topic Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect? in General Topics

Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

John_Trask — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:17:49 GMT

I've deployed GlobalProtect 4.0.3-31 to my lab machines. When I log in, I get notifications that GlobalProtect is connecting, and then that it is not connected. I'm not panicked because my portal is not available from my internal network. Will switching to an On-Demand configuration make these notifications go away?

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

jdprovine — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:58:34 GMT

@John_Trask

On demand will keep the GP client from logging in automatically, the user will have to open up the client and choose to logon and get connected

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 16:47:37 GMT

@jdprovine has answered your question, but can i ask, why have you installed GP to lab devices if not needed.

just curious....

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 06:20:39 GMT

Excuse the brevity of my previous post.

had to pop out..

i was going to suggest internal host detection for globalprotect but as in a lab enviroment this may not be possible.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

John_Trask — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:20:40 GMT

That's the behavior I want, but will it eliminate the icon in the system tray reporting an error (not connected)? My users will go bonkers if they see that.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

John_Trask — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:22:44 GMT

It's not that the lab machines don't need it, none of my computers will need it when they're connected to the corporate network. This is strictly to allow corporate-owned computers to connect to our network when they're out in the wild.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:42:52 GMT

@John_Trask

if you configure "internal host detection" in the globalprotect app config on the PA, the user icon will just change to a little house, no errors....

its under network/portals/agent/config/gateways

just choose an internal host and its relevant IP address... bingo. we use it for our always on config.

please note that users will need to connect to the portal to get the new config.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:51:53 GMT

pics below

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:57:19 GMT

also...

we allow access to the portal from our LAN.

only so that users can get the latest config whilst connected to the LAN.

we have 4,500 users with "always on" and "internal host detection" and have had no issues... works well.....

the internal host option will prevent them from connecting to any of your gateway(s). providing the internal host is available.

not sure why PA never gave the option to add 2 or 3 internal hosts for maintenance or similar...

Mick.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

BrianRa — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 17:23:45 GMT

@Mick_Ball's suggestion is the best option. We are doing the same thing with our domain laptops. This functions fairly well (occasionally a rediscover network is required as users just sleep thier computers between office and home).

Brian

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 21:58:02 GMT

@BrianRa, yes noted... when i say we have no issues i of course mean not enough to cause any concern...

we do have the occasional rediscover issue but users are content and familiar with this... our calls have reduced 10 fold since always on was introduced. However... we really dont get many rediscover issues compared to the ammount of users involved and im talking about users who struggle to even open the laptop lid sometimes...

but of course.... if it all ran smoothly... i would be stacking shelves.....

not sure if it makes any difference but in sleep mode, users are logged off and after 15 mins of inactivity the laptop is shut down...

so.... by the time our users have moved site or arrived home the device powers up from scratch...

Laters....

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

BrianRa — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 23:02:48 GMT

Thanks @Mick_Ball, I wasn't trying to argue I was confirming everything you had said.

That is actually a very good differentiation. We allow them to sleep then hibernate. When they come back up the laptop thinks nothing has changed, checks its network and corrects. GP does not always update when the interface updates. This is where the rediscover network comes in.

I am not saying by any means this is a large problem, just one it is better to be aware of. Initially we received quite a few calls because "it takes forever to come back up". The GP VPN works much better than many others I have used.

Brian

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 06:32:42 GMT

@BrianRa, no arguement perceived, it was a good post and i was confirming what you said as no matter what configuration you use, it will still have the occasional issue. Sorry for the confusion.

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

jdprovine — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 13:22:01 GMT

@Mick_Ball

We allow internal accessa as well though I have been told that is not a good idea but I have never been given any reason why it is considered a bad idea

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:06:04 GMT

@jdprovine.

I can see why this could be an issue...

if you remove the dns entry of your internal host, or, if the internal host changes its IP then always on devices will connect to the gateway via the internet and back again... no big deal but it could max out your 128k isdn...

so, I use an internal host with a fixed IP, damage limitation reduced 50%.

I still would prefer the option of being able to add at least another 1 internal host entry..

having said that,,, you can of course have internal host detection without access from the LAN to portal/gateway.

I have to say that the best point about internal host detection is that users will know if they have a GP issue prior to traveling half way round the world to discover thier auth cert has expired or that thier username has been changed on AD and not updated PKI.

Mick

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

jdprovine — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:10:16 GMT

@Mick_Ball

I have everyone configured for on demand so they don't automagically connect to the VPN. I don't believe we have any internal host detection enabled either, I did not configure the box originally and there are still alot of pieces parts I don't understand or know yet

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

Mick_Ball — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:16:42 GMT

@jdprovine.

"and there are still alot of pieces parts I don't understand or know yet"

ahhh... welcome to my world....

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

BrianRa — Sat, 03 Feb 2018 01:32:30 GMT

@jdprovine, in many ways that is the positive and negative to Palo Alto. There are many pieces that can be configured and often there is more than one way to put them together. Thats great for this specific thing or that but at the same time it makes it very difficult to create that standard config that you can just pass off to the next guy. He probably did something different.

@Mick_Ball, the only suggestion I can make on using more than one internal device check is to configure both the IPV4 and IPV6 devices. It let me configure both but we are not currently using V6 internally so I can not test the functionality for you.

Overall we have found the internal vs external configuration works very well (aside from the network swaps previously mentioned). We have actually found the majority of our GP VPN client problems come from the actual client install itself having problems. It will either not install properly the first time or something later (we can only assume) messes up the install when it is either installed or updated (new program, updated program, windows update, etc).

Brian

Re: Will an On-Demand configuration keep GlobalProtect from notifying me that it did not connect?

jdprovine — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 13:33:01 GMT

@BrianRa

Yes the configurations are probably not the same for everyone, but TAC assured me it was 99% unlikely that the configuration on the Zone protection broke my VPN