Cloning a SoftEther setup - Clonezilla

[Jace-99]

Hi,

I have a working SoftEther installation; SoftEther Server - > SoftEther Bridge. The client has asked me to create backup boot disks, which I did for both servers using CloneZilla. The idea is to keep the cloned disks as cold spares if the original disks fail. I then tested the cloned setup but am unable to establish a connection. Perhaps the original installation is tied to the original hardware (disks) somehow. Is this a known issue? Or perhaps a security feature?

[solo]

Take the main units off-line and deploy the clones. Then it will be conclusive.

[Jace-99]

Yes, they were offline when I tried it.

[solo]

Have you tested them on the same WAN/ISPs as the originals?

[Jace-99]

Neither server or bridge are at their normal working locations as I carry out this cloning and testing. The same applies when the system is booted with the original disks. This works fine, with the originals, so I would expect the same to be true when I boot from the cloned disks. It is literally a shut down and boot from the orinal disks to the cloned disks.

[solo]

There are no security features. A clone booted on the same mobo+NIC has to work.

[Jace-99]

I agree Solo. You are quite right and I can now confirm the cloned disks establish the VPN. The issues I was having were to do with a non-ideal test environment. I had both the server and bridge setup in my home. This meant both had to receive an independent internet connection. One was wired through my home router, the other through my phone's hotspot (set to forget the home Wifi and use mobile data) which was unreliable. It turns out the original disks were having trouble establishing the VPN also. Once I spotted that I focussed on making them work in a reliable way and could then turn to testing the cloned disks. A lot of shutdowns, restarts, and disk swaps, and with just a single monitor to swap back and forth.

All's well that ends well. :)