Port forwarding with Windows Server 2008

Solution 1:

Try the following:

netsh routing ip nat add portmapping external tcp 0.0.0.0 5555 192.168.0.2 3389

This rule shall forward any incoming connection to port 5555 from outside to your specific LAN IP/port. Here external is the name of the external network interface.

Don't forget to have proper firewall rules that will allow traffic related to port 5555 to pass in both directions on the external NIC. You need to allow incoming traffic to port 5555 and outgoing traffic related to these connections.

I've never used the built-in Windows firewall, but I strongly suggest you to have a look at wipfw. It is smart enough to implement connection tracking.

Solution 2:

If you want to use port forwarding as your scenario; you should "add role: RRAS" and manage NAT rules under RRAS in Administrative Tools.

Actually, isvery simple in 2K3 but 2k8? I'm shocked and disappointed

Solution 3:

If your Windows server is behind a NAT device then I would recommend creating a port forwarding rule on your NAT that can accept an inbound connection on TCP/5555 and then forward to TCP/3389. This way you aren't modifying the server.

Also, if you have more than one server you would like to connect via RDP then I would recommend you check out Windows 2008 Terminal Services Gateway.

Solution 4:

First of all,

W2K3's firewall can do that. But W2K8's firewall or advanced firewall cannot do this.

Aditional info: "netsh routing..." command doesn't works on W2K8 in any combination (sdvfirewall, firewall etc.).

I'm sorry:(