Cant access Windows shared folder over VPN

network-sharewindows-server-2008windows-server-2008-r2

I've got a server running Windows 2008 R2

This server is in a datacenter outside of our office.
Our office firewall is configured for VPN tunnelling, to connect our office with the data centre.

I can ping (and RDP) to the remote machine with no problem

I've shared a folder on the C:\ drive (just called "shared")

However, if I browse to \ – it doesn't appear.
Same as if I do \\shared
Just times out and says cannot find etc…

I've turned on file sharing etc

Even tried turning off windows firewall to rule that out.

Best Answer

There are a lot of ports required for the successful functioning of Windows file sharing. You need at least these ... and heck, there may be a couple I've forgotten:

  1. File and Printer Sharing (NB Name In) 137 UDP
  2. File and Printer Sharing (NB Datagram In) 138 UDP
  3. File and Printer Sharing (NB Session In) 139 TCP
  4. File and Printer Sharing (SMB In) 445 TCP

Start with trying to telnet to those TCP ports. If you get a "connection failed" type of message, then you know with certainty that there is a firewall (hardware or Windows firewall) in the way between you and the share... Assuming of course that file sharing is set up and working correctly from within the datacenter.