I'm dealing with a situation that I'm sure many have faced before, focusing on maintaining high security while ensuring easy access for operations. When I lock down resources like Key Vault or function apps using private endpoints paired with a hub that has a DNS resolver and a point-to-site VPN gateway, I'm running into an issue: I can't access the data plane via the portal. Sure, I can use the Azure CLI locally, but what happens if I need to investigate an incident? Should I temporarily allow public access for easier troubleshooting through the portal, or is that too risky? Running local tools like storage browser or the Azure CLI can slow down the investigation when time is essential. Whitelisting the VPN's public IP is also ineffective unless all user traffic is routed through the VPN. I'm hoping there's another solution I haven't considered. How do others manage this balance?
8 Answers
Here's what I suggest:
1. Conduct an nslookup on the resource name to see if it returns the private IP. If it does, great! If not, you might have a DNS issue.
2. Check your browser's configuration. If it's using a web proxy, that can block access to the Key Vault since the source won't appear to be on your private network. Disable 'Automatically detect settings' and ensure no proxy is set if you're using Edge.
You might want to create an entry in your HOSTS file for the local machine that includes the FQDN and private endpoint IP—as a quick workaround, this could help you access what you need.
Ensure your laptop is set up to resolve the private fully qualified domain name (FQDN); without being properly connected through VPN, troubleshooting from an external machine is a no-go. You could set up a jumphost within Azure and use Bastion for access instead.
It sounds like a misconfiguration with your VPN client. Check to ensure your client can resolve the private link URL, which should allow you access to the portal without restrictions.
Something's likely misconfigured. You should generally be able to access the portal and review logs or app insights without any issue. The only feature that may not be available is the test/run option.
Using local tools like storage browser or Az CLI won’t save you time either, since they face the same DNS issues as accessing the portal. Check your local DNS setup or modify your hosts file to address these problems directly.
Your point-to-site VPN client must be configured to point to your DNS resolver's inbound IP. Check the XML configuration file to ensure you have the correct DNS server settings specified.
Actually, the idea that you can't access the data plane is a bit off. If your private endpoints and DNS settings are configured correctly, you should be able to access your resources through the portal without issues. The trick is ensuring your conditional forwarders for DNS resolution are set up for off-Azure.
Totally! A lot of folks in our organization initially struggled with this concept; it applies to various resources, not just key vaults.
Just a heads up, for most P2S connections, you should use PowerShell instead of nslookup. Try using Resolve-DnsName with the DNSOnly option. It’s necessary because of how P2S connections utilize the NRPT Table.