Install the Routing and Remote Access Server (RRAS) on Windows Server 2022

A brief step-by-step guide for the installation of RRAS on Windows Server 2022 via Server Manager or PowerShell

The latest addition to the time of writing this article are the brand new Windows Server 2022. You are going to need an evaluation version of the Standard Edition.

What is RRAS

Routing and Remote Access service (from now on mentioned simply as RRAS) is a part of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system — original dating back from the early Windows NT times — that gives us the chance to administer the routing and the remote access capabilities of a server and use it as a network router. RRAS supports remote user or site-to-site connectivity via using virtual private network (VPN) or dial-up connections.

You can read more in the official documentation page of the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) in Microsoft Docs:

Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS)

Installation from Server Manager

Open Windows Server Manager and perform the required actions as they are highlighted in the following screenshots:

In Windows Server Manager choose Add Roles & Features under Manage

Click Next to start the process…

Choose a role-based or feature-based installation

Choose the first option: Select a server from the server pool — you should see a single server autoselected and click Next

In Server Roles list select Remote Access and click Next

In Features click Next to continue

This step of the wizard is just informative in regards of the Remote Access functionality, click Next to continue.

From the available services in Remote Access choose DirectAccess and VPN (RRAS) and Routing

In the popup window of the DirectAccess and VPN features click Add Features without making any changes

Make sure to allow the automatic restart of the server — if required, and click Install to start the installation

Wait for the installation to complete

The Installation itself will not take long and shortly you will have RRAS installed on your Server. When the installation is complete, you should be able to see in the left pane of the Server Manager a new option “Remote Access” which will require from you post-deployment configuration. Click the post-deployment configuration wizard:

and from the available options go with Deploy VPN only :

This will not take long and the Routing and Remote Access console of your Server will automatically pop up:

The configuration of RRAS varies per use case which has to be discussed and exhibited individually. The scope of this article is limited to the installation of RRAS.

Installation via PowerShell

If you find the installation of RRAS via the Server Manager that was described above long and boring, Microsoft has you covered. You can alternatively install RRAS via PowerShell.

Install-WindowsFeature RemoteAccess
Install-WindowsFeature DirectAccess-VPN -IncludeManagementTool
Install-WindowsFeature Routing -IncludeManagementTools

For more information you can consult the official documentation in Microsoft Docs:

Install-RemoteAccess (RemoteAccess)

Summary

The installation procedure, and RRAS in general, hasn’t changed at all since lot of years. If you cannot acquire a copy of Windows Server 2022 many older versions (2012, 2016, 2019) will suit the purpose without any compromise in the functionality.

Hope you found this article useful, more articles about configuring RRAS for different scenarios will follow.