DNS Client probe

When WinGate first starts up, it will automatically probe any DNS servers that it has discovered in its network properties, to see what type of DNS queries they will answer. It does this by asking them to resolve an Internet DNS query to determine if their a viable source of DNS resolution.

If WinGate is part of an Active Directory, it will also probe the available DNS servers to see if they are capable of providing resolution for the domain that WinGate is located on. If so, WinGate will then mark that DNS server as being an Active Directory DNS server, and so subsequently refer all local domain lookups to that DNS server.

The DNS Client will automatically perform DNS probing on all DNS servers that it has configured in its network properties after installation, alleviating the need for you to worry about DNS when WinGate starts.

Loop protection

In previous versions of WinGate, you were required to manually list all DNS servers that WinGate shouldn't use in order to prevent looping across the network. This would occur most commonly when WinGate was located in an Active Directory, where the Active Directory DNS server was only capable of resolving records for the Active Directory domain (i.e. Not connected to the Internet). Often in this scenario, the WinGate DNS service on the WinGate server could be used as the Forwarder that the Active Directory DNS Server would use to perform Internet name lookups.

Since the WinGate server was a member of the Active Directory, and would automatically refer to the Active Directory DNS server when a DNS lookup was needed by the WinGate DNS service, you would have to manually tell WinGate not to use the Active Directory DNS server for Internet name lookups in order to prevent the looping that would occur.

The DNS Client in WinGate alleviates this extra configuration through probing. It will automatically determine if the Active Directory DNS server is responsible for returning records for the domain it is located on, and if it is capable of providing Internet DNS resolution. If the DNS Client finds an Active Directory DNS server only capable of local lookups, then it will mark that DNS server appropriately and not refer to it for Internet DNS resolution.

If WinGate is configured to be a Forwarder for the Active Directory DNS server, the WinGate DNS Service will still need to be installed to provide this capability.

Manual configuration

The DNS Client settings, located in the Control Panel of the WinGate Management console, can be used to list DNS servers WinGate should use, and configure what type of lookups they are capable of performing.