How to Fix: OpenVPN Won't Resolve After April Update

Infopackets Reader Bob T. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

Thank you for your Windows 10 article on How to Fix: Computer Name Won't Resolve on Network (April Update). I tried the fix and it works great - the computers on my local network can see each other. However, when I use OpenVPN to connect to my remote server, the server's computer name still does not resolve, whereas before it did before the Windows 10 April Creators Update. You mentioned there is an additional fix for OpenVPN with the April Creators Update in order to get the computer names to resolve. Can you please help? "

My response:

I am not sure why the Microsoft suggested fix in my previous article won't resolve computer names with OpenVPN, but I have found a way around that.

How to Fix: OpenVPN Won't Resolve after April Creators Update

In the case where "it was working before but now it isn't" AND your computer(s) have recently upgraded to the Windows 10 April Creators Update AND you're trying to access a remote computer name over the network using OpenVPN, there are a number of things you need to do.

1. First, set the IPs of all remote systems to static IPs on their local network.
   
   Let's look at an example.
   
   I have my Office PC and Server located in one building; I also own a laptop. When I'm on the road, I use OpenVPN to connect to my Office PC and Server by remote. The same laptop gets used locally on the network when it is in the same building as the Office PC and Server. Therefore, the laptop uses \\server to access the Server whether I'm local or remote. The issue here is that when I'm local, my IP is 192.168.2.x when I'm accessing the server and it's 10.16.0.x when I'm working by remote.
   
   If this scenario is similar to you, then you need to set static IPs for all remote systems (on their local network). In my example, \\office-pc uses static IP address 192.168.2.10 and \\server uses 192.168.2.11 when I'm connected locally. When I'm remote, the \\office-pc runs its own VPN "server" configuration where its IP is 10.15.0.1 and \\server runs its own VPN "server" configuration with IP 10.16.0.1.
   
   To set the IPs to static you do not need to change the OpenVPN "server" configuration files; you only need to change IPs of the systems using Windows TCP IPv4 settings.
   
   To do so: go to one of the systems running the OpenVPN "server" configuration file, then right click your network icon near the clock and select "Open Network & Internet Settings"; a new window will appear; click "Change adapter settings"; the "Network Connections" window will appear; right click your Ethernet adapter (or wireless) for the system and select "Properties". When the "Ethernet Properties" window appears (or such), double click the TCP IPv4 heading, then specify a static IP and static DNS.
   
   Repeat for all system(s) running an OpenVPN "server" configuration.
    
2. Next, modify the Windows "Hosts" file on the client system(s) that connect to your remote OpenVPN "servers".
   
   In my example, the client system is my laptop which I use to connect to both my Server and Office PC.
   
   To do so: go to one of the systems used as an OpenVPN client, then click Start, then type in "Notepad" (no quotes); wait for Notepad to appear, then right click and select "Run as Administrator". Next, click File -> Open, and type in "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts" and press Enter. The Hosts file should now be loaded.
   
   Now, enter in both the local and remote IPs of the systems you wish to access using OpenVPN, followed by the system name. In my example, I am trying to access both Server and Office PC on my laptop, so the entries would look like such:
   
   192.168.2.10 10.15.0.1 office-pc
   192.168.2.11 10.16.0.1 server
   
   You will need to enter something similar, depending on your static IP address of the systems and the IPs of the remote systems. When complete, save the file and reboot the system (or use ipconfig /flushdns via the command prompt).
   
   Repeat for all system(s) running an OpenVPN client configuration.
    
3. Next, ping the systems using a command prompt.
   
   After the computer is rebooted / DNS flushed, you can test to see if your changes are working by pinging the name of the system you're trying to access. In my example, I would be using my laptop to perform this test. I would enter the following on a command prompt:
   
   ping office-pc
   
   Pinging 192.168.2.10 [10.15.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:
   Reply from 192.168.2.10: time<1ms
   Reply from 192.168.2.10: time<1ms
   Reply from 192.168.2.10: time<1ms
   Reply from 192.168.2.10: time<1ms
    
4. Test the same ping remotely.
   
   There are two ways to achieve this. One is to go to a remote location and connect to your systems using OpenVPN. The second option is to plug in another router to the existing router (locally) and use a different subnet on the second router, provided you own a second router and have one available. I will not go into detail on this as it is beyond the scope of the article - however, the end result should look something like this:
   
   ping office-pc
   
   Pinging 10.15.0.1 [192.168.2.10] with 32 bytes of data:
   Reply from 10.15.0.1: time<1ms
   Reply from 10.15.0.1: time<1ms
   Reply from 10.15.0.1: time<1ms
   Reply from 10.15.0.1: time<1ms
   
   Here you can see that ping IPs are used interchangeably compared to Step #3, and are being resolved on the OpenVPN connection for "office-pc". You should then be able to run an application such as Remote Desktop (RDP) and connect to your remote computer name ("office-pc") and it will resolve the name without issue.

I hope that helps - it was a lot of explaining, but my example should be clear.

Additional 1-on-1 Support: From Dennis

If all of this is over your head, or if you need help resolving computer names over your network (whether it's locally or with an OpenVPN configuration) - I can help using my remote desktop support service. Simply contact me, briefly describing the issue and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Got a Computer Question or Problem? Ask Dennis!

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About the author: Dennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.com. With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. Dennis holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science (1999) and has authored 6 books on the topics of MS Windows and PC Security. If you like the advice you received on this page, please up-vote / Like this page and share it with friends. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service (currently located at the bottom left of the screen); optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form.