Windows Networking DNS Problem

[peter.15]

I have some problem with my OpenVPN configuration, related to DNS and windows networking. In essence, I've got TCP/IP networking, but not Windows networking: through an apparently workng OpenVPN connection, users can't connect to shared directories, and Outlook can't connect to the Exchange Server. I used the VPN Server wizard to set things up, and then added my mail and file servers as exports. My configuration:
Untangle Gateway set up as router (Build 7.1.1)
Internal network running in 192.168.1.* private address space.
Internal mail and file servers with static IP addresses, both running Windows Server 2003.
Mail server is running MS Exchange and Active Directory.
Internal DNS domain is "mycompany.local"
OpenVPN client running on WinXP Pro machine (laptop) that is already attached to the domain

I can establish the OpenVPN connection without difficulty, but I get wierd results with DNS lookup:
I can ping the mail server by IP address: 192.168.1.x
I can ping the mail server with a short name: mailserver -> 192.168.1.x
Trying to ping using the internal FQDN gets the Internet domain name appended to it: "mailserver.mycompany.local" becomes "mailserver.mycompany.local.mycompany.com", and is translated to an Internet IP address instead of an internal IP address.

My understanding is that with Windows networking the internal DNS lookup uses FQDNs within the local domain, so I suspect the third ping result explains why my Windows networking fails, but I don't know how to fix it. Note that I get exactly the same results whether the mail server or the Untangle gateway is the element providing DHCP services.

One other seeming slight oddity, although I don't think it really much matters: the ipconfig of the VPN client doesn't have a default gateway setting:

Ethernet adapter {A34F92B4-DFA9-4DFF-BD74-7B7747CCA678}:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TAP-Win32 Adapter V9 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-A3-4F-92-B4
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.0.5
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.252
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ?????????????
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.0.6
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.x
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, February 15, 2010 12:06:42 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, February 15, 2011 12:06:42 PM

Insofar as I can ping boxes in the 192.168.1.* space through the OpenVPN connection, the lack of a gateway setting doesn't seem to matter.

I feel like I'm just one or two configuration tweaks away from getting this to work, but I'm stumped and need some expert advice.

Thanks for any help,

 

[steve.56]

Modified. I was just masking the last octet, the correct static IP is provided to the VPN client.

I've been doing my testing in off hours, trying to get this working without disrupting normal ops, so I'll happily apply testing suggestions when I next get a chance. Meanwhile, FWIW, ping -a to the internal IP of the DNS server from a normal LAN workstation returns the short name: MAILSERVER.

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.x
You modify this or its the real ip?

Try ping -a to the internal dns server from the openvpn client laptop.