Is there an easy way to set up VPN on Linux ?

lostboy · 08-09-2003, 01:15 PM

I've tried poptop, and I see that I need to patch the kernel, patch the latest pppd, compile them both, then load a module, in order to be compatable with MS encryption.

I took a look at freeswan, and the setup procedure is definitely more detailed than poptop.

Is there an easy friggin way to set up VPN on Linux ?

JC

kev82 · 08-09-2003, 02:37 PM

linux<->linux or linux<->win

linux<->linux - ppp(no patch required) over ssh works pretty good for me, i think theres some howto's on tldp.org about it.

linux<->win - my only solution has been to put a linux box infront of the windows box and let it act as a gateway. i think theres some bsd people working on the pptp thing but i think theyve only got clients working not servers.

lostboy · 08-09-2003, 03:03 PM

Thanks for reply. I am trying to have my Slack box be the server, and connect to it from Windows clients.

I'm begining to think that the sensible thing to do is let the windows machine on my lan be the vpn server, and since it is connected to my samba server, I believe it should work.

It would be Windows<-WAN->Windows<-LAN->Linux. I'll let Windows be the middle man.

JC

kev82 · 08-09-2003, 03:17 PM

if you need windows clients to connect then i think its much easier to run a windows server, this is the linux client for pptp if you want *nix machines to connect as well. sorry i couldnt be of more help.

dude_228 · 08-09-2003, 06:10 PM

sorry :: for this question
what is vpn exactly?
is it remote desktop control?

kev82 · 08-09-2003, 06:18 PM

nope, its basically running ip over some other protocol. say for example you have a network called A with addresses 192.168.1.* and a public address say 81.64.8.129 and you have a machine B in another country with public address 64.198.6.42, a vpn establishes a connection between machine A and B say an ssh connection and lets you run ip over the connection with say slip/pppd so you can give machine B an internal address on A's network and it can talk directly with any machine on A's network even though they are not on the internet.

i apologize if those ip's belong to anyone i picked them totally at random.

<edit> you may be thinking of vnc i think thats remote desktop

bferrell · 08-10-2003, 09:26 AM

Just about any VPN you use willl require a module. PPTP (poptop) is reasonable and fairly simple to setup AND it requires nothing new on the windows machine. If you do a google search for pptpd you probably find prebuilt binaries.

lostboy · 08-10-2003, 03:17 PM

I'm not worried about loading a module. I'm just lazy when it comes to patching source, and recompiling a kernel.

JC

lostboy · 08-11-2003, 11:45 PM

The answer is yes, there is an easy way. Extremely easy as compared to everything else that I have looked at.

1. start the ssh daemon on Linux server. (install if nec.)
2. install WinSCP3 on the Windows client.
3. do setup configuration on server(user,group,passwd).
4. run WinSCP3.exe
5. that's it. start transfering files.

note:

I would avoid using MSVPN. From what I understand, mspptp has security issues.

That is just my opinion, and I formed it after reading this :

http://www.counterpane.com/pptp-faq.html

JC

fortezza · 05-18-2004, 11:30 PM

That WinSCP looks like it is only for tranferring files, what about other operations? Ping, other services, etc. What about non-Windows clients? I am trying Freeswan out right now, looks pretty simple, but every post I have read said it is hard. We will see...

fortezza · 05-25-2004, 06:05 PM

Just wanted to let everyone know I was able to get Freeswan working for my VPN solution, and by also running the l2tp service Windows boxen can also access my VPN. All for free! While Freeswan is no longer under development, it still works like a champ. I am running version 2.05, btw.