VPN client to connect to my school's network

lowpro2k3 · 09-01-2005, 02:07 PM

I need a VPN client to connect to my school's network so I can do homework. Theres a specific network of Linux PC's that we can log into where we have some sort of network account, and all my homework is stored. Currently I've been using Cisco VPN client for windows to connect, and Putty to do my homework. This is much to slow, and I'd rather use Linux to connect to the network, then I could scp my data over to my local machine, and work on it at home. Then when I finish up for the night I could scp it back to the schools network.

Is there any good VPN clients for Linux? My school's IT services state they do not support Linux or Mac, but they offer a very dated cisco client for Linux. I'm using Slackware and the 2.6 kernel, this client wouldn't compile into my kernel and it seems like it was released for the 2.2 versions of the kernel years ago. I need a fairly up to date client, preferably one that I don't need to recompile my kernel for.

In windows I connect to the address vpn.myschool.com, then I'm prompted for my username and password. Once the password check succeeds I am in. I am looking for something similiar for Linux. Preferably something that I could just store in /usr/sbin that I could invoke from the shell kind of like this:

Code:

$ vpn myusername@vpn.myschool.com -p
Enter your password: enter my password
You are connected to myschool.com
Your session will auto timeout in 2 hours

Thanks,

- lowpro2k3

edit: I just looked at the school's site, and the only info I could find about the server type was this:

"You must configure your home router to allow IPSEC traffic to pass through".

I also found this:

"The Cisco Systems Vpn Client uses the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) and IPSec Protocols for a secure connection to the college network."

I'm not sure if this means anything, I'll leave this to you networking gurus

halo14 · 09-01-2005, 03:03 PM

Have you tried the latest version of the Cisco VPN software?

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/...nsol/index.htm

lowpro2k3 · 09-01-2005, 09:10 PM

Yes, the latest one is the one I downloaded. It seems like its designed for the 2.2 series kernel, I don't see how I would get it to work.

I ran the install script, on a 2.6.12 kernel (the one I use) and there were many undefined references to various objects, and make failed. I ran the script on a 2.4.29 kernel which seemed to work with alot of warnings, but I was wondering if theres a better client. I would prefer to keep my 2.6 kernel because I had to do alot of customizing to get it the way I wanted.