Azure Virtual Network Gateway VPN Client Connection Cmdlets

Design Concepts and Cmdlet Reference

Overview

This document provides an in-depth look into the design concepts and the PowerShell cmdlets used for managing VPN client connections to Azure Virtual Network Gateways. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effectively configuring, securing, and monitoring remote access VPN solutions for your Azure virtual networks.

Azure VPN Gateway enables secure site-to-site (S2S) and point-to-site (P2S) VPN connections. Point-to-site connectivity allows individual clients to connect to your Azure virtual network securely over the internet. This documentation focuses specifically on the PowerShell cmdlets that facilitate the management and control of these P2S connections.

Design Concepts

VPN Client Connection Policy

The VPN client connection policy defines the rules and configurations that govern how clients can connect to the Azure VPN Gateway. This includes:

  • Authentication Methods: Specifies whether to use Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication or RADIUS for client authentication.
  • Tunneling Protocols: Defines the acceptable VPN protocols, such as IKEv2 and SSTP.
  • IP Address Assignment: Determines how client IP addresses are assigned, either from a specified user-defined route (UDR) or automatically by Azure.
  • Root Certificates: For certificate-based authentication, specifies the trusted root certificates.

Cmdlets in this category allow you to create, retrieve, update, and delete these policies.

Configuration Management

This encompasses the broader configuration of the VPN gateway's P2S capabilities. Key aspects include:

  • Gateway IP Configuration: The public IP address assigned to the VPN gateway, which clients will connect to.
  • VNet Gateway Configuration: Settings related to the VPN gateway itself, such as SKU, type (e.g., VpnGw1, VpnGw2 AZ), and the virtual network it belongs to.
  • Client Address Pool: The range of IP addresses that will be allocated to connecting clients.
  • VPN Client Configuration Package: The ability to generate and download a package containing the necessary configuration files for clients to establish a VPN connection.

Authentication and Authorization

Securely verifying the identity of connecting clients and granting them appropriate access is paramount. This involves:

  • Azure AD Integration: Leveraging Azure AD for single sign-on and identity management.
  • RADIUS Server Integration: Using an on-premises or Azure-hosted RADIUS server for authentication.
  • Certificate-Based Authentication: Utilizing client certificates issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).

The cmdlets help in configuring these authentication mechanisms and managing the associated trust relationships.

Session Management

Once clients are connected, managing their active sessions is important for monitoring and troubleshooting.

  • Viewing Active Connections: Displaying a list of currently connected clients, their IP addresses, connection duration, and other relevant details.
  • Disconnecting Clients: For administrative purposes, the ability to forcibly disconnect a client session.

Logging and Monitoring

Effective monitoring of VPN connections provides insights into network health, security events, and usage patterns.

  • Connection Events: Logging of successful and failed connection attempts.
  • Traffic Statistics: Monitoring bandwidth usage and data transfer.
  • Gateway Health: Ensuring the VPN gateway is operational and responsive.

Cmdlets can be used to retrieve diagnostic logs and performance metrics.

Cmdlet Reference

VPN Client Connection Policy Cmdlets

  • Get-AzVpnClientConfiguration: Retrieves the VPN client configuration for a virtual network gateway.
  • Set-AzVpnClientConfiguration: Configures the VPN client connection policy, including authentication methods and protocols.
  • Add-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Adds a root certificate to the VPN gateway for certificate-based authentication.
  • Remove-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Removes a root certificate from the VPN gateway.
  • Get-AzVpnClientRootCertificate: Retrieves the root certificates configured for the VPN gateway.

Configuration Cmdlets

  • New-AzVirtualNetworkGateway: Creates a new Azure Virtual Network Gateway.
  • Get-AzVirtualNetworkGateway: Retrieves information about existing Virtual Network Gateways.
  • Set-AzVirtualNetworkGateway: Updates settings for an existing Virtual Network Gateway.
  • Remove-AzVirtualNetworkGateway: Deletes a Virtual Network Gateway.
  • Get-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayIpConfig: Gets the IP configuration of a virtual network gateway.
  • New-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayIpConfig: Creates an IP configuration for a virtual network gateway.
  • Set-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayIpConfig: Updates an IP configuration for a virtual network gateway.
  • Get-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayVpnClientConfiguration: Retrieves the VPN client configuration for a virtual network gateway.
  • Set-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayVpnClientConfiguration: Configures the VPN client settings, including IP address pools and authentication options.
  • Get-AzVpnClientConfigurationPackageUrl: Retrieves the URL for downloading the VPN client configuration package.
  • Get-AzVpnClientConfigurationPackage: Downloads the VPN client configuration package.

Session Cmdlets

  • Get-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayVpnConnection: Retrieves information about established VPN connections to the gateway.
  • Disconnect-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayVpnConnection: Disconnects a specific VPN client connection.

Monitoring Cmdlets

  • Get-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayConnectionMonitor: Retrieves connection monitor details.
  • New-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayConnectionMonitor: Creates a new connection monitor.
  • Test-AzVirtualNetworkGatewayVpnTraffic: Tests VPN traffic flow.