Anywhere Access certificate will expire soon - I can't renew it.

Chuck Coleman 106 Reputation points
2021-06-05T15:13:32.6+00:00

Hi. I have a Windows Server 2012r2 that has had Anywhere Access for years. I've recently been getting a warning that "The Anywhere Access certificate will expire soon. You must renew the certificate to continue using Anywhere Access." I have spent days researching this and the recommended solution is to go to the Setup portion of the Anywhere Access wizard and release the current domain name, i.e. name.remotewebaccess.com. I've tried this multiple times and I continue to get the following: "The domain name was not released. Click close and then try again later. An unknown error occurred. Please wait a few minutes and then try again."

I've tried that multiple times over several days. How do I renew the Anywhere Access certificate?

Windows for business | Windows Server | Devices and deployment | Configure application groups
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Accepted answer
  1. Chuck Coleman 106 Reputation points
    2021-06-12T17:10:32.253+00:00

    SUCCESS! I've fixed the problem on a 2012r2 Essentials and a 2016 Essentials. MichaelJordan-7542 in one of his posts suggested to go here: https://blogs.msmvps.com/bradley/2021/04/01/essentials-servers-fix-up-to-get-remotewebaccess-renewed/

    Once there, look for "The attached TXT file needs" RIght-click on the word "TXT" and open it in a new tab. Copy the Regedit code. Go to your server and Export the contents of Regedit to a file to back it up. Take the copied code and paste it into a .txt file and save it. Rename the file to your_name.reg and execute it. You will get confirmation it was added. Reboot the server. Once it's up start up the Dashboard and go to Anywhere Access. I tried the "Repair" option and it fixed a few errors, but not the certificate. Then go to Setup and pick "Use another Domain Name", then "I want to use a domain name I alread own". Enter your existing Domain Name. You will have to enter your credentials, let it run and it's fixed!

    2 people found this answer helpful.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-06-07T02:13:12.747+00:00

    Hello @Chuck Coleman ,

    Thank you for posting here.

    Do you mean your Windows Server 2012r2 is Windows Server 2012r2 Essentials? If so, the renew steps above is correct.

    Here is a similar case with marked answer for your reference.

    WSE Server 2012 Anywhere Access Certificate Expiring
    https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/3ec6b16c-ba14-4775-b80b-61a0c13d6dac/wse-server-2012-anywhere-access-certificate-expiring?forum=winserveressentials

    Here are two similar cases with marked answer with another method to renew this certificate. Please try the methods to see if they help.

    SSL certificate about to expire
    https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/f656a93f-0851-4e51-b1e9-9ab477c67a9b/ssl-certificate-about-to-expire?forum=winserveressentials

    Server 2016 Essentials - remote access certificate expired
    https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/9419502a-45b1-429b-a750-fdfb743155fb/server-2016-essentials-remote-access-certificate-expired?forum=ws16essentials

    Hope the information above is helpful.

    Should you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

    Best Regards,
    Daisy Zhou

    ============================================

    If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.


  2. Keith Seda 1 Reputation point
    2021-06-07T13:15:11.29+00:00

    I am having the same exact problem with multiple clients. Unable to release, or add a new domain. Using the same Microsoft account we used to setup the servers. In every case, the error is the same "The domain name was not set up for your server. Wait a few minutes and run the wizard again. An unknown error occurred. Please wait a few minutes, and then try again."

    Have tried rebooting, repairing, checking event logs. Nothing will renew this. It appears Microsoft has removed this service or the service is down.


  3. Keith Seda 1 Reputation point
    2021-06-07T18:08:29.517+00:00

    We buy these mini AcePC computers from Amazon. We've been purchasing the T11. There is a firmware patch you can apply to have the computer auto-start when power is plugged in. Then we load Ubuntu server on the unit and install OpenVPN. From there it's pretty simple to add accounts and setup the VPN server. If you're not familiar with Linux then this is not going to work for you.

    The next cheapest solution is going to be buying a firewall with SSL VPN capabilities like a Sophos XG 86 or a FortiGate 40F would be the cheapest. I think they both are around $400.00.

    Of course everything has to be scaled to your need. the 40F claims to be able to handle up to 200 SSL VPN users for example. That OpenVPN solution we do I'd probably only use for maybe 25-50 users max.

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  4. Michael Jordan 106 Reputation points
    2021-06-07T19:47:28.803+00:00

    Thank you very much for the info. We only have 4 users and I am the only one that logs in remotely. We do have a static IP. This is getting by on a shoestring.

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