Configuring VPN in Network Manager
If you are one of those people who got stuck converting your xxx_vpnc.conf file into something that Network manager on Gnome or KDE can handle, here goes the short description.
In Debian/Ubuntu you need to install network-manager-vpnc and on Fedora the package name is NetworkManager-vpnc
After you have installed the respective packages, click on the Network Manager icon on the task bar, VPN Connections -> Configure VPN.
Choose Add in the dialog box appears. After that choose a VPN connection type. In most cases it will be Cisco Type. Give a connection name in the dialog box that appears. This can be anything. Say you are connecting to your XYZ university’s vpn then the name could be XYZ. Now for the list of fields and their corresponding meanings.
The Gateway maps to your IPSec gateway. Group Name is your IPSec ID. You can either choose to enter your User Password and group Password here or you will be prompted to do so during connection. The User password corresponds to your user account password and the Group password maps to IPSec Secret. User name in the optional field is the “username” you will use to log in to your VPN. Thats it. You are ready to go. Choose Apply and now from the drop down menu of Network Manager choose VPN Connections -> the name of the VPN connection. Have fun!
All set for yet another hectic week! Have a nice week ahead.
May 8th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Hi there. I am trying to set this up with my university network but no success so far. I am at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and almost every single professor there uses VPN. They however use Widows or Mac. I am using Ubuntu. The problem is that, I need to enter a gateway and unless, I enter the gateway info, I cannot save the VPN config file. Any ideas??
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Harish
May 8th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I am at one of the Swiss Federal Institutes and both Ubuntu and Fedora connects to the VPN. What do you mean by cant save the info? I can give you my config file in case you need it.