mknod /dev/net/tun fails (not implemented)

[ericblade]

I have a program that wants to create a network tunnel. It's mknod command fails with a not-implemented. It would be nice if this did work, because although I have Windows tunneling properly through this tunnel, the Linux subsystem is not tunnelling like I would expect. Which is very very strange.

Alternatively, if the Linux subsystem didn't (apparently) bypass Winsock, then this would be a non-issue for me personally (although I could see other people wanting to be able to tunnel separately in Bash vs in Windows proper)

[aseering]

@ericblade -- thanks for posting. Just checking, is it possible that your issue with your network tunnel is not with winsock but instead with DNS? There have been a few reports of people running into issues that sound similar at first glance; they ended up being a result of known limitations of WSL's DNS resolution (it uses basic Linux mechanisms which aren't necessarily aware of changes on the Windows side) and work-around-able by manually modifying /etc/hosts or /etc/resolv.conf.

[ericblade]

Hi! So, the situation that I normally have:

I have a VPN that allows one connection at a time. I need to be able to connect multiple computers through that one VPN connection. So, I have a Linux PC that runs the VPN software, and then I have several other PCs that use a program called Proxifier, which plugs into the WinSock configuration, and routes all traffic for the required hostnames or IPs through the tunnel, and all traffic that isn't for those hostnames or IPs through the direct connection.

This works absolutely 100% on all software that I have used on both Mac OS and Windows - except for Microsoft Edge, and software running inside BashOnWindows. Since Linux is not nearly as easy to configure "all traffic destined to certain hosts should be routed through the proxy server" as Windows and Mac are :-) I tried to install the VPN software directly on the BashOnWindows, to see if the Windows and Linux systems were significantly separated enough to allow that to work. Turns out, the mknod returns not implemented.

Without doing anything at all, other than making my normal connection on the Linux server, and then using the Proxifier software, programs run in BashOnWindows are not able to connect via the Proxy server through the VPN. I also attempted to set /etc/resolv.conf to use the same nameservers as the machine that is connected directly to the VPN and that failed, also. SO it seems that Proxifier isn't able to forward my traffic directly over the proxy and thru my VPN, as it is with all native Windows software (except Edge.. sigh)

Linux applications running from BashOnWindows are unable to connect.

Of course, it may very well be possible that I've just got things done in a way that nothing else understands.. but it works very well in native apps :-)

[ericblade]

Also related to #416 (in fact, it is basically the same thing, but with Juniper Network Connect)

[Peter-J-Jansen]

I too think that in general the networking support is quite incomplete, and should be improved upon with some priority. Support for /dev/net/tun, i.e. the Linux TUN/TAP interface, is highest on my list, but other simpler requirements, e.g. a working traceroute.

Support for this will be highly appreciated !

[sunilmut]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Supporting VPN from bash, TUN/TAP is not in our high priority list. We use our user voice page to prioritize our work. If you would like to see support for these features, please head out there and cast your vote/create ticket.

[sunilmut]

Also, see #874