Error 812 while making a VPN Connection



While making a VPN connection to a Windows 2003 server, the following error message showed up everytime. 

VPN Error 812


The message "Error 812:" during the setup of a VPN connection indicates that the authentication method used by the server to authenticate an user and password does not correspond to the method which is declared in the VPN profile as defined on the client.

The description used was (for me) not completely clear, the problem is caused by the RRAS policy which is configured on the server. The default setting of the policy declines a connection using RRAS. This is the most safe way to implement a RRAS server, but no users can use the RRAS functionalities.

To solve this problem, there are two solutions: 

  • In the is an option on the "Dial-In" page which indicates of the RRAS policy has influence on this user. When the "Allow Access" bullet is checked, users have always the possibility to create a VPN connection. By default the "Control access through Remote Access Policy" checkbox is checked. Changing this bullet is working well when working in a company with a few users but when serving a lot of users this is a tremendous job to do.Windows 2003 Dial-In tabblad
  • As said before the Remote Access Policies are by default configured in a way that no RRAS connection can be made. By changing the policy "Connections to Microsoft Routing and Remote Access Server" this default behaviour can be changed. To do so, start the Routing and Remote Access managementool which can be found by clicking Start -> Administrative Tools.

    • Messages like Error 812 will be history from now on, hopefully this tric will help you in searching for a solution for your problems.