What is the VMware UAG Gateway location?
If you have rolled out or upgraded to VMware’s Universal Access Gateway (or UAG) version 3.8, you might have noticed a new mandatory field called Gateway Location.
There is not much information on the internet related to what this setting is used for or what the value should be set as. (At least none that I could find). It just states that valid options are External, Internal and Other. Not much guidance on setting the option correctly depending on the placement of the UAG. The information button on the side doesn’t help much either. Initially, I thought it might have to do with placement such as DMZ, Production, etc.
While on a recent call with VMware Tech support, I asked if there were any internal documents that might give insight into what is the correct setting is. Here’s the response.
The Gateway location option is used to define where the client’s sessions are connecting from. Usually, it is marked as external except when using the UAG for internal links such as MPLS link between to 2 different sites. Then you should use the internal option.
– VMware Tech Support
No mention of Other. Based on my testing, the UAG seems to function correctly with either setting in place (Internal or External). I find it strange that this setting is a mandatory option that seems more esthetic or organizational than functional.
But there you have it. For almost all of my installations, External will be the correct choice when setting your Gateway Location.
Happy Monday!
–Carlo