Hello everyone,
I installed SuSE 9.2 not too long ago and getting the feel of it (newbie). I am trying to install a VPN so I can connect to my schools wireless network. I have downloaded the correct file, untarred it, and am currently trying to install it. However, whenever I try to install it, I am unsuccessful. I don't know what kind of information I can give you in order to get help, but this is the process I've been going through to install the VPN Client:

Cisco Systems VPN Client Version 4.0.4 (A) Linux Installer
Copyright (C) 1998-2001 Cisco Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By installing this product you agree that you have read the
license.txt file (The VPN Client license) and will comply with
its terms.


Directory where binaries will be installed [/usr/local/bin] /usr/local/bin

Automatically start the VPN service at boot time [yes] yes

In order to build the VPN kernel module, you must have the
kernel headers for the version of the kernel you are running.

For RedHat 6.x users these files are installed in /usr/src/linux by default
For RedHat 7.x users these files are installed in /usr/src/linux-2.4 by default
For Suse 7.3 users these files are installed in /usr/src/linux-2.4.10.SuSE by default

Directory containing linux kernel source code [/lib/modules/2.6.8-24.5-default/build]

* Binaries will be installed in "/usr/local/bin".
* Modules will be installed in "/lib/modules/2.6.8-24.5-default/CiscoVPN".
* The VPN service will be started AUTOMATICALLY at boot time.
* Kernel source from "/lib/modules/2.6.8-24.5-default/build" will be used to build the module.

Is the above correct [y] y

Making module
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.8-24.5-default/build SUBDIRS=/home/janzalon/programs/vpnclient modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.8-24.5-obj/i386/default'
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `modules'. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.8-24.5-obj/i386/default'
make: *** [default] Error 2
Failed to make module "cisco_ipsec.ko".


As you can see, it is unable to make the 'module' or whatever. Does anyone have a suggestion or a pointer as to what I am doing wrong?

Much appreciated,

Cheese_Thief

It looks like it's trying to compile a kernel module for a 2.4 series kernel. This is an old kernel series; SuSE uses 2.6 and modules written for 2.4 won't always compile against a 2.6 series kernel.

This probably means that the VPN software you've got isn't being maintained; this well could be a security nightmare if nothing else.

SuSE ships with several VPN clients; you might want to use one of these. Alternatively, you could download and install a 2.4 kernel from www.kernel.org just for using with the VPN; build install the latest 2.4 kernel first then reboot before installing your VPN client. This option is not very easy; there's several ways to break your computer (but so long as you have a rescue disk you can always fix it again).

In order to clear your error (this will probably just uncover errors in the kernel module, but you might get lucky):

First, go into YaST and make sure that you have the kernel-source and kernel-headers installed.

If you install them, make sure the version numbers match (run online update).