KACE Product Support

If you're using a VPN appliance, it's possible it's not configured for UDP-forwarding.

This should be configured on your network's core switch, but also allowed on your VPN-appliances and firewalls.

UPD forward UPD port 7 for WOL3 and port 9 for WOL.

 

You'd have to have devices located at each site to send out the WOL broadcasts. Try Googling for some free WOL software - you should be able to run an application on a local system (a site DC or File Server, if you have something like that), but if your VPN hardware can't move the packets, then you're out of luck with centralized WOL management. I suppose you could deploy WOL software from the KBOX to a machine at each location that is always on - then you can use scripting to configure or run the software whenever needed.

Many BIOSes have a way to turn a machine on at a particular time. Perhaps you can find a way to script that via KBOX using a vendor's utility (like the Dell Client Configuration Utility) or WMI (using VBScript, like you can with some HP machines).

I thought about mentioning that, jkatkace. But depending on the size of the organization and whether or not they have standardized equipment (i.e. all Dell machines), manipulating BIOS settings could become a monstrous undertaking.

In my organization, we don't use VPN to connect sites, but our routers cannot forward broadcast packets - so we're in the same boat. We don't really have a need for WOL though; we simply force machines to install software/patches whenever they are powered on after a deadline. We don't care if a machine isn't patched if it isn't turned on.

In summary though.. if the network equipment can't transfer the UDP WOL packets, I have only the following options?

• Have a machine which is on the same network do the WOL'ing (via a scheduled job in the OS or from initiated by the KBOX)
  
• Schedule the machines to wake on there own via the BIOS or awake from hibernation via the OS
  

Problems/Concerns:

• I would use WOL from a file server on the local network but I don't want/need them to awaken on a regular bases nor do I want to coordinate the scheduling of WOL packets with the KBOX tasks. The other issue we have is that the only machines that remain on at our remote sites aren't KBOX agent compatible.
  
• As for the BIOS waking.. I think Airwolf hit the nail on the head.. this is hard to do with a mix and match collections of machines (which we have).
  

Is there no way around the limitations of these network devices? I was hoping there was some kind of app I could use to listen for the packets on one network and forward them over to a machine on the remote network for the local machine to rebroadcast. Anyone heard of such a thing?

Other ideas?

Thanks

I was hoping there was some kind of app I could use to listen for the packets on one network and forward them over to a machine on the remote network for the local machine to rebroadcast. Anyone heard of such a thing?

Something like this would require a machine to always be powered on with software installed to perform the rebroadcast. I'm not sure if anything like this exists, but I suppose it's possible. The best method for your environment seems to be a mixture of a third-party application and KBOX scripting. Aside from purchasing new hardware and restructuring your network, that is. [;)] Cisco routers and MPLS would solve the problem, but forwarding broadcast packets would make for a very noisy network.

I have machines always on, they just aren't compatible with the KBOX agent. (SUSE Linux).

And as you stated, forwarding all broadcast packets would be bad. So if such a tool exists, I would only want it to forward WOL packets.

You could try WOL over internet... Basically, you send the packet to the public IP of the location and forward the packet to the broadcast address on the subnet. I did some Googling and found a Windows application to initiate the WOL.

If you have a suse machine on all the time, just do a kron job to wol the subnet at the appropriate time. I'm not a linux guy, but I know there is software out there for it. My linux guy here says to use a package called "wake on lan linux". Sounds kind of vague to me, but still, shouldn't be hard.
ORIGINAL: ehart

I have machines always on, they just aren't compatible with the KBOX agent. (SUSE Linux).

And as you stated, forwarding all broadcast packets would be bad. So if such a tool exists, I would only want it to forward WOL packets.


PS he says its a perl script.

If you have a suse machine on all the time, just do a kron job to wol the subnet at the appropriate time. I'm not a linux guy, but I know there is software out there for it. My linux guy here says to use a package called "wake on lan linux". Sounds kind of vague to me, but still, shouldn't be hard.

The OP wants to centrally manage WOL - your suggestion would work, but is similar to what I've already suggested.

What airwolf said...

as we currently have/use the WOL tool your refering to but it comes with the limitation of having to deploy it on a cron schedule or manually via the remote system.

ORIGINAL: airwolf

If you have a suse machine on all the time, just do a kron job to wol the subnet at the appropriate time. I'm not a linux guy, but I know there is software out there for it. My linux guy here says to use a package called "wake on lan linux". Sounds kind of vague to me, but still, shouldn't be hard.

The OP wants to centrally manage WOL - your suggestion would work, but is similar to what I've already suggested.

ORIGINAL: airwolf

You could try WOL over internet... Basically, you send the packet to the public IP of the location and forward the packet to the broadcast address on the subnet. I did some Googling and found a Windows application to initiate the WOL.


I was also looking for a solution to waking up computers on different subnets and found this thread. I tried your solution and it worked great. I used the CMD version of that program. I placed the program on a computer that is always on and created the batch file for all the listed computers in each of the different subnets. Tested it via the batch file and they all came on. I just need to get the KBOX setup to push out the batch file now, which should be fairly easy and it will be working in conjunction with the KBOX WOL.

Thanks a lot!!