Install and setup VPN (virtual private networking) in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jakalope)
These instructions will work you through the steps to configure and connect to a Microsoft VPN connection.
There are a number of pieces of information you will need to know and provide in order for this processes to succeed.
Install VPN Support
First install the networking software required to handle VPN protocol. This is easiest done by pasting the following command into the terminal. Alternatively, you can use the Synaptic Package Manager under the System > Administration menu.
sudo apt-get install network-manager-pptp
Setup the Connection
Now that you have the software installed we can set up the connection properties. This is done by clicking on the networking icon in the notification area / system tray (usually top right of your screen). Select VPN Connections > Configure VPN...
- Click the button labeled Add
- Select Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol in the drop list and click Create
- Enter a name of the connection (eg. Office Network)
- Enter the gateway address of your VPN. This information you will need to obtain from the VPN administrator
- In the User name field enter your domain and login name (domain/username)
- Password is for your normal network login password
- NT Domain should be left blank
- Click Advanced to enter yet more settings
- Untick the EAP option in the list
- Check the box labeled Use Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE)
- Leave everything else as it is
- Click OK to return to the previous window
Setting up a Route
If you use the VPN connection without setting up a route it may work fine but for me it was attempting to send all network requests via the VPN meaning I couldn't browse the web, download emails etc.
The route will send just the traffic intended for the VPN allowing you to continue all other network activity as normal.
- Change tab to IPv4 Settings
- Click the Routes... button
- Tick the box labeled Use this connection only for resources on its network
- Now add a route for the VPN traffic. For this you will need to know the base IP address of the network you are connecting to. If you need to find out this number you can save your connection as it is and attempt to connect then run ifconfig and look for inet addr: in the ppp0 section. You need to specify a route that covers this address.
In my case the information looks like this: inet addr:10.3.2.3 so I set up my route as follows:
Address: 10.0.0.0
Netmask: 255.255.255.0 (I just tried this and it worked)
Gateway: 192.168.1.1 This is your personal internet connection gateway can be obtained by looking at Default Route in Connection Information (right click on network connection in notification area)
Metric: 1
Accessing Windows File Shares
In order to view, browse and access files stored on the Windows Network you are connecting to via VPN you need to use Samba client.
From what I understand this is enabled by default in Ubuntu 9.04 as it worked fine for me.
The easiest and most natural way to access the shared network resources is with Nautilus, the default Ubuntu (Gnome) file browser.
In the Location/Address field enter the path with the following syntax:
smb://name-of-resource
The name-of-resource may need to be an IP address or something else that does not require the network DNS for resolution.
Good luck!