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Configure native VPN client client for P2S certificate authentication connections - Windows

  • Artikkeli

If your point-to-site (P2S) VPN gateway is configured to use IKEv2/SSTP and certificate authentication, you can connect to your virtual network using the native VPN client that's part of your Windows operating system. This article walks you through the steps to configure the native VPN client and connect to your virtual network.

Before you begin

Before beginning client configuration steps, verify that you're on the correct VPN client configuration article. The following table shows the configuration articles available for VPN Gateway point-to-site VPN clients. Steps differ, depending on the authentication type, tunnel type, and the client OS.

Authentication Tunnel type Client OS VPN client
Certificate
IKEv2, SSTP Windows Native VPN client
IKEv2 macOS Native VPN client
IKEv2 Linux strongSwan
OpenVPN Windows Azure VPN client
OpenVPN client version 2.x
OpenVPN client version 3.x
OpenVPN macOS OpenVPN client
OpenVPN iOS OpenVPN client
OpenVPN Linux Azure VPN Client
OpenVPN client
Microsoft Entra ID
OpenVPN Windows Azure VPN client
OpenVPN macOS Azure VPN Client
OpenVPN Linux Azure VPN Client

Prerequisites

This article assumes that you've already performed the following prerequisites:

Workflow

The workflow for this article is as follows:

  1. Generate and install client certificates if you haven't already done so.
  2. View the VPN client profile configuration files contained in the VPN client profile configuration package that you generated.
  3. Configure the native VPN client that's already installed on your Windows computer.
  4. Connect to Azure.

Generate and install client certificates

For certificate authentication, a client certificate must be installed on each client computer. The client certificate you want to use must be exported with the private key, and must contain all certificates in the certification path. Additionally, for some configurations, you'll also need to install root certificate information.

In many cases, you can install the client certificate directly on the client computer by double-clicking. However, for certain OpenVPN client configurations, you might need to extract information from the client certificate in order to complete the configuration.

  • For information about working with certificates, see Point-to site: Generate certificates.
  • To view an installed client certificate, open Manage User Certificates. The client certificate is installed in Current User\Personal\Certificates.

Install the client certificate

Each computer needs a client certificate in order to authenticate. If the client certificate isn't already installed on the local computer, you can install it using the following steps:

  1. Locate the client certificate. For more information about client certificates, see Install client certificates.
  2. Install the client certificate. Typically, you can do this by double-clicking the certificate file and providing a password (if required).

View configuration files

The VPN client profile configuration package contains specific folders. The files within the folders contain the settings needed to configure the VPN client profile on the client computer. The files and the settings they contain are specific to the VPN gateway and the type of authentication and tunnel your VPN gateway is configured to use.

Locate and unzip the VPN client profile configuration package you generated. For certificate authentication and IKEv2/SSTP, you'll see the following files:

  • WindowsAmd64 and WindowsX86 contain the Windows 64-bit and 32-bit installer packages, respectively. The WindowsAmd64 installer package is for all supported 64-bit Windows clients, not just AMD.
  • Generic contains general information used to create your own VPN client configuration. The Generic folder is provided if IKEv2 or SSTP+IKEv2 was configured on the gateway. If only SSTP is configured, then the Generic folder isn’t present.

Configure the VPN client profile

To connect, you'll first need to configure the VPN client with the required settings. You do this by configuring the VPN client profile using the settings contained in the VPN client configuration package. The settings in the package are specific to the VPN gateway to which you connect.

You can use the same VPN client configuration package on each Windows client computer, as long as the version matches the architecture for the client. For the list of client operating systems that are supported, see the point-to-site section of the VPN Gateway FAQ.

Note

You must have Administrator rights on the Windows client computer from which you want to connect.

Install the VPN client configuration package

  1. Select the VPN client configuration files that correspond to the architecture of the Windows computer. For a 64-bit processor architecture, choose the 'VpnClientSetupAmd64' installer package. For a 32-bit processor architecture, choose the 'VpnClientSetupX86' installer package.
  2. Double-click the package to install it. If you see a SmartScreen popup, select More info, then Run anyway.

Connect

Connect to your virtual network via point-to-site VPN.

  1. Go to the VPN settings and locate the VPN connection that you created. It's the same name as your virtual network. Select Connect. A pop-up message might appear. Select Continue to use elevated privileges.
  2. On the Connection status page, select Connect to start the connection. If you see a Select Certificate screen, verify that the client certificate showing is the one that you want to use to connect. If it isn't, use the drop-down arrow to select the correct certificate, and then select OK.

Next steps

Follow up with any additional server or connection settings. See Point-to-site configuration steps.