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Configure active-active VPN gateways using the portal

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This article helps you create highly available active-active VPN gateways using the Resource Manager deployment model and Azure portal. You can also configure an active-active gateway using PowerShell.

To achieve high availability for cross-premises and VNet-to-VNet connectivity, you should deploy multiple VPN gateways and establish multiple parallel connections between your networks and Azure. See Highly Available cross-premises and VNet-to-VNet connectivity for an overview of connectivity options and topology.

Important

The active-active mode is available for all SKUs except Basic or Standard. For more information, see Configuration settings.

The steps in this article help you configure a VPN gateway in active-active mode. There are a few differences between active-active and active-standby modes. The other properties are the same as the non-active-active gateways.

  • Active-active gateways have two Gateway IP configurations and two public IP addresses.
  • Active-active gateways have active-active setting enabled.
  • The virtual network gateway SKU can't be Basic or Standard.

If you already have a VPN gateway, you can Update an existing VPN gateway from active-standby to active-active mode, or from active-active to active-standby mode.

Create a VNet

If you don't already have a VNet that you want to use, create a VNet using the following values:

  • Resource group: TestRG1
  • Name: VNet1
  • Region: (US) East US
  • IPv4 address space: 10.1.0.0/16
  • Subnet name: FrontEnd
  • Subnet address space: 10.1.0.0/24

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

  2. In Search resources, service, and docs (G+/) at the top of the portal page, type virtual network. Select Virtual network from the Marketplace results to open the Virtual network page.

  3. On the Virtual network page, select Create. This opens the Create virtual network page.

  4. On the Basics tab, configure the VNet settings for Project details and Instance details. You'll see a green check mark when the values you enter are validated. The values shown in the example can be adjusted according to the settings that you require.

    Screenshot shows the Basics tab.

    • Subscription: Verify that the subscription listed is the correct one. You can change subscriptions by using the drop-down.
    • Resource group: Select an existing resource group, or select Create new to create a new one. For more information about resource groups, see Azure Resource Manager overview.
    • Name: Enter the name for your virtual network.
    • Region: Select the location for your VNet. The location determines where the resources that you deploy to this VNet will live.

  5. Select Next or Security to advance to the Security tab. For this exercise, leave the default values for all the services on this page.

  6. Select IP Addresses to advance to the IP Addresses tab. On the IP Addresses tab, configure the settings.

    • IPv4 address space: By default, an address space is automatically created. You can select the address space and adjust it to reflect your own values. You can also add a different address space and remove the default that was automatically created. For example, you can specify the starting address as 10.1.0.0 and specify the address space size as /16, then Add that address space.
    • + Add subnet: If you use the default address space, a default subnet is created automatically. If you change the address space, add a new subnet within that address space. Select + Add subnet to open the Add subnet window. Configure the following settings, then select Add at the bottom of the page to add the values.
      • Subnet name: Example: FrontEnd.
      • Subnet address range: The address range for this subnet. For example, 10.1.0.0 and /24.

  7. Review the IP addresses page and remove any address spaces or subnets that you don't need.

  8. Select Review + create to validate the virtual network settings.

  9. After the settings have been validated, select Create to create the virtual network.

Create an active-active VPN gateway

In this step, you create an active-active virtual network gateway (VPN gateway) for your VNet. Creating a gateway can often take 45 minutes or more, depending on the selected gateway SKU.

Create a virtual network gateway using the following values:

  • Name: VNet1GW
  • Region: East US
  • Gateway type: VPN
  • VPN type: Route-based
  • SKU: VpnGw2
  • Generation: Generation2
  • Virtual network: VNet1
  • Gateway subnet address range: 10.1.255.0/27
  • Public IP address: Create new
  • Public IP address name: VNet1GWpip

  1. In Search resources, services, and docs (G+/) type virtual network gateway. Locate Virtual network gateway in the Marketplace search results and select it to open the Create virtual network gateway page.

    Screenshot of Search field.

  2. On the Basics tab, fill in the values for Project details and Instance details.

    Screenshot of Instance fields.

    • Subscription: Select the subscription you want to use from the dropdown.
    • Resource Group: This setting is autofilled when you select your virtual network on this page.
    • Name: Name your gateway. Naming your gateway not the same as naming a gateway subnet. It's the name of the gateway object you're creating.
    • Region: Select the region in which you want to create this resource. The region for the gateway must be the same as the virtual network.
    • Gateway type: Select VPN. VPN gateways use the virtual network gateway type VPN.
    • SKU: Select the gateway SKU that supports the features you want to use from the dropdown. See Gateway SKUs. In the portal, the SKUs available in the dropdown depend on the VPN type you select. The Basic SKU can only be configured using Azure CLI or PowerShell. You can't configure the Basic SKU in the Azure portal.
    • Generation: Select the generation you want to use. We recommend using a Generation2 SKU. For more information, see Gateway SKUs.
    • Virtual network: From the dropdown, select the virtual network to which you want to add this gateway. If you can't see the VNet for which you want to create a gateway, make sure you selected the correct subscription and region in the previous settings.
    • Gateway subnet address range: This field only appears if your VNet doesn't have a gateway subnet. It's best to specify /27 or larger (/26,/25 etc.). This allows enough IP addresses for future changes, such as adding an ExpressRoute gateway. If you already have a gateway subnet, you can view GatewaySubnet details by navigating to your virtual network. Select Subnets to view the range. If you want to change the range, you can delete and recreate the GatewaySubnet.

  1. Specify in the values for Public IP address. These settings specify the public IP address object that gets associated to the VPN gateway. The public IP address is dynamically assigned to this object when the VPN gateway is created. For gateways that are not zone-redundant, the only time the Public IP address changes is when the gateway is deleted and re-created. It doesn't change across resizing, resetting, or other internal maintenance/upgrades of your VPN gateway.

    Screenshot of public IP address field.

    • Public IP address: Leave Create new selected.
    • Public IP address name: In the text box, type a name for your public IP address instance.
    • Assignment: VPN gateway supports only Dynamic.
    • Enable active-active mode: Select Enabled.
    • Second Public IP Address: Select Create new.
    • Public IP address name: Name the second Public IP address.
    • Leave Configure BGP as Disabled, unless your configuration specifically requires this setting. If you do require this setting, the default ASN is 65515, although this can be changed.

  2. Select Review + create to run validation.

  3. Once validation passes, select Create to deploy the VPN gateway.

You can see the deployment status on the Overview page for your gateway. After the gateway is created, you can view the IP address that has been assigned to it by looking at the virtual network in the portal. The gateway appears as a connected device.

Important

When working with gateway subnets, avoid associating a network security group (NSG) to the gateway subnet. Associating a network security group to this subnet may cause your virtual network gateway (VPN and ExpressRoute gateways) to stop functioning as expected. For more information about network security groups, see What is a network security group?.

Update an existing VPN gateway

This section helps you change an existing Azure VPN gateway from active-standby to active-active mode, and from active-active to active-standby mode. When you change an active-standby gateway to active-active, you create another public IP address, then add a second gateway IP configuration.

Change active-standby to active-active

Use the following steps to convert active-standby mode gateway to active-active mode. If your gateway was created using the Resource Manager deployment model, you can also upgrade the SKU on this page.

  1. Navigate to the page for your virtual network gateway.

  2. On the left menu, select Configuration.

  3. On the Configuration page, configure the following settings:

    • Change the Active-active mode to Enabled.
    • Click Create another gateway IP configuration.

    Screenshot shows the Configuration page.

  4. On the Choose public IP address page and either specify an existing public IP address that meets the criteria, or select +Create new to create a new public IP address to use for the second VPN gateway instance.

  5. On the Create public IP address page, select the Basic SKU, then click OK.

  6. At the top of the Configuration page, click Save. This update can take about 30-45 minutes to complete.

Important

If you have BGP sessions running, be aware that the Azure VPN Gateway BGP configuration will change and two newly assigned BGP IPs will be provisioned within the Gateway Subnet address range. The old Azure VPN Gateway BGP IP address will no longer exist. This will incur downtime and updating the BGP peers on the on-premises devices will be required. Once the gateway is finished provisioning, the new BGP IPs can be obtained and the on-premises device configuration will need to be updated accordingly. This applies to non APIPA BGP IPs. To understand how to configure BGP in Azure, see How to configure BGP on Azure VPN Gateways.

Change active-active to active-standby

Use the following steps to convert active-active mode gateway to active-standby mode.

  1. Navigate to the page for your virtual network gateway.

  2. On the left menu, select Configuration.

  3. On the Configuration page, change the Active-active mode to Disabled.

  4. At the top of the Configuration page, click Save.

Important

If you have BGP sessions running, be aware that the Azure VPN Gateway BGP configuration will change from two BGP IP addresses to a single BGP address. The platform generally assigns the last usable IP of the Gateway Subnet. This will incur downtime and updating the BGP peers on the on-premises devices will be required. This applies to non APIPA BGP IPs. To understand how to configure BGP in Azure, see How to configure BGP on Azure VPN Gateways.

Next steps

To configure connections, see the following articles: