Thursday, January 22, 2009

HOWTO: VPN from Ubuntu 8.10

I have a Microsoft Windows based network at the office and they've setup a VPN connection for me to be able to hook up to the servers to take care of a couple of ASP.NET applications and manage the server.

Ever since I installed Ubuntu 8.10, I've been a bit disconnected from the office as I can only access the services exposed by the web gateway, so I finally decided to setup a VPN connection from Linux.

I started off by clicking on the network icon on the top-right of the menu bar and then Configure VPN (under VPN Connections). The VPN tab had the Add button disabled so I went to the command prompt (Application, Accessories, Terminal) and typed the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install network-manager-pptp

I then entered my password (for the sudo), after which it downloads and installs PPTP support. To make sure Add button under VPN is now enabled, I also type the command:
sudo NetworkManager restart

Now, I simply click the network icon (from the top-right of the menu bar), click Configure VPN (under VPN Connections), I click the Add button, type in the IP address of the VPN server for the Gateway, my ActiveDirectory (from the Windows domain) username and password, followed by the domain name. I click the Advanced button and check the "Use Point-to-Point encryption (MPPE)" checkbox and click Ok on both dialog boxes.

To connect to the VPN, I click the network icon and under VPN Connections, I select the VPN connection that I just created.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Worked like a charm. Thanks :)

Casper Bang said...

Yeah since changing to Ubuntu, I actually find my home workspace superior. For instance, it's easy to set up routing table such that you can be connected both to the office for certain IP-ranges while all other traffic goes directly out on the internet. No more having to disconnect if you download something large and no more bandwidth issues when listening to online radios.

Abhishek said...

even I tried the steps...but failed..actually i have a certificate i.e. .pfx file..hw do i use it from ubuntu ?

alex smith said...

A "virtual private network" is the 21st Century way of working from home or from a remote office. By using the Internet to extend your company's office network across many kilometers, it is possible to log into your office computer account from most any Internet connection. There are hacker and eavesdropping concerns, of course. But gratefully, modern vpn's are quite safe.

alex smith said...

We further beef up security by ensuring that everyone has a personal PIN for their vpn connection. The VPN remote access server (RAS) needs to be controlled as it can get expensive - the cost depends..

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