Hi sherpaj-ga!
I realize I'm posting this answer before you responded to my
clarification requests, but I believe that I have found a better
answer than the one I had initially considered. I will provide both my
initial thoughts and what I think is a better solution, based on your
stated needs. If you have any further clarifications you require, I'll
be happy to provide what I can.
First, I had considered that with most versions of Outlook, it is
possible to configure them to be automatically in "offline" mode, and
to automatically connect using a Dial-up Networking connection, such
as your VPN connection.
In Outlook 2000, this is accomplished by opening Tools -> Email
Accounts, selecting View or Change Email accounts, then selecting the
account you want to modify (probably only one in your case), then
clicking "Change". From the resulting dialog box, you can set options
that configure Outlook to be in a disconnected state and use DUN
(Dial-up Networking) on the first tab, titled "General". The
"Connection" tab allows you to specify the DUN connection you wish to
use.
This configuration does work, although it is both slow and somewhat
clumsy, as it is primarily intended for remote use over real (modem)
DUN connections, and not for always-on connections such as LAN or VPN
systems. In this configuration, with the proper settings, the users
would start Outlook and be forced to connect via the VPN the first
time Outlook attempted to perform any network operations, such as
sending or receiving mail.
Other versions of Outlook use a slightly different configuration
system- I believe that withs ome versions, the appropriate dialogs are
accessed through Tools -> Services. The dialogs are somewhat different
in layout, but the options are there.
However, this is not an optimal solution. I'm only including it as an
alternative and to give you as much information as possible.
Since you are using Windows XP and 2000, I would recommend that you
take advantage of the command-line program "rasdial.exe".
[RASDIAL.EXE Knowledge Base Article]
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;244734
With RasDial, you can use a batch file to automatically connect to a
VPN or other dialup networking connection on demand.
Here is the usage for rasdial.exe on Windows XP Professional. It may
vary slightly on other operating systems.
C:\>rasdial /?
USAGE:
rasdial entryname [username [password|*]] [/DOMAIN:domain]
[/PHONE:phonenumber] [/CALLBACK:callbacknumber]
[/PHONEBOOK:phonebookfile] [/PREFIXSUFFIX]
rasdial [entryname] /DISCONNECT
rasdial
Command completed successfully.
C:\>
You can also find information on rasdial.exe in the Windows XP and
Windows 2000 help system. Click Start, Help and search for
Rasdial.exe. It is in the commandline programs reference.
With this program, a batch file like the following:
--
@echo off
rasdial "Connection Name"
"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE" /recycle
--
will automatically start the VPN client and fire up Outlook. However,
this particular example assumes that the user is logged onto the local
machine with the same credentials they use on the network. If the
login name or password is different, you should consider storing the
username and password with the VPN connection, by checking "Save
Password" in the VPN connection dialog. This should enable automatic
logon.
This batch file can be placed in the StartUp folder for a given user
and should run whenever they log onto the system. If you prefer that
the user not be forced to have Outlook pop up when they log in, you
can simply eliminate the last line of the batch file, which will still
force the connection to the VPN.
You could also put a reference to the batch file in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Run. A REG_SZ
entry with the command line you wish to execute placed in this
registry key will be automatically run at each logon. However, the
StartUp folder method is probably preferred.
For your Terminal Services system, you can use the same mechanism (I
believe). I have not tested this, but information I have found bears
it out.
For Windows 2000 (and possibly Windows 2003) you may wish to look at
the Connection Manager Administration Kit. See the links below for
more information. The CMAK is a toolkit and wizard that allows you to
customise how connections are managed, including automatic
connections, on Windows systems. I have not used the CMAK personally,
so I don't know for certain if it's suitable for your needs. Howver, I
would recommend taking a look.
[Install Connection Manager Administration Kit on Windows 2000
Professional]
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=271310
The information I have found indicates that the CMAK is installed by
default with Windows Server 2003.
[Create a Custom Connection Manager Service Profile in Windows 2000]
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=317593
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=317593
For your Terminal Services accounts, I believe you should be able to
specify the batch file as the startup program, which will
automatically connect the VPN and then start Outlook, or you can use
the CMAK to connect automatically.
I sincerely hope this information is of use to you, and if I can
provide any further clarification, please ask.
Best regards,
Cyclometh (cyclometh-ga)
Search strategy:
RAS VPN (on http://support.microsft.com)
Outlook automatic VPN (on http://support.microsoft.com) |
