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Step-by-Step Guide: High available VNet-to-VNet connectivity via Active-Active Azure VPN gateways (PowerShell Guide)

In this blog post we are going to learn about Active-Active Azure VPN gateways. There are two methods to connect two virtual networks.

1. Azure VPN Gateways
2. Azure VNET Peering

Azure VNET Peering
Azure VNET peering allows connecting virtual networks seamlessly via Azure backbone infrastructure. This is similar to inter-VLAN routing in on-premises networks. The traffic will not pass via the public internet. It provides low latency, high bandwidth connectivity between virtual networks. VNET peering can use to connect virtual networks in the same Azure region or different Azure regions.

Azure VPN Gateways
If we are connecting virtual networks over the internet, we have to use VPN gateway option. This is the same for connecting Azure networks with on-premises networks. Also, if the encryption is a requirement, we have to use VPN gateways. Azure VPN Gateways can use to connect,

• Virtual Networks in the same region
• Virtual Networks in different regions
• Virtual Networks in different subscriptions

If the connection is over the public internet, it is not possible to guarantee the uptime as it depends on many facts. By using Active-Active Azure VPN gateways to improve the high availability of the VNet-to-VNet connections. This is important if you connecting the virtual network between different Azure regions. We also can use Active-Active Azure VPN gateways with cross-premises VPN connections.

In Active-Active Azure VPN gateway setup,
• There are two Gateway IP configurations with two public IP addresses for one VPN gateway. This allows initiating full-mesh connectivity between two virtual networks.
• VPN gateway SKU must be VpnGw1, VpnGw2, VpnGw3, or HighPerformance
• Supported to use BGP

In this demo, I am going to demonstrate how we can establish VNet-to-VNet connectivity between two Azure regions via Active-Active Azure VPN gateways.

azure infrastructure

In this demo setup, I got two virtual networks in East US and UK South region. As shown above, I am going to establish a fully mesh connectivity between two virtual networks.
For the configuration process, I will be using PowerShell. Therefore, please make sure you have an Azure PowerShell module installed. More info about it can find under https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/install-az-ps?view=azps-3.8.0

Create Active-Active Azure VPN Gateway in East US

Create a resource group in East US

The first step of the configuration is to create a new resource group in East US.
To do that,
1. Launch PowerShell console and connect to Azure using Connect-AzAccount
2. Create a new resource group using New-AzResourceGroup -Name REBELRG1 -Location “East US”. Here REBELRG1 is RG group name and East US is the location.

create azure resource group in East US region

Create a virtual network

The next step is to create a new virtual network under REBELRG1 resource group.

$subn1 = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name VMNet1 -AddressPrefix 10.0.0.0/24

$gwsubn1 = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name “GatewaySubnet” -AddressPrefix 10.0.255.0/27

New-AzVirtualNetwork -Name EUSVnet1 -ResourceGroupName REBELRG1 -Location “East US” -AddressPrefix 10.0.0.0/16 -Subnet $subn1,$gwsubn1

EUSVnet1 address space is 10.0.0.0/16. It is a class B IP address range. We do not need the entire range for workloads. Therefore, I am going to create two small subnets under it.

• VM Network – 10.0.0.0/24
• Gateway subnet – 10.0.255.0/27

In the above, VM network is going to use for virtual machines and Gateway Subnet is going to use for the VPN gateway setup.

Virtual Network Gateway can only be created in a subnet with name ‘GatewaySubnet’

create virtual network in East US region [Read more…] about Step-by-Step Guide: High available VNet-to-VNet connectivity via Active-Active Azure VPN gateways (PowerShell Guide)

Step-by-Step Guide: Azure AD Authentication for Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN (PowerShell Guide)

Azure AD authentication is supported for Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN. This means we can use Azure AD features such as conditional access, user-based policies, Azure MFA with VPN authentication. In this Demo, I am going to demonstrate how to enable Azure AD authentication for Azure P2S VPN.

As we go along, we will be working on the following tasks,

• Setup Azure point-to-site VPN with native Azure certificate authentication
• Configure OpenVPN for Azure P2S VPN
• Enable Azure AD Authentication for Azure point-to-site VPN
• Configure VPN Client
• Testing

I am going to use Azure PowerShell for configuration. Please make sure you have the Azure PowerShell module installed. More info about it can find under https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/install-az-ps?view=azps-2.6.0

Setup Azure point-to-site VPN with native Azure certificate authentication

Before we configure OpenVPN for Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN, first we need to set up Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN with native Azure certificate authentication. To do this,

1. Launch PowerShell console and connect to Azure using Connect-AzAccount (Using Global Administrator Account)
2. Create a new resource group using New-AzResourceGroup -Name REBELVPNRG -Location “East US”. Here REBELVPNRG is RG group name and East US is the location.

Create new Azure Resoruce Group

3. Now we need to create a new virtual network. We can create a virtual network using,

New-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Name REBEL-VNET -AddressPrefix 192.168.0.0/16 -Location “East US”

Create Azure Virtual Network

In the above, REBEL-VNET is the virtual network name. it uses 192.168.0.0/16 IP address range.

4. Under the virtual network, I am going to create two subnets. One for servers and one for VPN gateway. To create subnets,

$vn = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Name REBEL-VNET
Add-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name “REBEL-SVR-SUB” -VirtualNetwork $vn -AddressPrefix 192.168.100.0/24
Add-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name “GatewaySubnet” -VirtualNetwork $vn -AddressPrefix 192.168.5.0/24
Set-AzVirtualNetwork -VirtualNetwork $vn

In above REBEL-SVR-SUB is the server subnet and its address prefix is 192.168.100.0/24. GatewaySubnet is the VPN gateway subnet and its address prefix is 192.168.5.0/24.

Virtual Network Gateway can only be created in a subnet with name ‘GatewaySubnet’

5. VPN gateway is required a public IP address. To create one use,

$publicip = New-AzPublicIpAddress -Name REBELVPNPublicIP -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Location “East US” -AllocationMethod Dynamic

VPN Gateway currently only supports Dynamic Public IP address allocation.

Then update ip configuration using,

$vn = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Name REBEL-VNET
$gwsubnet = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name “GatewaySubnet” -VirtualNetwork $vn
$gwipconf = New-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayIpConfig -Name REBELVPNGWipconf -Subnet $gwsubnet -PublicIpAddress $publicip

Azure VPN Gateway IP address configuration

6. Next step of the configuration is to create a new VPN gateway,

New-AzVirtualNetworkGateway -Name REBELVPNGW -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Location “East US” -IpConfigurations $gwipconf -GatewayType Vpn -VpnType RouteBased -EnableBgp $false -GatewaySku VpnGw1 -VpnClientProtocol “IKEv2”

In the above, VpnType must be RouteBased. -GatewaySku should not be Basic as we are going to use OpenVPN and IKEv2. This can take up to 45 minutes to create the gateway.

Create Azure VPN Gateway

7. Now we have the gateway. The next step is to configure VPN client address pool. In this demo, I am going to use 172.16.25.0/24 as a client pool.

$gw = Get-AzVirtualNetworkGateway -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Name REBELVPNGW
Set-AzVirtualNetworkGateway -VirtualNetworkGateway $gw -VpnClientAddressPool “172.16.25.0/24”

Assign Azure VPN Client Address Pool [Read more…] about Step-by-Step Guide: Azure AD Authentication for Azure Point-to-Site (P2S) VPN (PowerShell Guide)

Step-by-Step Guide to setup Azure VNet-to-VNet VPN Gateway Connection (PowerShell Guide)

If we need to set up a connection between two independent networks (not between VLANs), we have to use a virtual private network (VPN) connections. In Azure, we use VNets to create private networks. If we need to communicate between two VNets, we have to use one of the following methods,

• VNet-to-VNet Connection – The communication happens between two VPN gateways. This is easy to set up, compare to the site-to-site VPN method.

• Site-to-Site VPN – This is similar to creating VPN connection to the on-premises network. It also uses VPN gateway, but it gives more control over the local network gateway. 

• VNet Peering – This method doesn't use VPN gateways and it routes the traffic via Microsoft backend infrastructure. More information about VNet peering is available on https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-network-peering-overview

In this demo, I am going to demonstrate how to create a VNet-to-VNet connection. These types of connections can establish between,

• Virtual Networks in the same region

• Virtual Networks in different regions

• Virtual Networks in different subscriptions

In this demo, I am going to create a VNet-to-VNet VPN connection between two virtual networks in two different regions. 

According to the above diagram, EUSVnet1 virtual network will be running on East US Azure region and UKSVnet1 virtual network will be running on UK South Azure region. Let's see how we can establish a VPN gateway connection between these two networks. Before start, please make sure you have the following in place. 

• Valid Azure Subscription – You can also use free azure subscription for testing purpose. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/free/ 

• Azure PowerShell Module – In this demo I am going to use PowerShell. Please make sure you have Azure PowerShell module installed. More info about it can find under https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/install-az-ps?view=azps-2.6.0

Create Resource Groups

The first step of the configuration is to create new resource groups in different regions. 

To do that, 

1. Launch PowerShell console and connect to Azure using Connect-AzAccount

2. Then create EUSRG1 under East US Azure region by using,

New-AzResourceGroup -Name EUSRG1 -Location "East US" 

In the above command, -Name parameter specifies the resource group name and -Location parameter specify the Azure region. 

3. Next step is to create UKSRG1 resource group in UK South Azure region by using,

New-AzResourceGroup -Name UKSRG1 -Location "UK South"

[Read more…] about Step-by-Step Guide to setup Azure VNet-to-VNet VPN Gateway Connection (PowerShell Guide)

Step-By-Step guide to create Point-to-Site VPN using Azure Network Adapter in Windows Server 2019

Azure point-to-site VPN means VPN tunnel between end-point & Azure without using corporate firewall. I have already written a complete guide on how to create point-to-site VPN with Azure. You can access it using https://www.rebeladmin.com/2018/07/step-step-guide-azure-point-site-vpn/ 

The above method includes many different tasks which we need to perform in both azure and on-premise to get it going. With Windows Server 2019, Microsoft introduced Azure Network Adapter which can use to create point-to-site VPN in a straightforward way. In this demo, I am going to demonstrate how we can create a point-to-site VPN using Azure Network Adapter. 

This feature currently available via new Windows Admin Center. So, before you start you need to get it running in your environment. In my demo setup, I have a domain joined server which running latest Windows Admin Center (build 1809). 

1. Log in to the Server as Administrator

2. Launch Windows Admin Center 

3. Click on the relevant server from the list

4. Click on Network

5. Then click on Actions | Add Azure Network Adapter

[Read more…] about Step-By-Step guide to create Point-to-Site VPN using Azure Network Adapter in Windows Server 2019

Step-by-Step guide to Azure Point-to-Site VPN

In one of my previous article, I explain how we can create site-to-site VPN connection between local network and azure virtual network. This VPN connection is initiated in your edge firewall or router level. But what if you connecting from remote location such as home? we can use point-to-site method to do that. In this method it will use certificates to do the authentication between end point and azure virtual network. 

So, let’s go ahead and see how we can do that, 

Create Resource Group 

In this exercise, I like to use separate resource group for virtual network and other components. 

1. Log in to Azure portal as global administrator

2. Launch Cloud Shell

3. Then run New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name REBELVPNRG -Location "East US". In here REBELVPNRG is RG group name and East US is the location.

Create Virtual Network

Now we need to create new virtual network. We can create virtual network using,

New-AzureRmVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName REBELVPNRG -Name REBEL-VNET -AddressPrefix 192.168.0.0/16 -Location "East US"

In above, REBEL-VNET is the virtual network name. it uses 192.168.0.0/16 IP address range.

[Read more…] about Step-by-Step guide to Azure Point-to-Site VPN