Hi Everyone,Something strange happened a few months back when i moved my mail server and vpn server to a new server. I havnt been able to figure it out so i thought i would stop in here. After i completely migrated my mail server and vpn server over to new hardware my users can no longer connect to remote desktop through computer name externally. Internally it works, but outside it no longer works. Outside users' outlook can still connect to the mailserver using its FQDN and everything but if they want to use remote desktop i have to hand out thier IP, which can be a big pain as it does change with time. Previous server and current server are running W3K Enterprise edition and Exchange 2003.Any idea what might be going on?Thanks,jennyjen

Hi Jennyjen, If it is working internally and not externally, usually this points to a hardware firewall/router/gateway device not forwarding port 3389. Please make sure this port is forwarded to the correct server for RDP to work. I am guessing your running Windows 2003 Enterprise Server (although I am not sure what W3k is..windows 3000????) and if you are able to connect internally then the local software firewall is configured correctly and the computer is correctly setup to respond to RDP requests. I would check the Router, and verify port 3389 is forwarded to the correct computer.Scotty

haha sorry i did mean windows 2003 enterprise edition. Im not sure what router/firewall to check since neither of those things have changed, just the server has been upgraded to a new one. And since this is a server there is no windows firewall installed on it.

Did the private IP of the new server change from the old server? If this is the case, i would even more look towards port forwarding in the firewall/router. You say this is by computer name. Do you mean the regular DNS name? Can they RDP by IP address? If the users go to the public IP of the server, will RDP work? This IP should be static and never changing.Scotty

yes the internal IP did change on the server. However it does have multiple ip's and the old server IP has been moved over to the new server as well..it just isnt the main server IP.Yes the users can remote by IP address when signed into the vpn, however if they try to use the DNS name (computer name) it cant seem to find the computer anymore. They are able to connect perfectly to the vpn, but its thier own individual desktops that they try to remote into from home that is where they are experiancing this problem.

Ok, If I am understanding this correctly, the remote users....1. Connect to the VPN. 2. Once the VPN is connected, the RDP to the workstation they are assigned. 3. They do this by DNS and FQDN. What is the DNS server for the VPN group? If they ping by FQDN when on the VPN, do they resolve the hostname? From what you are now explaining, this seems very much like a DNS issue.Scotty

Hi Scotty,Sorry it took me a while to get back to you but i kept forgetting to test the ping by FQDN when i was at home. I also throughly agree that this is a DNS issue, im just not sure where to look. I did test it this weekend however. When i am signed into the vpn i am still unable to ping by FQDN and if i ping by IP it will reply.As for your list of how they connect that is correct.Let me know of any ideas you might have,Jen