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Windows Server 2012 DirectAccess Video Training Course Now Available
Recently I announced the availability of my Windows Server 2012 DirectAccess video training course at TrainSignal. Click here to read the full story!
WPAD Considerations for Kerberos Authentication with NLB VIP on Forefront TMG 2010
As I outlined in a recent article on ISAserver.org, Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Forefront TMG 2010 supports Kerberos authentication in load-balanced scenarios when web proxy clients are configured to use the virtual IP address (VIP) of the array. However, using Web Proxy Automatic Discovery (WPAD) with either DNS or DHCP poses a challenge for organizations that choose to take advantage of this new feature. When using WPAD, the web proxy client retrieves the automatic configuration script from the Forefront TMG firewall. The script provides the web proxy client with the IP addresses (or hostnames, if configured) of the individual array members. In this configuration, the web proxy client will send its request to one of the array members returned by function MakeProxies() and not to the VIP, as desired.
To work around this issue you can configure a separate web server to host the automatic configuration script. You can use any web server you wish, just make sure that it is highly available and don’t forget to configure the MIME type application/x-ns-proxy-autoconfig for the file extension you choose (typically .DAT or .PAC). Full details about how to do this can be found here. You can create your own Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) file from scratch, or you can simply retrieve the automatic configuration script from TMG, modify it to use the IP address (or preferably the hostname or FQDN) of the Forefront TMG array’s VIP, and place that on the web server for clients to retrieve. This means that the automatic configuration script will have to be updated manually, as required. This could be automated by writing a script that periodically retrieves the automatic configuration script from the Forefront TMG firewall, modifies it appropriately, and then saves it on the web server if you were really clever! Another alternative is to configure the Forefront TMG 2010 firewall to return a customized automatic configuration script. You can find details about this configuration here.
Unable to Retrieve Data from Array Members after Enabling Kerberos Authentication with NLB on Forefront TMG 2010
Immediately after configuring Forefront TMG 2010 to support Kerberos authentication with NLB, you may encounter a scenario where the Forefront TMG management console fails to communicate with the members of the array and includes the following error message:
Unable to retrieve data from: <array_members>
In addition, an Event ID 4 from the Security-Kerberos source is recorded in the system event log:
The Kerberos client received a KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED error from the server tmgsvc2. The target name used was tmg3$@richardhicks.net. This indicates that the target server failed to decrypt the ticket provided by the client. This can occur when the target server principal name (SPN) is registered on an account other than the account the target service is using. Please ensure that the target SPN is registered on, and only registered on, the account used by the server. This error can also happen when the target service is using a different password for the target service account than what the Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) has for the target service account. Please ensure that the service on the server and the KDC are both updated to use the current password. If the server name is not fully qualified, and the target domain (RICHARDHICKS.NET) is different from the client domain (RICHARDHICKS.NET), check if there are identically named server accounts in these two domains, or use the fully-qualified name to identify the server.
When making the changes to support Kerberos authentication in load balanced scenarios, the Forefront TMG firewall service is configured to run in the context of a domain user account. When the Forefront TMG management console was first opened, it authenticated to the array members using the Service Principal Name (SPN) registered to the machine (computer) account. As the changes are applied and the services are restarted, the array members are now running in the context of a domain user account. However, the management console continues to send a Kerberos ticket with the SPN registered to the machine account. The Forefront TMG firewall service running in the context of the domain user account cannot decrypt this Kerberos ticket and replies with a Kerberos error.
Resolution in this case is quite simple. Closing the Forefront TMG management console and opening it again will force the client to re-authenticate, this time using the correct SPN. The Kerberos event log errors are anomalous and can safely be ignored.
Forefront TMG 2010 Service Pack 2 Now Available
Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Forefront TMG 2010 is now available. In addition to numerous fixes released since SP1 and SP1 hotfix rollup 4, this service pack also includes the following new features:
New reports – A new site activity report that provides details about requests made to specific web sites for individual users.
New error pages – TMG SP2 provides the option to use new error pages that feature a whole new look and feel. In addition, these new error pages are more easily customized and can now include embedded objects.
Kerberos authentication for NLB – TMG SP2 includes the ability to leverage Kerberos authentication for clients accessing enterprise arrays via the NLB virtual IP address (VIP).
You can download Forefront TMG 2010 service pack 2 here. Please note that this update requires that Forefront TMG 2010 SP1 and software update 1 for TMG SP1 be installed prior to installing Forefront TMG 2010 SP2. Once TMG SP2 has been installed successfully the build number will be 7.0.9193.500.
For information regarding the installation of SP2 for Forefront TMG 2010 on enterprise arrays, click here.
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