connection option and click the Connect button.

    While there are many solutions to allow users to connect remotely to a private network using a VPN connection, you can set up your own server with the tools built within Windows 10 without the need of extra software.

    In addition, one of the best benefits of setting up a VPN server on your Windows 10 PC is that it’s not only secure and reliable, but it’s a great alternative for users who are still skeptical about cloud services to store their data. Even more, through a virtual private network, you can even access your device using remote desktop.

    Update August 20, 2018: Originally published in May 2016, revised in June 2019.

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    For You

    Windows has the built-in ability to function as VPN server using the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP), although this option is somewhat hidden. Here’s how to find it and set up your VPN server.

    RELATED:What Is a VPN, and Why Would I Need One?

    Setting up a VPN server could be useful for connecting to your home network on the road, playing LAN games with someone, or securing your web browsing on a public Wi-Fi connection – a few of the many reasons you might want to use a VPN. This trick works on Windows 7, 8, and 10. The server uses the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP.)

    Note: Some people who have updated to the Windows 10 Creators Update have a problem where creating a VPN server fails because the Routing and Remote Access Service fails to start. This is a known issue that has not yet been fixed through updates. However, if you’re comfortable editing a couple of Registry keys, there is a workaround that seems to fix the problem for most people. We’ll keep this post up to date if the issue gets formally fixed.

    Limitations

    While this is a pretty interesting feature, setting up a VPN server this way may not be the ideal choice for you. It does have some limitations:

    • You will need the ability to forward ports from your router.
    • You have to expose Windows and a port for the PPTP VPN server directly to the Internet, which is not ideal from a security standpoint. You should use a strong password and consider using a port that isn’t the default port.
    • This isn’t as easy to set up and use as software like LogMeIn Hamachi and TeamViewer. Most people will probably be better off with a more complete software package like those offer.

    Creating a VPN Server

    To create a VPN server in Windows, you’ll first need to open the “Network Connections” window. The quickest way to do this is to hit Start, type “ncpa.cpl,” and then click the result (or hit Enter).

    In the “Network Connections” window, press the Alt key to show the full menus, open the “File” menu, and then select the “New Incoming Connection” option.

    Next, select the user accounts that can connect remotely. To increase security, you may want to create a new, limited user account rather than allow VPN logins from your primary user account. You can do that by clicking the “Add someone” button. Whatever user account you choose, ensure that it has a very strong password, since a weak password could be cracked by a simple dictionary attack.

    When you’ve got your user selected, click the “Next” button.

    On the next page, select the“Through the Internet” option to allow VPN connections over the Internet. That’s likely the only option you’ll see here, but you could also allow incoming connections over a dial-up modem if you have the dial-up hardware.

    Next, you can select the networking protocols that should be enabled for incoming connections. For example, if you don’t want people connected to the VPN to have access to shared files and printers on your local network, you can disable the “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” option.

    When you’ve got things set up, click the “Allow Access” button.

    Windows then configures access for the user accounts you chose—which can take a few seconds.

    And at this point, your VPN server is up and running, ready to take incoming connection requests. If you want to disable the VPN server in the future, you can simply return to the “Network Connections” window and delete the “Incoming Connections” item.

    Router Setup

    If you’re connecting to your new VPN server over the Internet, you’ll need to set up port forwarding so that your router knows to send traffic of that type to the right PC. Log into your router’s setup page and forward port 1723 to the IP address of the computer where you set up the VPN server. For more instructions, check out our guide on how to forward ports on your router.

    For maximum security, you may want to create a port forwarding rule that forwards a random “external port”—such as 23243—to “internal port” 1723 on your computer. This will allow you to connect to the VPN server using port 23243, and will protect you from malicious programs that scan and attempt to automatically connect to VPN servers running on the default port.

    You can also consider using a router or firewall to only allow incoming connections from specific IP addresses.

    RELATED:How To Easily Access Your Home Network From Anywhere With Dynamic DNS

    Server

    To ensure you can always connect to the VPN server, you also may want to set up a dynamic DNS service like DynDNS on your router.

    How To Setup Windows Server 2019 Essentials

    Connecting to Your VPN Server

    RELATED:How to Find Your Private and Public IP Addresses

    To connect to the VPN server, you will need your computer’s public IP address (your network’s IP address on the Internet) or its dynamic DNS address, if you set up a dynamic DNS service.

    In whatever version of Windows you’re using on the machine doing the connecting, you can just hit Start, type “vpn,” and then select the option that appears. In Windows 10, it will be named “Change Virtual Private Networks (VPN).” In Windows 7, it’s named “Set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

    How To Setup Windows Server Vpn

    When asked, provide a name for the connection (anything will do) and the Internet address (this can be a domain name or IP address).

    How To Setup Windows Server Failover Clustering

    RELATED:How to Connect to a VPN in Windows

    For more instructions on connecting—including some of the advanced options you can choose—check out our full guide on how to connect to a VPN on Windows.

    How To Setup Windows Server 2016

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