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My office network uses Pulse Secure to connect to VPN. I am tunneling my Python Script using ngrok. When the VPN is off, ngrok successfully tunnels my server but the Python Script needs to access a website on the VPN. When I turn on the VPN, ngrok stops working (Reconnecting indefinitely). Is there any method to allow ngrok to work even when the VPN is on?

I've tried to explore modifications in the Python Script to access the VPN server whenever called, but could not do it.

Command I am using in ngrok (5000 was the port generated by the python script using Flask library) - ngrok http 5000

Session Status - Reconnecting

Harshvardhan Arora
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1 Answers1

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You need enable split tunneling on your VPN to allow the ngrok traffic to bypass the VPN.

https://docs.pulsesecure.net/WebHelp/PDC/9.0R1/Content/PDC_AdminGuide_9.0R1/Pulse_Connect_Secure_Split.htm

Jamieson Rhyne
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  • Can you explain why the VPN has to be bypassed though? – bryan Jul 26 '23 at 02:57
  • VPN without split tunneling means all incoming traffic to your computer is blocked, and all outbound traffic is routed through the VPN destination. Ngrok can’t create an inbound connection to your computer because the VPN is blocking it as designed. – Jamieson Rhyne Jul 28 '23 at 04:34
  • Yes, but is that really a technical limitation or a design limitation? Given there is an ngrok client already connected, cannot the public server send new connections in through to the ngrok client to be presented as new connections to the backend host? – bryan Jul 29 '23 at 18:04
  • ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ not really my area of expertise, but it didn’t work with vpn blocking it unless I had split tunnel turned on. Hopefully someone smarter can chime in. – Jamieson Rhyne Jul 31 '23 at 01:03