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How to know WPAD is enabled on dhcp client?

BENKHAY ABDELLAH 0 Reputation points
2024-01-08T21:53:40.03+00:00

Hi,

I'm trying to send proxy configuration through DHCP option 252, also known as WPAD. After setting, the proxy works, and the traffic is led to the proxy, but I can't find a way to tell that WPAD is enabled on DHCP clients. I have tried many places to seek the detected URL or maybe the IP of the proxy, but nothing returns, as shown below.

  1. Winhttp: netsh winhttp show proxy -- no return value
  2. proxy configuration in explorer -- no value

eg: chrome://net-internals/#proxy

  1. Settings/Networks and Internet/proxy -- no
  2. key value in registry -- empty or even no key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad (empty)

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Wpad (no key like WpaddetectedURL)

I'm really confused because the WPAD is working(the traffic is led to the proxy), but there must be a place that record the WPAD elements, like the URL to get the PAC file, or the ip of proxy, etc.

DHCP clients are windows 10 desktop

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Networking | Network connectivity and file sharing
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  1. Shujun Chen (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 5 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2024-01-10T06:44:46.6866667+00:00

    Hello BENKHAY ABDELLAH,

    As per your statement, we believe there`s more information needed to verify the DHCP has successfully enabled on your DHCP client.

    Please kindly check if possible:

    1. The output of command in cmd: ipconfig/all

    Here`s a reference:

    Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix

    Description ………………… : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

    Physical Address. ……………: 00-11-22-33-44-55

    DHCPEnabled………………:Yes

    Autoconfiguration Enabled

    IPv4Address……………………:192.168.1.100(Preferred)

    SubnetMask…………………:255.255.255.0

    Lease obtained……………………:2021/5/10/14:30:00

    LeaseExpires……………………:2021/5/11/14:30:00

    DefaultGateway……………………:192.168.1.1

    DHCP Server .192.168.1.1

    DNS Servers ..192.168.1.1

    It`s strong evidence that DHCP enabled on client if we get a IP information of its DCHP server.

    2.Ensuring the Network adapters are function. Please go Device Manager-> Network adapters and ensure there`s no Exclamation mark aside.

    User's image

    3.In order to make DHCP work via WAPD, we need to build a domain and ensure the client has joined the domain. Please help to share the domain configuration of the client.

    Sincerely hope the reply could help you and if you have already tried this, please reply.

    It will benefit the community and we would be happy to provide other possible solutions.

    Best Regards,

    Shujun

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  2. Shujun Chen (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 5 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2024-01-09T09:31:48.77+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

    To double check if WPAD is working on Windows client, you can also try below steps:

    1. Export and check group policy by command

    gpresult /h C:\path\to\output.html

    to see if there are any settings applied that might be enforcing or overriding the proxy settings.

    1. Check PAC Script Content:

    Check PAC script and see if content contains related information

    1. Check DHCP option value by command

    Get-DhcpServerv4OptionValue -ComputerName <dhcp_server_name> -ScopeId <dhcp_scope_id> -OptionId 252

    1. Capture network trace and filter the proxy server IP/DNS in the trace and see if there's any related traffic.

    To help other customers who may be facing the same issue, please don't forget to vote if the reply is helpful.

    Best Regards,
    Shujun

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