# anyone know a guide to connecting to a VPN?

## gnychis

Hey all,

I am trying to get on my schools VPN so that I can connect to their library system.  They have instructions on how to install the VPN in windows an OS X, but not in linux.  I successfully had it working when I was in windows, now I just need to figure out how to connect to a VPN in linux.

Does anyone know any free tools that can do this in linux?  A link to a guide or anything would be appreciated.

Thanks!

George

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## arma

i'm interrested too

the only howto i found were on 'howto set up a vpn server" and where old (talking about kernel 2.2 ...isn't it medieval era  :Very Happy:  )

well, i'll be very gratefull if somebody can tell me what option i need to add to my kernel (2.6, modern era) to have the device called /dev/net/tun 

thanks

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## Prompty

depends on what kind of vpn it is .... a cisco pix for example ? racoon ? pptp ? l2tp ?

```

root@scotch ~ # emerge -s vpn

Searching...

[ Results for search key : vpn ]

[ Applications found : 4 ]

*  net-misc/cisco-vpnclient-3des

      Latest version available: 4.6.02.0030

      Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]

      Size of downloaded files: 1,632 kB

      Homepage:    http://cco.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/secursw/ps2308/index.html

      Description: Cisco VPN Client (3DES)

      License:     cisco-vpn-client

*  net-misc/kvpnc

      Latest version available: 0.6.1

      Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]

      Size of downloaded files: 802 kB

      Homepage:    http://home.gna.org/kvpnc/

      Description: kvpnc - a KDE-VPN connection utility.

      License:     GPL-2

*  net-misc/openvpn

      Latest version available: 2.0

      Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]

      Size of downloaded files: 624 kB

      Homepage:    http://openvpn.net/

      Description: OpenVPN is a robust and highly flexible tunneling application compatible with many OSes.

      License:     GPL-2

*  net-misc/vpnc

      Latest version available: 0.3.2

      Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]

      Size of downloaded files: 55 kB

      Homepage:    http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~massar/vpnc/

      Description: Free client for Cisco VPN routing software

      License:     GPL-2 BSD

```

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## arma

i know...its sounds stupid but ... i don't know ....

what is the main difference between a cisco, racoon, pptp and l2tp ?

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## Prompty

mainly the platform it runs on ... racoon (or pluto) ale *nix daemons ... cisco hardware has very nice vpn capabilities (ipsec) and it's own soft...however I bet you're suppoused to be using pptp (tcp over gre tunnel) or l2tp (udp over ipsec ) in which case you should install openvpn

----------EDIT---------

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> With OpenVPN, you can:
> 
>     * tunnel any IP subnetwork or virtual ethernet adapter over a single UDP or TCP port,
> ...

 

you should try http://openvpn.net/ for more help

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## asiobob

If your school gives the instructions then you can sorta figure out what type it is.

If its pptp, there is a chance its encrypted with MPPE. This requires a kernel patch. http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-gentoo.phtml is the how to for gentoo, it has a GUI as well. Remember PPTP can be encypted using MPPE which is common. I use this method to access the net from my dorm

Then there CISCO vpn. Finding the client is effort since cisco won't just give it to you. Your school will have to do that, and I wish you luck. There is vpnc (in portage) thats a nice cisco client thats free to use. It has some limitations which may or may not affect you. For an example it currently doesn't support key rehashing, this means your connection is unusable after a rehash untill you reconnect. The default setup is 8hrs so it generally means you can have a connection for this long. IF they've something retarded like 30 seconds then there's a problem. I use this method to vpn to another university and it works fine

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## cchee

if you decide to go with openvpn, here is the howto for both server/client setup.

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-233080-highlight-openvpn.html

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## micmac

Hi there!

I use vpnc to connect. It's in portage and it's opensource. You only need to emerge it, build your kernel with CONFIG_TUN set and edit /etc/vpnc.conf (your school should provide the settings).

I've never had any trouble with vpnc. I even got a watchdog in case the connection dies. If you're interested you can look at this thread: https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-333511-highlight-vpnc.html

Cheers

mic

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