Azure Virtual Network Gateway VPN Client Connection Cmdlets

This section provides a comprehensive reference for PowerShell cmdlets used to manage VPN client connections to Azure Virtual Network Gateways. These cmdlets allow you to configure, monitor, and troubleshoot client VPN connectivity for secure access to your Azure resources.

Overview of VPN Client Connection Management

Managing VPN client connections is crucial for establishing secure and reliable access to your Azure Virtual Network. Azure VPN Gateway supports various client VPN configurations, including Point-to-Site (P2S) VPNs, which enable individual users to connect to your virtual network from their devices.

The following PowerShell cmdlets are essential for working with VPN client connections:

Get-AzVpnClientConfiguration: Retrieves the VPN client configuration package for a virtual network gateway. This package contains certificates, root certificates, and other settings required by the client to establish a P2S VPN connection.
Set-AzVpnClientConfiguration: Configures the VPN client settings for a virtual network gateway, including the address pool for clients and the root certificates.
Add-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Adds a root certificate to the virtual network gateway for VPN client authentication.
Remove-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Removes a root certificate from the virtual network gateway.
Get-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Retrieves the root certificates associated with a virtual network gateway.
New-AzVpnClientIpPool: Creates a new IP address pool for VPN clients connecting to the virtual network gateway.
Get-AzVpnClientIpPool: Retrieves the IP address pools configured for VPN clients.
Remove-AzVpnClientIpPool: Removes an IP address pool from the virtual network gateway.

Key Cmdlets and Examples

Get-AzVpnClientConfiguration

This cmdlet is used to download the VPN client configuration package, which is essential for setting up client devices to connect to your Azure VNet.

Example: Download P2S Client Configuration Package

# Get the VPN client configuration package for a specific gateway
Get-AzVpnClientConfiguration -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -AuthenticationContext "VpnClient" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty VpnClientPackageUrl

# To download directly, you would typically use Invoke-WebRequest after obtaining the URL
# $vpnClientPackageUrl = (Get-AzVpnClientConfiguration -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup").VpnClientPackageUrl
# Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $vpnClientPackageUrl -OutFile ".\VpnClientConfig.zip"

Set-AzVpnClientConfiguration

Use this cmdlet to define or update the IP address pool from which clients will receive IP addresses and to manage the root certificates used for authentication.

Example: Configure Client IP Pool and Root Certificate

# Define the IP address pool for clients
$ipPool = New-AzVpnClientIpPool -Name "ClientIPPool" -AddressPrefix "192.168.1.0/24"

# Get the root certificate from a file
$certificateFile = "C:\path\to\your\public_root_certificate.cer"
$rootCertificate = Get-Content -Path $certificateFile -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0

# Add the root certificate to the gateway
Add-AzVpnClientRootCertificate -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -CertificateName "MyRootCert" -PublicCertData $rootCertificate

# Set the client configuration with the IP pool and root certificate
Set-AzVpnClientConfiguration -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -VpnClientAddressPool $ipPool -VpnClientRootCertificates @{ Name = "MyRootCert"; PublicCertData = $rootCertificate }

Add-AzVpnClientRootCertificate

This cmdlet adds a trusted root certificate to the VPN gateway. This certificate is used to validate client certificates during the P2S authentication process.

Example: Add a Root Certificate

# Read the public key token of the root certificate from a file
$certificatePath = "C:\Certificates\AzureVPNRoot.cer"
$certificateData = Get-Content -Path $certificatePath -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0

# Add the root certificate to the virtual network gateway
Add-AzVpnClientRootCertificate -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -CertificateName "MyCustomRootCert" -PublicCertData $certificateData

Managing VPN Client IP Pools

When configuring Point-to-Site VPNs, you need to define an IP address pool that will be used to assign IP addresses to connecting clients. These cmdlets help manage these pools.

New-AzVpnClientIpPool

Creates a new IP address pool for VPN client connections.

Example: Create a new IP Pool

New-AzVpnClientIpPool -Name "OfficeVPNPool" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -AddressPrefix "10.10.0.0/24" -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway"

Get-AzVpnClientIpPool

Retrieves information about existing VPN client IP address pools.

Example: Get all IP Pools for a Gateway

Get-AzVpnClientIpPool -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup"

Remove-AzVpnClientIpPool

Deletes a specific VPN client IP address pool.

Example: Remove an IP Pool

Remove-AzVpnClientIpPool -Name "OldVPNPool" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -VirtualNetworkGatewayName "MyVpnGateway" -Force

Azure PowerShell Reference