I am testing out Hamachi for use by a distributed team of users. At my home is a headless "server" machine with Windows 8.1. I have another PC that I use that also has Windows 8.1. Both have Hamachi vs. 2.2.0.410. For testing purposes, both are on the same switch and I can thus connect to RDP using the local IP address.
For the server, Hamachi does NOT start with Windows. A user must be logged in. I have checked that the service is set to Start Autmatically (I have also tried Delayed Start based on a tip I read, but that didn't fix the problem). Also, I can connect and browse network shares on the server from the other PC, but only if I have a user logged onto the server (via Remote Desktop). As soon as I disconnect the RDP session (note, not logoff, just disconnect by closing the RDP window) leaving the session still running on the server, the connection dies, and I can no longer browse the share (server PC shows as Not Connected in Hamachi on the PC).
I read online somewhere that only a paid subscription will alllow the software to run as a service, but this message was quite a few years old and referring to an old version. I would gladly pay for a subscription if that is an intended limitation of the free service (I will need to do so anyway because of the number of PCs planned), but I would like to ensure this will work before I do.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled Hamachi (leaving the user settings in place). As stated, I have checked the service for the startup type.
Any help would be appreciated. I know there is a lot of info out there; I have searched and not found a solution yet. This is kind of a last resort before moving onto hardware based VPN.
Thanks!