We're trying to use a Mandrake 10.1 installation as a firewall/gateway from our office LAN to the internet. We are having trouble with PPTP (Microsoft) VPN connections made to internet addresses from clients inside the network. The behavior is similar to the following:

1) Windows workstation A can make a VPN connection to client X.

2) Windows workstation B, also routing out through the Mandrake gateway, cannot make a VPN connection to the client X (I believe it reports error 729 after trying for some time to connect).

3) Shortly after Windows workstation A drops its PPTP VPN connection, Windows workstation B still cannot connect to client X.

4) Some time later, Windows workstation B can connect to client X.

Obviously the kernel has PPTP support and can route the connections, but is there something else we need to configure to make this work? Our ISA 2002 server can route the multiple PPTP VPN connections to the client seamlessly, but has problems routing other VPN clients. We were trying to use the Linux gateway as our only gateway because ISA is a pain in the rear.

Thanks!

Found https://lists.netfilter.org/pipermai...er/055955.html from this google search: http://www.google.com/search?q=pptp+from+behind+nat

Don't run pptp myself much, but it may be you need modules to mangle up the GRE packets.

Good Luck,
chris

I'm afraid I don't understand what I'm doing enough to know where to go. Apparently netfilter.org has a patch that allows multiple PPTP clients to route out to the same external IP (see http://www.netfilter.org/patch-o-matic/pom-extra.html, under "PPTP connection tracking and NAT helper"). This says "Status: Testing, especially the 2.6.x port."

Can someone explain what Patch-O-Matic is, and how I would use it to install this PPTP connection tracking patch? I take it from the fact that it's in testing for the 2.6.x port that I shouldn't expect my Mandrake 10.1 distro to already have this installed. I've looked at the Patch-O-Matic documentation but don't know if I need to use Patch-O-Matic, or Patch-O-Matic NG (or what the difference is).

Can someone hand-hold me through this process? I will be eternally grateful. Cheers!