To give mobile users seamless access to corporate networks, configure the Direct Access feature of the Barracuda VPN Client for Windows. Use Direct Access to provide a permanent VPN connection for mobile workers to help ensure corporate compliant Internet access through a secure VPN connection. Direct Access provides the following:
- Availability and Control – If the configured VPN gateway becomes unreachable for any reason, the VPN client automatically starts three connections attemps to the corporate VPN gateway.
- Acceleration and Balancing – If three connections attempts fail, the VPN client triggers the path finder connection mechanism to determine the fastest or nearest connection to other predefined VPN gateways in fallback profiles.
- Geo Awareness – If the VPN client detects the availability of an MS Active Directory service, Direct Access is disabled since the client resides within the corporate LAN.
Step 1. Set up a VPN Gateway
If you do not already have a VPN profile configured, create one:
- In the Barracuda VPN Client window, click New Profile.
- Type the IP address or host name of the gateway in the Server Address field. In this example, the host name is externalvpn.mycompany.com.
- From the Authentication Method drop down menu, select your authentication method:
If you choose Username/Password, you must configure additional settings to save the password locally if you do not want the client to constantly prompt users for a password when changing gateways.
To automatically reconnect in the background, select X509 or Barracuda License. For more information on setting up a profile and choosing the correct authentication method, see How to Create VPN Profiles.
- Select Username only in the Remember credentials drop down menu so that the client will reconnect to this server without prompting users for their username.
- Click Save.
Step 2. Define Fallback Profiles
Define additional fallback VPN profiles to use if the primary gateway is not reachable. You should define a VPN profile for each location from which you must connect to the VPN. Combine these profiles to create a fallback chain. For instructions on how to create fallback chains, see How to Configure Connection Fallback using Multiple VPN Gateways.
Step 3. Enable Direct Access
- In the Barracuda VPN Client window, go to VPN Settings.
In the General section, set Direct Access to On and select your Direct Access Profile. If you have a fallback chain, select the primary VPN profile.
Direct Access is now enabled. The Barracuda VPN Client will now try to establish and maintain this connection in the background.- In the User Interface Settings section, you can configure the following notification settings for the client connection status:
- To turn off connection notifications, set Show Toast Notifications to No.
- To display the connection status in the Windows task bar's notification area, set Show Tray Icon to Yes. (This setting requires a reboot.)
The Barracuda VPN Client now tries to always maintain a connection to the selected VPN gateway. If you terminate the VPN connection manually by clicking Disconnect in the tray icon, Direct Access is disabled until you restart the client. If you want to remain disconnected by default, disable Direct Access.