HOWTO: Connect to a Microsoft PPTP VPN

[endersshadow]

This process has been made MUCH easier in Edgy and Feisty. I just never updated this...and I'm sorry. In order for legacy support, I'm leaving up Dapper/Breezy/Hoary instructions.

Feisty/Edgy x86

You will need NetworkManager installed:
sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp

Then, a network icon will appear in your notification area. Select it, and then select VPN Connections > Configure VPN. Add your VPN to the list, and then in the terminal do the following:

sudo NetworkManager restart

Click the icon again, and go to VPN Connections and then select your VPN. Voila. You're connected!

Feisty/Edgy AMD64 (thanks go to nyvalbant)
Grab the AMD64 Packages from this page (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=33063&package_id=121786).

Convert and install them using this command:
sudo alien filename.rpm
sudo dpkg -i filename.deb

Next, install pptpconfig:
sudo apt-get install pptpconfig

You may not be able to connect using pptpconfig directly, but you can create your profile in it and connect using:
pon <profile name>
(give that a minute or so to connect; check ifconfig periodically for a ppp0 entry)

Finally, after you have a ppp0 network, you may need to fix your routing table using something like:
sudo route add -net 11.22.0.0 netmask 255.255.0.0 dev ppp0
(substitute 11.22.0.0 for your network)

Dapper/Breezy/Hoary
After much searching for how to connect to a plain old PPTP VPN, I finally figured out how to do it, and since there's no guide on here that doesn't relate to the Cisco client, I figured I'd post one. The source of this information is at the bottom of the post. Here goes:

1. First, you need to install the pptp-client for Linux. Open up the terminal and type in:

sudo apt-get install pptp-linux

2. Next, you will need to add a source to your sources.list file. Here's how.
Run this command.

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

When the window pops up (gedit), append the following lines to the end of the file:

# James Cameron's PPTP GUI packaging
deb http://quozl.netrek.org/pptp/pptpconfig ./

Save it and close gedit.

3. Run these commands in the terminal:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pptpconfig

4. To run pptpconfig, simply use this command in the terminal:

sudo pptpconfig

**NOTE: You must run pptpconfig as root, otherwise, it will not work.

5. Enter in the info for your VPN to the GUI, click "Add," select the server you just added by clicking on it, and then hit "Start." Make sure that your options are set, as well. If you are unsure of what options your VPN needs, contact your system administrator.

For a more complete guide, check out this site:
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml#install

[WetWilly]

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=28396&highlight=pptp

[arnieboy]

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=28396&highlight=pptp
yes but thats for hoary.. and its a good thing that this has been ported to the breezy forums (even though the instructions are identical). good job.

[WetWilly]

yes but thats for hoary.. and its a good thing that this has been ported to the breezy forums (even though the instructions are identical). good job.


I wrote is cuz there is more info in that post e.g. How to start it without using terminal and make a shortcut using gksudo.

[jmooney]

OK, installed ptppconfig and it's telling me that I have successfully connected to my VPN network at work.

Now what? How do I browse this network? I've tried entering various addresses into Nautilus and Firefox but it isn't working. Assuming I have all the address and network names right, can't I just mount this as a network location? Say by selecting "Places/Connect to Server..."?

My VPN is running, how do I browse the remote network?

Thanks,

Joe

[WetWilly]

Joe, under the routing tab I suggest that you use the "Client to LAN" Routing Style so only the necessary traffic go via the VPN.

Then there is the "Routes To Be Added Via Tunnel".

So click on "Edit Network Routes.." and add the network that u want to connect to using the tunnel.

For example if its a standard 192.168.1. net then u write

Network: 192.168.1.0/24
Name: Whatever

Then u press update and u are good to go.

[jmooney]

Joe, under the routing tab I suggest that you use the "Client to LAN" Routing Style so only the necessary traffic go via the VPN.

Then there is the "Routes To Be Added Via Tunnel".

So click on "Edit Network Routes.." and add the network that u want to connect to using the tunnel.

For example if its a standard 192.168.1. net then u write

Network: 192.168.1.0/24
Name: Whatever

Then u press update and u are good to go.


OK, I've done that, I still have no idea how to browse files on that network.

I've got in working in windowsXP. For that OS, under START-RUN... I type in a network location {timcont09.timco.aero}, once I do that, it asks for a username and password, then Windows explorer appears with all the files and folders I was looking for.

What is the equivalent for Ubuntu? How do I do that using Nautilus, or Firefox, of gftp, or whatever?


Thanks,

Joe

[endersshadow]

You're connected. Have you tried just opening up Firefox? PPTP has a username and password field in it where you specify the server.

[jmooney]

You're connected. Have you tried just opening up Firefox? PPTP has a username and password field in it where you specify the server.

Yes, I tried entering the vpn address {vpn2.timco.aero}, the DNS numbers I got from the Debug window of PPTPConfig, the actual server address {timcont09.timco.aero}, I've also tried {vpn2.timco.aero/timcont09.timco.aero} The closest I get to a hit is something like a "Firewall - Forbidden" message when I enter one of the DNS numbers.

Has anybody here successfully set up a VPN tunnel to thier office and actually viewed files on their work network? Could one of you explain how you did it?

If it helps, I also have the Firestarter firewall program installed. It originally blocked the connection until I allowed traffic from the "GNS" address that the work network was trying to use.

I can't believe there is not documentation on this. Why provide directions on how to set up a VPN tunnel and not provide directions on how to browse the network on the other side?:???:

[reuben]

If anybody has problems connecting, and are running Firestarter, try running GuardDog instead. Open PPTP and VPN in the internet zone.

[chiefofthejojos]

I am VERY pleased with this program! It's so nice to finally have my home desktop connecting to the VPN! One question:
I set it up so that it starts tunneling as soon as pptpconfig is opened. Can anyone think of a good way to start tunneling on startup of the computer?
That would be the icing on the cake.

[chiefofthejojos]

There's a very nice tutorial at http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml that helped me get set up to automatically start tunneling and add routes when my machine starts up. The howto is geard toward debian, but it seems to directly translate to ubuntu. Since I already created a tunnel using the gui it was mostly done for me. In order to connect to the vpn at startup all I had to do was add the following to the /etc/network/interfaces file:
auto ppp0
iface ppp0 inet ppp
provider myprovider
Where ppp0 is the name of the network interface (like eth0) and myprovider is the name created using pptpconfig to represent this connection.

However, adding routes to enable me to see all the computers in the remote network proved more difficult. I tried adding "route add" statements to the /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider file, but that wasn't working. "run-parts /etc/ppp/ip-up.d" returned:
run-parts: failed to exec /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider: Exec format error
run-parts: /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider exited with return code 1
So, I put the "route add" statements directly into the /etc/ppp/ip-up file for now, and it works great. If anyone has any ideas what might be causing this problem, please suggest them. Oh, the contents of my myprovider file:
#!/bin/sh
route add ...
route add ...
Thanks!

[ubuntunooob]

This is awesome. Major barrier to me converting my home PC. Only other problem for me - how to specify an IP address for the connection? Under Windows, I would specify an IP address under the tcp/ip setttings. I don't see that option here. Basically, VPN server assigns IP addy via DHCP. When I'm in the office, trying to connect back home, I want to be able to know what my VPN ip address is, so I can always map to it or tsc (vnc) in back home. Any ideas?

[Balachmar]

I have tried connecting with vpnc, but that doesn't seem to work. Now I'm trying this, and it does seem to connect, but it creates a network loop or something. And it is sending bytes like crazy, and my processor is loaded heavily. This is the route table:
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
131.155.14.99 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1

And it breaks after a minute or so.
What do I do wrong?

[chiefofthejojos]

I'm not sure, but that first line looks kind of funky, panticularly the part where the genmask is 255.255.255.255. I think it should be 255.255.255.0. Is that a manually added route or did the gui add that?

[chiefofthejojos]

Has anybody here successfully set up a VPN tunnel to thier office and actually viewed files on their work network? Could one of you explain how you did it?


Yes, I have. Simply open nautilus and hit ctrl+L. Type in smb:// followed by the full domain name or ip address of any machine on the vpn and press enter. A little dialog should pop up asking for your username/domain name and password. Fill these in correctly and your golden!

[Balachmar]

I'm not sure, but that first line looks kind of funky, panticularly the part where the genmask is 255.255.255.255. I think it should be 255.255.255.0. Is that a manually added route or did the gui add that?

I guess it is something the GUI added, since I didn't do anything with the route.
Also when I quit the gui it looks like this:
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.2.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
default 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1

[Balachmar]

Anyone?

[chiefofthejojos]

I'm sorry, I really don't know why it would do that, but maybe it would help if I offered my routes for comparison. When the tunneling has started, my routing table has three new routes. I added a route for 10.0.0.0/8 using the gui. You may want to do the same.
<private> 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 eth0
10.1.0.115 * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
10.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 ppp0

this isn't my whole routing table, just the routes created by pptp.
I see a lot of differences in the top line there, unfortunately I have no idea why it is different. I think the second and third lines are a result of the route I added (10.0.0.0/8). This route gives me the ability to reference all of the computers on the vpn by their local ip because they are all on the same 10.0.0.0 subnet.
Good luck.

[Bone Down]

First off thanks for this post, I have utilized twice now on two different installs.
My situation is this, I am able to connect (at least it says I am connected), but I am unable to hit my works secure intranet site.
I am unable to check my emails.
I am unable to surf the inet period.

Following is a log from pptpconfig:
pptpconfig: debug information dump begins
WARNING: security sensitive information follows
pptpconfig 1.2 2004/06/19 08:57:15
# pppd --version
pppd version 2.4.3
# uname -a
Linux DC-Comics 2.6.12-10-386 #1 Thu Dec 22 11:37:10 UTC 2005 i686 GNU/Linux
# grep mppe /proc/modules
# modinfo ppp_mppe
Array
(
[name] => kwevpn
[server] => xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
[domain] =>
[username] => login
[password] => (hidden by pptpconfig)
[pppd-options] =>
[pptp-options] =>
[resolv] =>
[dns-options] =>
[routing] => routing_client_to_lan
[usepeerdns] => 1
[require-mppe] => 1
[nomppe-40] =>
[nomppe-128] =>
[refuse-eap] => 1
[mppe-stateful] =>
[autostart] =>
[iconify] =>
[persist] =>
[debug] => 1
[client-to-lan] =>
)
# route -n (before pppd)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.99.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.128 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.99.99 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1
pptpconfig: debug information dump ends,
Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP
local IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
remote IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
primary DNS address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
secondary DNS address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
# route -n (after pppd exit)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.99.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.128 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.99.99 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1
pptpconfig: pppd process exit status 0 (started)
ip route add xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx via 192.168.99.99 dev eth1 src 192.168.99.105
RTNETLINK answers: File exists

pptpconfig: command failed, exit code 2
pptpconfig: routes added to remote networks
pptpconfig: DNS changes made to /etc/resolv.conf
pptpconfig: connected
# route -n (after completion)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.99.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.128 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.99.99 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1

Please point me into the correct direction so that I can at least get my work email to function.

Thanks in advance for your guidence and support.

BD

[Bone Down]

I have tried the many different configurations within pptpconfig and the only one that appears to connect is the one listed above.
I can't figure out how to stop this thing once it is started, without rebooting, in order to do more research on the subject.

I work for a large global company, and the network admins do not have time to assist with this as they are swamped with other issues and have basically told me that it is not support software and they reccomend that I stay with the windows setup.

Dual boot is a hassle, if I can not get this pptp to work then I fear I will have to bag ubuntu (linux) for a while.

I have spent on this stupid pptp problem now a total of 63 hours (21 hours alone out of the last 28 hours)(19 straight yesterday).

Here is the kick in the pants, this is the only thing keeping me from dropping windows, it is like the switch to cut power to windows is just one foot out of reach and no matter what angle I try I can not reach it.

[chiefofthejojos]

I really wish I could help more, but we have already passed the extent of my knowledge on the subject. Maybe someone who knows more could jump in and help?

[TheOrangeRider]

Sorry, I lack the knowledge to help out Bone Down, but I was hoping that someone out there could help me with my own connection problem. I try to connect to company's VPN, but it fails and gives me this information in pptpconfig:


rcvd [CHAP Success id=0x1 ""]
CHAP authentication succeeded
Disabling 40-bit MPPE; MS-CHAP LM not supported
sent [CCP ConfReq id=0x1 <mppe +H -M +S -L -D -C>]
rcvd [CCP ConfReq id=0x1 <mppe +H -M -S +L -D -C>]
MPPE required but peer negotiation failed
sent [LCP TermReq id=0x3 "MPPE required but peer negotiation failed"]

To me it looks like my company's VPN only supports 40-bit MPPE encryption, and my Ubuntu box only supports 128-bit? And if that's the case, can anyone tell me how I can get 40-bit MPPE support?

Thanks!

[Buenaventura Durruti]

I couldn't pass installation :-(

$ sudo apt-get install pptpconfig
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
pptpconfig: Depends: php-pcntl (>= 4.3.7) but it is not installable
Depends: php-gtk-pcntl (>= 1.0.0) but it is not installable
E: Broken packages
$

[dholwerda]

head over to the following address and download manually those files (php-pcntl php-gtk-pcntl), use sudo dpkg -i <files> to install

http://quozl.netrek.org/pptp/pptpconfig

[TheOrangeRider]

First off thanks for this post, I have utilized twice now on two different installs.
My situation is this, I am able to connect (at least it says I am connected), but I am unable to hit my works secure intranet site.
I am unable to check my emails.
I am unable to surf the inet period.

Hi Bone,

I think I'm at about the same place that you were at this time. It looks like my DNS resolve file gets overwritten to refer to a server on my remote LAN, but I can't seem to reach any computers on that network. And I'm unable to surf the inet unless I change my /etc/resolv.conf file to what it was before I initiated the vpn. Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your setup?

Thanks,
Orange

[amagee]

I couldn't pass installation :-(

$ sudo apt-get install pptpconfig
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
pptpconfig: Depends: php-pcntl (>= 4.3.7) but it is not installable
Depends: php-gtk-pcntl (>= 1.0.0) but it is not installable
E: Broken packages
$

I had this same problem when I was using the x86_64 version of ubuntu, it seems for that these packages are not available for x86_64. I actually formatted and installed the i386 version of the operating system for that reason (and a few others, eg. wmv playing). You could do the same, or maybe try to build those packages from source yourself. It seems in general that x86_64 linux is more trouble than it's worth, though.

[linuxwalleye]

Thanks Endersshadow! I now have PPTP to my Watchguard firebox working. I have tried this on many distributions and have not been able to get it to work on any of them. (Xandros works but you have to pay $$) BTW-I am running Ubuntu Dapper Drake Flight 6. Way to GO!!

[linuxwalleye]

Thanks Endersshadow! I now have PPTP to my Watchguard firebox working. I have tried this on many distributions and have not been able to get it to work on any of them. (Xandros works but you have to pay $$) BTW-I am running Ubuntu Dapper Drake Flight 6. Way to GO!!

[bensode]

Best post ever 8)

I had been searching for months back in December to get my vpn working and had given up under SuSE. Little did I know that it was PPTP and I found this little gem recently after giving Ubuntu dist. a whirl. Many thanks!

[badmacktuck]

hi all.

for me, being able to connect to my work vpn and use a vnc/remote desktop client is a make or break situation for my switch to ubuntu.

i followed the directions to install pptp-linux, but i get the following error every time i try and run pptpconfig:

modinfo: could not find module ppp_mppe

I turned on debug output, but i think the errors im seeing are related to the fact that it can't find that module... but i thought that was part of the kernel.

any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks in advance for helping out an noob.

[caravela]

i Instaled a Base Server, installed all stuff needed to manual configure the tunnel.
The tunnel works and it creates a ppp0 interface but iam unable to route all traffic through the tunnel, i followed the instrucions on the site to do so, but they didn't seem to work.
The Tunnel is used to acess the internet so all traffic must go to the ppp0 interface i think. does anyone knows how to do it ?

[RaZoR1394]

Is there really no solution for 64bit users?

[Geoff2077]

Joe,
Did you ever get to bottom of how to view files - I have same problem as you - connected but cannot find out how to view files.

Geoff


OK, I've done that, I still have no idea how to browse files on that network.

I've got in working in windowsXP. For that OS, under START-RUN... I type in a network location {timcont09.timco.aero}, once I do that, it asks for a username and password, then Windows explorer appears with all the files and folders I was looking for.

What is the equivalent for Ubuntu? How do I do that using Nautilus, or Firefox, of gftp, or whatever?


Thanks,

Joe

[dbw]

So, I got pptp-linux and pptpconfig installed. When I tried to connect using
pon tunnel_name
I could not access the secure network. I had to follow that command with:

sudo ip route replace 192.220.206.39 via 192.168.2.1 dev eth0
sudo ip route replace default dev ppp0

Where 192.220.206.39 is the initial connection address. I guess what I am saying is that I had to add routing information, and I don't think anyone has mentioned that thus far on this post.

[MisterD]

Nice tutorial, I've already made the full 100% switch at home to Ubuntu, but still want/need to get into work via PPTP+VNC, so this seemed like the way to go. I got everything installed, and created a tunnel, however, when I try to start it, I get the following error...


Using interface ppp0pptpconfig: monitoring interface ppp0

Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/2
Unknown MS-CHAP authentication failure: E=691 R=1 C=2E2285276B7AB3FC1FA5B802367A3732 V=3
CHAP authentication failed
Connection terminated.
pptpconfig: pppd process terminated by signal 19 (failed)
pptpconfig: SIGSTOP


Any ideas? TIA

Mr D

[Geoff2077]

Joe,
Did you ever get to the bottom of how to view the folders on your server.
Cheers
Geoff

[LCCano]

Joe,
Did you ever get to the bottom of how to view the folders on your server.
Cheers
Geoff

Joe/Geoff

If you've got a successful pptp connection, to go Places/Connect to Server. In the dialog box set service type to Windows Share, fill in server name or IP if no DNS is in place, enter share name if you have it, username and domain. When you click connect the dialog box goes away. Then go to Places and you should see your network servers listed. Or at this point you can click Places/Network Servers and open the browse window.

In pptpconfig you can specify additional dns servers, including the internal dns for your remote lan. Just remember to include your local dns so you can resolve any local hosts and also make sure you add the remote LAN on the routing tab of the config utility. This will allow you to use fully qualified names for the lan servers, else you must have ip addresses. I'm stil working on figuring out how to use short names without having to edit my own hosts file.

good luck

LCCano

[antoxa]

how i connect to vpn in edgy?

[tombott]

many thanks for this info.
Got this installed and connected without any problems on Dapper.
Once I had added a few routes in for my work network i was able to VNC / RDP and connect to shares without any problems!

[prodonjs]

Well here is my issue. I'm using Kubuntu Dapper and I have everything working with PPTP config. I can connect to my VPN fine but what I want to do is use the Client to LAN setting so that I only use my VPN for connecting to the three shared network drives that I need to use.

So far I cannot figure out how to get this to work. Two of the network drives are just folders on the same IP whereas the third one resides on another machine but both IPs for the shared drives I need to map are distinct from the IP I use to VPN. I'm doing all of this to access shared stuff on my college's network from my machine here at home.

I can do this in Windows but there, I cannot figure out how to avoid sending all my traffic through the VPN tunnel rather than just the parts that I need. I can use Samba inside of Konqueror to map to any of these drives if I have the settings in PPTPConfig set to All to Tunnel, but otherwise I cannot. I am still very new to all of this Linux stuff but I am a CS undergraduate student and am really anxious to learn.

I basically just want to be able to set up mount points for these 3 network drives, map them whenever I want to connect to the VPN, synchronize data with my local data and then disconnect my VPN. Can anyone help me out?

[TheOrangeRider]

I can do this in Windows but there, I cannot figure out how to avoid sending all my traffic through the VPN tunnel rather than just the parts that I need.

For a Windows vpn, you should make sure that you have the option "Use default gateway on remote network" unchecked. I think the setting is under Properties->Networking->TCP/IP->Properties->Advanced. I believe that should make it so only traffic destined for your VPN will be routed through the tunnel.

[prodonjs]

Ok well I'll try that the next time I boot back into Windows.

Now applying that logic, how can I do the same in Kubuntu. I want to be able to use the Client to LAN setting in PPTPConfig and still access those folders?

[TheOrangeRider]

I haven't done this so if someone else is more of an expert feel free to jump in.

Have you tried the following?

Joe, under the routing tab I suggest that you use the "Client to LAN" Routing Style so only the necessary traffic go via the VPN.

Then there is the "Routes To Be Added Via Tunnel".

So click on "Edit Network Routes.." and add the network that u want to connect to using the tunnel.

For example if its a standard 192.168.1. net then u write

Network: 192.168.1.0/24
Name: Whatever

Then u press update and u are good to go.

Basically you're setting up explicit routes for prefixes so that your computer will know where to divert traffic based on the destination IP address. I've previously had problems with pptp configuring routing tables so you may have to figure out how to set them manually if WetWilly's suggestion doesn't work.

[prodonjs]

Well see here is my problem and maybe this is due to my lack of in depth networking knowledge.

One of the IPs is only a small difference from the IP I use for connecting to the VPN. Only the the last number is different. But the other two IPs are completely distinct from the VPN address. I'm not sure what that /24 refers to but I remember seeing that it meant 255.255.255.0 or xFF FF FF 00. How exactly do I take a server IP and a folder location and translate it into Route to be Added Via Tunnel.

[TheOrangeRider]

The /24 refers to a subnet mask. The 24 means that the first 24 bits of the IP address denote the subnet. So if you enter a route for 192.168.1.0/24, you're telling your computer to route any traffic that begins with "192.168.1." to be tunneled to your VPN. If you are interested in only accessing only one or two computers on your remote network you can specify them as /32 addresses. As an example, an entry with 192.168.1.130/32 will only route traffic destined to that exact destination IP address through your tunnel. So you could just make ip_address/32 entries into your routing table for the exact machines you want to reach and it should work fine.

[vyvar]

However, adding routes to enable me to see all the computers in the remote network proved more difficult. I tried adding "route add" statements to the /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider file, but that wasn't working. "run-parts /etc/ppp/ip-up.d" returned:
run-parts: failed to exec /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider: Exec format error
run-parts: /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/myprovider exited with return code 1
So, I put the "route add" statements directly into the /etc/ppp/ip-up file for now, and it works great. If anyone has any ideas what might be causing this problem, please suggest them. Oh, the contents of my myprovider file:
#!/bin/sh
route add ...
route add ...
Thanks!

This helped me:

# chmod +x /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/tunnel

...replace tunnel with appropriate name.

its from
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/routing.phtml

):P

[NoJock]

Badmactuck: hope you have resolved and can lead me in the right direction! I mave been trying to get this to work with to no avail and dont know much at all abought networing. This is my out put from pptp debug it would be nice if some one could direct me in the right direction??

pptpconfig: debug information dump begins
WARNING: security sensitive information follows
pptpconfig 1.12 2006/08/21 06:19:12
# pptp --version
pptp: unrecognized option `--version'
pptp version 1.7.0
Usage:
pptp <hostname> [<pptp options>] [[--] <pppd options>]

Or using pppd's pty option:
pppd pty "pptp <hostname> --nolaunchpppd <pptp options>"

Available pptp options:
--phone <number> Pass <number> to remote host as phone number
--nolaunchpppd Do not launch pppd, for use as a pppd pty
--quirks <quirk> Work around a buggy PPTP implementation
Currently recognised values are BEZEQ_ISRAEL only
--debug Run in foreground (for debugging with gdb)
--sync Enable Synchronous HDLC (pppd must use it too)
--timeout <secs> Time to wait for reordered packets (0.01 to 10 secs)
--nobuffer Disable packet buffering and reordering completely
--idle-wait Time to wait before sending echo request
--max-echo-wait Time to wait before giving up on lack of reply
--logstring <name> Use <name> instead of 'anon' in syslog messages
--localbind <addr> Bind to specified IP address instead of wildcard
--loglevel <level> Sets the debugging level (0=low, 1=default, 2=high)
# pppd --version
pppd version 2.4.4b1
# uname -a
Linux lee-desktop 2.6.15-27-386 #1 PREEMPT Fri Dec 8 17:51:56 UTC 2006 i686 GNU/Linux
# modinfo ppp_mppe || modinfo ppp_mppe_mppc
filename: /lib/modules/2.6.15-27-386/kernel/drivers/net/ppp_mppe.ko
author: Frank Cusack <fcusack@fcusack.com>
description: Point-to-Point Protocol Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption support
license: Dual BSD/GPL
alias: ppp-compress-18
version: 1.0.2
vermagic: 2.6.15-27-386 preempt 486 gcc-4.0
depends: ppp_generic
srcversion: 6B88E623CA7C4D7FE2F11FA
# grep mppe /proc/modules
Array
(
[name] => usm
[server] => vpn.name.com
[domain] => (hidden by pptpconfig)
[username] => Me
[password] => (hidden by pptpconfig)
[pppd-options] =>
[pptp-options] =>
[resolv] =>
[dns-options] =>
[routing] => routing_client_to_lan
[usepeerdns] => 1
[require-mppe] => 1
[nomppe-40] => 1
[nomppe-128] =>
[refuse-eap] => 1
[mppe-stateful] =>
[autostart] =>
[iconify] =>
[persist] =>
[debug] => 1
[client-to-lan] =>
)
# route -n (before pppd)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
pptpconfig: debug information dump ends, starting pppd
pppd options in effect:
debug # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
updetach # (from command line)
logfd 1 # (from command line)
linkname usmo # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
dump # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
noauth # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
refuse-chap # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
refuse-mschap # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
refuse-eap # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
name us\\me # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
remotename usm # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
# (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
pty pptp vpn.name.com --nolaunchpppd # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
crtscts # (from /etc/ppp/options)
# (from /etc/ppp/options)
asyncmap 0 # (from /etc/ppp/options)
lcp-echo-failure 4 # (from /etc/ppp/options)
lcp-echo-interval 30 # (from /etc/ppp/options)
hide-password # (from /etc/ppp/options)
ipparam usm # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
proxyarp # (from /etc/ppp/options)
usepeerdns # (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
nobsdcomp # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
nodeflate # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
# (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
# (from /etc/ppp/peers/usm)
require-mppe-128 # (from /etc/ppp/options.pptp)
noipx # (from /etc/ppp/options)
using channel 16
Using interface ppp0
pptpconfig: monitoring interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/0
sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xaca60dd0> <pcomp> <accomp>]
rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0x4a <mru 1500> <asyncmap 0xa0000> <auth chap MS> <magic 0x6a378b5e> <pcomp> <accomp>]
sent [LCP ConfNak id=0x4a <auth chap MS-v2>]
rcvd [LCP ConfAck id=0x1 <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xaca60dd0> <pcomp> <accomp>]
rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0x4b <mru 1500> <asyncmap 0xa0000> <auth pap> <magic 0x6a378b5e> <pcomp> <accomp>]
sent [LCP ConfAck id=0x4b <mru 1500> <asyncmap 0xa0000> <auth pap> <magic 0x6a378b5e> <pcomp> <accomp>]
sent [LCP EchoReq id=0x0 magic=0xaca60dd0]
sent [PAP AuthReq id=0x1 user="**\\ME" password=<hidden>]
rcvd [LCP EchoRep id=0x0 magic=0x6a378b5e 00 00]
rcvd [PAP AuthAck id=0x1 "Login ok"]
Remote message: Login ok
PAP authentication succeeded
MPPE required, but MS-CHAP[v2] auth not performed.
sent [LCP TermReq id=0x2 "MPPE required but not available"]
rcvd [IPCP ConfReq id=0xcc <addr 10.50.11.4> <compress VJ 07 00>]
Discarded non-LCP packet when LCP not open
rcvd [LCP TermAck id=0x2]
Connection terminated.
Waiting for 1 child processes...
script pptp vpn.name.com --nolaunchpppd , pid 10125
Script pptp vpn.name.com --nolaunchpppd finished (pid 10125), status = 0x0
# route -n (after pppd exit)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
pptpconfig: pppd process terminated by signal 10 (failed)
pptpconfig: SIGUSR1
# route -n (after completion)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
have been reading referances of tunneling but now idea if that is the probem it look slike the mppe is failing and im using ubuntu dapper drake is it in the kernel??

Thanks.

[speedothebrief]

I have two things:

first:

AMD 64 USERS!!!!
YES YOU CAN SET UP PPTP CONFIGURATIONS ON YOUR MACHINE!!!
no... it isn't nearly as easy!
I'm using AMD64 and I'm very close to having a working vpn connection.

Here is what I did so far:

download the pptp-linux stuff just forget the pptpconfig utility ever existed and use the "<a href=http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml#configure_by_hand">configuring pptp by hand</a>" instructions to set up the pptp config files (it really isn't that hard, trust me).

Next, I had to change my tunnel's subnet mask from 255.255.255.255 to 255.255.255.0. I did this programatically by editing the ip-up config file ( /etc/ppp/ip-up)
I added this:
#set the remote server IP mask
/sbin/ifconfig ppp0 netmask 255.255.255.0

Then I added some stuff to resolv.conf.tail (which is appended to resolv.conf) since dhclient overwrites any user settings in resolv.conf.
/etc/resolv.conf.tail
search name.address.of.nameserver.com
nameserver $IP_ADDRESS_OF_NAMESERVER
You'll need to know the nameserver's IP address and name (i.e. 192.168.0.1 and vpn.myserver.com)

now I connect to the vpn successfully, authenticate successfully and can ping my vpn server at 192.168.0.10 successfully

I can even use smb://(ipaddress) to browse machines on the network.

Now onto my second thing:
I can't seem to get any mail. And I can't access things on the samba network by their name (only IP address). If I use mutt to get mail on the IMAP server, I can see that it get stuck trying to fetch message headers. It just shows:
fetching message headers... (1/41)
and never makes any progress.

Any Ideas? Thanks for all of the help!

[monkeyking]

I get this broken dep on feisty fawn

sudo apt-get install pptpconfig
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
pptpconfig: Depends: php-pcntl (>= 4.3.7) but it is not installable
Depends: php-gtk-pcntl (>= 1.0.0) but it is not installable
E: Broken packages

[shoogax12]

Thanks for the tutorial! It's simple and easy to understand. But I'm having a small problem. When I attempt to install pptconfig, it says it cannot find the package. I have followed all the instructions up to this point. I can apt-cache search this package.

I'm running Ubuntu 6.10 with KDE. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Here's what happens in the console:

root@laptopper:~# apt-get install pptconfig
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package pptconfig

[endersshadow]

shoogax12: Sorry for the late reply. Edgy and Feisty have a new built in way to deal with VPNs. Try this:

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp

You will see a network icon pop up in your notification area. If you click it, select VPN Connections > Configure VPN. Add your VPN info that way, then do this in the terminal:

sudo killall NetworkManager
sudo NetworkManager &

The icon will disappear and then come back. Click it again, select VPN Connections, and then select your VPN, and it will connect.

[mgmiller]

I am running Feisty and have followed these instructions. They are not hard. However, my network manager icon does not give me any VPN choices. The only choice I get is manual configuration and there are no VPN entries in there either. The old pptp config used to work well for me in Dapper, but I have not had VPN since I upgraded to Edgy and now Feisty.

[endersshadow]

mgmiller:

Try:

sudo killall NetworkManager
sudo NetworkManager &

Instead of restart.

[mgmiller]

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it does not work. The network manager icon disappears and then comes back, but there is no change in what it displays. There is still no VPN choice.

[glo]

I experience the same problem that mgmiller described.
After entering the command "sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp" into the terminal, it will complain network-manager-pptp cannot be found, and once the manager is restarted no VPN option will be shown.

[endersshadow]

Oh, okay, what's your /etc/apt/sources.list look like?

[glo]

I've just burnt Feisty Fawn Live CD iso, so it should be default.

[endersshadow]

Oh, I don't believe that universe is enabled by default. See How to Add Extra Repositories (http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_add_extra_repositories) and make sure you enable universe and multiverse.

[mgmiller]

I experience the same problem that mgmiller described.
After entering the command "sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp" into the terminal, it will complain network-manager-pptp cannot be found, and once the manager is restarted no VPN option will be shown.

This really is not the same as my problem. I do have the Universe repos enabled and network-manager-pptp did install. It just has no effect on my network manager applet.

[colonelk]

Hi

I can install the VPN components (on vanilla Feisty) but not establish a VPN connection because our work VPN uses RSA SecurID authentication.

Any ideas on how to get a SecurID client on Feisty?

[HunterK]

I am having the same problem as these folks. Weird!!

[kalahari875]

I have read several other posts about the NetworkManager applet and getting the routes added. I can successfully connect to the PPTP VPN, but it does not of course add routes by default. I added the executable script below, /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/addroutes (from http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/routing.phtml), but it never adds any routes.

Has anyone gotten a PPTP connection managed via NetworkManager to add routes upon connection? If so, could you supply a complete example? The problem may be that I have no idea what the name of the tunnel is that gets passed as $PPP_IPPARAM or how to debug this. No messages get logged to /var/log/messages. :confused: Thanks!


#!/bin/sh
#echo ${PPP_IPPARAM}
#if [ "${PPP_IPPARAM}" = "vpn" ]; then
route add -net 192.168.157.0/8 dev ${IFNAME}

iptables --insert OUTPUT 1 \
--source 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 \
--destination 192.168.157.0/8 \
--jump ACCEPT --out-interface ${IFNAME}

iptables --insert INPUT 1 \
--source 192.168.157.0/8 \
--destination 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 \
--jump ACCEPT --in-interface ${IFNAME}

iptables --insert FORWARD 1 \
--source 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 \
--destination 192.168.157.0/8 \
--jump ACCEPT --out-interface ${IFNAME}

iptables --insert FORWARD 1 \
--source 192.168.157.0/8 \
--destination 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0 --jump ACCEPT

iptables --table nat --append POSTROUTING \
--out-interface ${IFNAME} --jump MASQUERADE

iptables --append FORWARD --protocol tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN \
--jump TCPMSS --clamp-mss-to-pmtu
#fi

[stavrica]

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it does not work. The network manager icon disappears and then comes back, but there is no change in what it displays. There is still no VPN choice.

In layman terms, it seems that if you configure a static IP address for your workstation in Feisty, the network manager no longer offers the VPN menu within the Network Manager applet.

If you remove your interface listing from the manual configuration file, the Network Manager will again see your local NIC and also offer you the VPN options (presumably, associated with that NIC). From what I can tell, the downside is that you'll need to get your IP address assigned to you by a DHCP server on your local network.

Here's what worked for me:
(make sure you have a DHCP service running on your local network first)

From the shell prompt,

Edit /etc/network/interfaces ( sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces )

Delete everything EXCEPT for the following two lines:


auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


Save the file and reboot your machine.

Network Manager should now see your local NIC. It will attempt to configure it using DHCP. Once you get your address, you'll find the menus you're looking for on the Network Manager applet. Note, however, that if you click on the "Manual configuration" option and configure your static IP address again, your VPN option will again disappear. (which you can fix again by editing your interfaces file)

I'd call this a bug, as users shouldn't have to choose between having a static IP or using their VPN client connections.

[Ferri]

Same problem here. VPN doesn't show, apparently because I have a "Manual network configuration", i.e. a static IP.
Any workarounds? I don't really feel like reconfiguring my whole network...

[Ferri]

I'll answer myself ;)
I've tried the most obvious workaround, the "old way" from the first post, and it works. I've just changed the source to this new one:deb http://quozl.linux.org.au/pptp/pptpconfig ./

[getaceres]

I have a strage problem. I installed and configured the network manager pptp. I have two entries in the network-manager vpn menu:

Configure VPN
Disconnect VPN (disabled)

I have configured a connection named 'VPN connection' but I don't know how to connect. In the menu there are only those two entries.

[endersshadow]

getacres: Either reboot or in the terminal run:

sudo NetworkManager restart

If your configured VPN doesn't show up, try this:

sudo killall NetworkManager
sudo NetworkManager &

[Azalin]

I have read several other posts about the NetworkManager applet and getting the routes added. I can successfully connect to the PPTP VPN, but it does not of course add routes by default. I added the executable script below, /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/addroutes (from http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/routing.phtml), but it never adds any routes.

Has anyone gotten a PPTP connection managed via NetworkManager to add routes upon connection? If so, could you supply a complete example? The problem may be that I have no idea what the name of the tunnel is that gets passed as $PPP_IPPARAM or how to debug this. No messages get logged to /var/log/messages. :confused: Thanks!



Would this "not adding of routes" be the cause of my problems with this network-manager-pptp plugin? I can connect to the vpn but can not ping the vpn nor can I connect to it with my terminal server client.

It would be great if I could fix this problem...

[mwob]

Hi.

I have a stupid (I hope) question about getting this working. I followeed the guide for fesity, and now that I have finished, I can see the VPN connection I created, but I can't connect. When I go to "VPN Connections", the VPN connection is there but its greyed out - I can't choose it :-(

Any ideas? I restarted my PC, still the same. I'm using an ADSL modem, but that shouldn't affect anything....

[ksudbury]

Nice work, works great! Needed a reboot after adding first VPN account tho for it to appear in the list correctly!

FYI I am connecting to a Draytek pptp server incase anyone else is trying to find a way of doing this :D

Regards

[rickr765]

Still trying to get the installation steps to work in 6.10 (Edgy). As installed "out of the box", there is no "Notification Area". I figured out how to add one, but it's empty.

Eventually got the icon to appear using the 'killall' approach, however, the error I get is 'can't connect due to a connection error' - a message that sounds truly Microsoft-inspired.

(edit) Saw this other thread "Problems with vpn, MS-CHAP[v2] auth not performed", but it doesn't appear to be helpful. Also, the icon tends to disappear from the notification area; I don't see any other way to get to the Configure VPN dialog. The 'System - Administration - Network' dialog doesn't include any VPN information. (Why not?)

It appears this is another area of Linux which users will have to wait another couple of releases to get working properly...

[Firex726]

Hello,

I am really new at this but I am trying to setup a VPN to my station at work.

At the terminal I ran the command:

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp

Which seemed to execute just fine, but no new network icons appeared in my notification area.

I then checked under:

Applications -> Internet -> VPN Connection Manager (PPP Generic)

But for some reason it never executes by using the GUI, so I went to the terminal again, and did:

sudo /home/isaac/Desktop/nm-ppp.desktop

But get the error:

sudo: ./nm-ppp.desktop: command not found

Any advice on how to setup a VPN to my Windows computer at work would be very much appreciated.

################

EDIT: I am using :

Ubuntu Feisty 7.04
Gnome 2.18.1

[mgmiller]

I hadn't noticed that there was an entry in applications>internet>VPN connection manager. When I looked at the command it is using it is:
nm-vpn-properties --import-service org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.ppp_starter --import-file %f

It will not run from the menu, but will run in a terminal. It allows me to set up the VPN tunnel, but not start it. Also, if I exit it and go back, the tunnel I defined is not there.

It also produces the following error messages in the terminal:
** (nm-vpn-properties:21454): WARNING **: Widget show event

(nm-vpn-properties:21454): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_widget_set_sensitive: assertion `GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget)' failed


If I run it with sudo before the command, the defined tunnel is retained after restarting the GUI, but the error message changes slightly from properties:21454 to properties:22247.
If run with gksudo the error number changes to 22411.

There is still no way I can find to actually open the tunnel that I have defined, but at least I'm a bit closer.

[crb]

You shouldn't need to use the icon in the menu. The next version removes it. You should have an option on your network-manager in your notification area.

If you don't have an icon there, install nm-applet.

If you can't figure out how to work it, left click, not right click.

If you're game, try this new package: http://craig.dubculture.co.nz/blog/2007/05/13/new-networkmanager-pptp-package-fixes-amd64-crashes/

[jbrice]

I have followed the excellent instructions in this thread several times for getting Feisty to connect to a VPN, but without success. VPN connections didn't connect, and although appearing in the Network Manager applet they were not shown in the list in the "Configure VPN" dialogue box so that I could delete them

After wasting lots of time, I have discovered by trial and error what all you Linux experts probably think is blindingly obvious, that CONNECTION NAMES MUST NOT INCLUDE SPACES (although the Connection Manager is happy to accept them with spaces).

Would some kind person save me yet more time and tell me where I can find the config file for PPTP connections, so that I can hand delete the unwanted connections with spaces in their names.

TIA

[crb]

After wasting lots of time, I have discovered by trial and error what all you Linux experts probably think is blindingly obvious, that CONNECTION NAMES MUST NOT INCLUDE SPACES (although the Connection Manager is happy to accept them with spaces).

Would some kind person save me yet more time and tell me where I can find the config file for PPTP connections, so that I can hand delete the unwanted connections with spaces in their names.


Erm, that's either odd, or totally wrong. The keys are stored in gconf, and I've used (and continue to use) keys with spaces in their names.

They're stored in /system/networking/vpn_connections/. Let me know if changing them works.

Craig (packager, but not maintainer)

[maximk]

What should I do if vpn option is absent in nm-applet menu? Left click opens one item "Manual configuration..." and the right one - only three: "Enable networking", "Connection information" (grayed) and "About"

I tried to reinstall package (gnome-network-manager) but no effect.

Please, help.

[maximk]

The issue with VPN and dhcp is described and logged here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/107070

[mgmiller]

I also have an entry that I can't remove that causes the whole applet to crash if I select it. I would like to find the config file so I can edit it. However, as you state:

Erm, that's either odd, or totally wrong. The keys are stored in gconf, and I've used (and continue to use) keys with spaces in their names.

They're stored in /system/networking/vpn_connections/.

The path you give does not exist. Searching for gconf found a folder in /etc, but none of the rest of your path is there. Where is the config file?

[crb]

The path you give does not exist. Searching for gconf found a folder in /etc, but none of the rest of your path is there. Where is the config file?

Run gconf2-editor.

[mgmiller]

Run gconf2-editor

I tried every combination of this I could think of, with and without sudo and they all returned the same "command not found". What am I doing wrong?
](*,)

[mgmiller]

I finally found the path, it is:
~/.gconf/system/networking/vpn_connections

It's a hidden directory in my home directory. There are a few files named %gconf.xml that are just empty files with nothing in them. Are they safe to delete? The %gconf.xml in the one correct VPN folder entry has lots of data in it, all the rest are blank.

[crb]

Run gconf2-editor

I tried every combination of this I could think of, with and without sudo and they all returned the same "command not found". What am I doing wrong?
](*,)

Sorry, just gconf-editor.

Craig

[mgmiller]

ok, I can use gconf-editor. Where are the keys for vpn? There is no entry under system for networking. Thank you for sticking with me through this.

[Drachen]

In layman terms, it seems that if you configure a static IP address for your workstation in Feisty, the network manager no longer offers the VPN menu within the Network Manager applet.

If you remove your interface listing from the manual configuration file, the Network Manager will again see your local NIC and also offer you the VPN options (presumably, associated with that NIC). From what I can tell, the downside is that you'll need to get your IP address assigned to you by a DHCP server on your local network.

Here's what worked for me:
(make sure you have a DHCP service running on your local network first)

From the shell prompt,

Edit /etc/network/interfaces ( sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces )

Delete everything EXCEPT for the following two lines:


auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


Save the file and reboot your machine.

Network Manager should now see your local NIC. It will attempt to configure it using DHCP. Once you get your address, you'll find the menus you're looking for on the Network Manager applet. Note, however, that if you click on the "Manual configuration" option and configure your static IP address again, your VPN option will again disappear. (which you can fix again by editing your interfaces file)

I'd call this a bug, as users shouldn't have to choose between having a static IP or using their VPN client connections.


Thank you, thank you!! :)

Finally, thanks to your comment I was able to put my VPN connection to my Uni working. The problem was that in the network manager I had an static IP, so no VPN menu was showing. I deleted the static IP and puff...the VPN connection appear :guitar:

[Raa]

I have tried connecting with vpnc, but that doesn't seem to work. Now I'm trying this, and it does seem to connect, but it creates a network loop or something. And it is sending bytes like crazy, and my processor is loaded heavily. This is the route table:
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
131.155.14.99 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth1

And it breaks after a minute or so.
What do I do wrong?

I had the same problem too. I was reading all the posts (thanks for great ideas!) and playing with my config on Ubuntu Feisty, and produced next recomendations:

1. If you have dynamic IP address (DHCP, not static), and of you do not need to have the VPN tunnel started on boot, then you can play with PPTP plugin for Gnome Network Manager (see here (http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-ubuntu.phtml), follow the first chapter for Ubuntu Feisty only).
Otherwice try pptp-linux, but do not install/use pptpconfig configuration tool.

http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml#install

If you already installed all those tools then just ignore this step.

2. Configure the pptp client by own hands using these simple steps, but do not start for a while.

http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml#configure_by_hand

3. Check the /etc/ppp/ip-up.d directory. If there are some files then backup and remove them. They are probably produced by another programs you tried before and make things bad.

4. Try the ip command in your terminal. If it does not exists then install it.

Create file /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/routing and make it executable:


$sudo chmod 700 /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/routing


Starting the pptp client may produce strange affect with bad routings, so this file should contain fixes. Write to file:


ip route del x.x.x.x dev ppp0
ip route replace x.x.x.x via y.y.y.y dev eth0


Replace x.x.x.x with a pptp server IP address you are trying t connect to, and y.y.y.y with the IP address of your default getway. If you do not have a getway then omit "via y.y.y.y". This rules will allow your pptp client to send correct packets to eth0, not to ppp0 through tunnel. And be sure your network device is really eth0, or replace it with eth1 or whatever you have. You can determine you network devices. Type ifconfig command in terminal.

5. Your pptp client should connect successfully now, but the VPN will not be reachable unless you setup correct routing rules for that. You can define them in your routing file or using your firewall. That's for you decision. For example, you can add the following rule to routing file to have all packets directed to the VPN:


ip route replace default dev ppp0


6. Try to connect you pptp client with debug output and see whether it works or not. I hope it will work :)

[crb]

ok, I can use gconf-editor. Where are the keys for vpn? There is no entry under system for networking. Thank you for sticking with me through this.

There should be unless you just deleted all the files off the disk :-)

Create one if it's not there.

[mgmiller]

Originally Posted by mgmiller View Post
ok, I can use gconf-editor. Where are the keys for vpn? There is no entry under system for networking. Thank you for sticking with me through this.

crb said:
There should be unless you just deleted all the files off the disk
Create one if it's not there.


These forums are amazingly useful. This is the first time in over a year that i felt I was close to getting this working again. :p

I have not deleted anything.

Please tell me, once I run gconf, exactly where the new keys should be and what they should be. ](*,)

Thanks again for your help.

[ShiftyPowers]

In layman terms, it seems that if you configure a static IP address for your workstation in Feisty, the network manager no longer offers the VPN menu within the Network Manager applet.

If you remove your interface listing from the manual configuration file, the Network Manager will again see your local NIC and also offer you the VPN options (presumably, associated with that NIC). From what I can tell, the downside is that you'll need to get your IP address assigned to you by a DHCP server on your local network.

Here's what worked for me:
(make sure you have a DHCP service running on your local network first)

From the shell prompt,

Edit /etc/network/interfaces ( sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces )

Delete everything EXCEPT for the following two lines:


auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


Save the file and reboot your machine.

Network Manager should now see your local NIC. It will attempt to configure it using DHCP. Once you get your address, you'll find the menus you're looking for on the Network Manager applet. Note, however, that if you click on the "Manual configuration" option and configure your static IP address again, your VPN option will again disappear. (which you can fix again by editing your interfaces file)

I'd call this a bug, as users shouldn't have to choose between having a static IP or using their VPN client connections.

This is still a very annoying BUG!

[jbrice]

I have followed the excellent instructions in this thread several times for getting Feisty to connect to a VPN, but without success. VPN connections didn't connect, and although appearing in the Network Manager applet they were not shown in the list in the "Configure VPN" dialogue box so that I could delete them

After wasting lots of time, I have discovered by trial and error what all you Linux experts probably think is blindingly obvious, that CONNECTION NAMES MUST NOT INCLUDE SPACES (although the Connection Manager is happy to accept them with spaces).

Would some kind person save me yet more time and tell me where I can find the config file for PPTP connections, so that I can hand delete the unwanted connections with spaces in their names.

TIA

Following up on this, and on comments that others have successfully added VPN connection names with spaces without problem:

- on further, testing connection names with one space show up OK in the "Configure VPN" dialogue box but those with two (or more?) spaces DO NOT - and are therefore not deletable via the conventional interface. Looks like a bug here, guys.

- the VPN connection config information is held in a hidden folder at /home/USER_ID/.gconf/system/networking/vpn_connections in the form of a folder for each connection currently set up. Deleting these folders seems to remove the connections (after a restart) without any negative side effects (use at your own risk, bearing in mind I'm a Linux newbie).

[kikkoman55]

In layman terms, it seems that if you configure a static IP address for your workstation in Feisty, the network manager no longer offers the VPN menu within the Network Manager applet.

If you remove your interface listing from the manual configuration file, the Network Manager will again see your local NIC and also offer you the VPN options (presumably, associated with that NIC). From what I can tell, the downside is that you'll need to get your IP address assigned to you by a DHCP server on your local network.

....

I'd call this a bug, as users shouldn't have to choose between having a static IP or using their VPN client connections.

This is still a bug, verified on my 7.04 install.

[crb]

Yes, and here is it's reference on Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/5364

Until it is fixed (probably with the upstream release of NetworkManager 0.70) there is nothing that can be done.

[mawdryn]

I think I've missed something fundamental. I'm running Feisty and followed the instructions, but it when I go to connect to the vpn by clicking on the network manager, my vpn is not listed anywhere except under 'Configure VPN'. It's created the approprate %gconf.xml file, but no files have been created in /etc/ppp/peers.
Any help appreciated

*** Fixed *** - I had to restart the computer. Seems that restarting networking and gnome wasn't enough.

[pedrohp]

Hi there,

I'm using the gnome-network-pptp mode and i would like to know if there is a method to define DNS Servers manually... My tunnels are for LAN only (no internet routing over the tunnel).

[crb]

I think I've missed something fundamental. I'm running Feisty and followed the instructions, but it when I go to connect to the vpn by clicking on the network manager, my vpn is not listed anywhere except under 'Configure VPN'. It's created the approprate %gconf.xml file, but no files have been created in /etc/ppp/peers.
Any help appreciated

Correct. NM uses a plugin to pppd, and passes all the options to the service (including username and password). It's all stored in gconf, but not in a peers file.

[Robbyx]

I have pptpconfig connecting to the vpn server. I use firefox and although pptpconfig is running it is not being used by Firefox.

Does anyone know how to set up firefox so that it routes traffic over the vpn tunnel?

[Crick]

I had a devil of a time getting this to work. It literally took the better part of 20-30 hours of hair pulling, an ubuntu feisty reinstall, trying random things, and googling. I was almost crying with frustration because (at least) the last 10 hours consisted of me being able to get a connection up to the VPN but not being able to receive a ping from any of the servers on the remote subnet.

This may have been helpful:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=2152009&postcount=49

I have the exact same problem as:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=2520201&postcount=63
(looks like a bug)

This may have been helpful:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=2701421&postcount=87

These pages were helpful:
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-diagnosis.phtml
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/routing.phtml#automatic-setup
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-debian.phtml#configure_by_hand
My setup involved a computer with a network card, connected by ethernet to an ADSL modem/router, connected to the internet, and at the other end a VPN server and another server inside the company network.

e.g. Here are some made up IPs to get the idea across:
My machine 10.1.1.2
ADSL modem router 10.1.1.1
Corporate VPN 200.9.36.127
Corporate remote network 192.168.20.*
Corporate Remote Desktop Server 192.168.20.5

I'm not sure whether this had anything to do with my problems or not.

I tried both the network-manager route and the pptpconfig route. Many times, many different options, reinstall twice. Neither worked as it should have done, although at least pptpconfig supplied me with a useful starting point for the scripts, since it could connect, just not do the routing properly. And for some reason the ppp0 connection would vanish a couple minutes into the piece even though it said it was still connected (and could still ping and everything).

And the
sudo pon tunel_name
just sat there and did nothing. For some reason I had to use various combinations of
sudo pon tunnel_name debug dump logfd 2 nodetach
to even get it to work properly.

And I had to create the script /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/tunnel_name by hand too, as listed here:
/etc/ppp/ip-up.d/

I also put the first two route commands from here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=91249&highlight=microsoft+pptp+vpn&page=9
ip route del x.x.x.x dev ppp0
ip route replace x.x.x.x via y.y.y.y dev eth0
But do not do the "route replace default" one later unless you want to kill access to your internet locally (at least I think that's what did it).

So to get the thing running, first I had to do the sudo pon tunnel debug etc thing, and then type

sudo pon tunnel_name debug dump logfd 2 nodetach
(wait until it had finished doing its stuff)
sudo /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/tunnel_name
ping 192.168.30.5 (to see if it worked)

And for some reason, it gets a bunch of "unknown protocol" from memory, the first time it tries this, and then after you turn it off (with sudo poff tunnel) and do the process again, it works.

Overall, an extremely frustrating, agonizing process. Not unlike the way Ubuntu barfs on trying to mount my PCLinuxOS partition, and forced me to Control D to get in (and modify my fstab), but that was another story.

From memory, I also modified a few other files such as /etc/ppp/options and /etc/ppp/options.pptp (from memory, names may not be correct, I'm back in Windows now).

When I get the time I will return to it, do a reinstall on another drive and figure out exactly what it is I need to do to get it to work (and nothing more), and also to work practically (so that I can turn it on and shut it off when I want to, how to get rdesktop to look decent), etc etc.

If I had to advise anyone doing this for the first time, try both pptpconfig and network-manager, give them maybe 2 hours tops to prove themselves, but don't rely on them. It may end up being quicker and easier just doing it by hand. I swear, I think I'd rather have a good command line howto than a GUI (or choice of GUIs) that don't work, or work partially!

I certainly hope that this can be gotten to work brainlessly soon with gui means, because I'm sure there are loads of people in my situation who are required to use M$ products for work but have access to them 24/7 through the work VPN. Getting access to the VPN is the dealbreaker when it comes to adopting linux.

Pretty much everything else I do (and probably most people) can be done in linux - ripping, burning, basic office stuff, mail, irc, music and video. Even games, if you are willing to find out what the best linux games are and addict yourself to them instead of needing to play the latest and greatest. For example, Wesnoth - it's as quality and endlessly addictive as any $ game I've played.

It's just that the dual boot XP/linux for a lot of people is like a recovering alcoholic keeping alcohol in the house. First you only go into XP to do work with the best of intentions to leave and go back to Linux for everything else. Then you stay in XP longer and longer. And then you change grub to default to your Windows install, and then you may as well not have bothered with installing linux in the first place.

If you can gain windows work functionality with a VPN/rdesktop linux single boot solution, you are 9/10 of the way there.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone. I may end up posting a better howto once I can actually replicate what I did with a separate ubuntu reinstall.

[crb]

Whew! Wouldn't you just have rather used NetworkManager?

[Crick]

Whew! Wouldn't you just have rather used NetworkManager?

!!!!!!!!@*(*(@ Maybe if I could get the buggy thing to work, I would have?!

I tried both the network-manager route and the pptpconfig route.

If it had worked properly, it would have been GREAT. But even though I could get the network connection "configured", and able to at least get it to look like it was doing something, it would not work, no matter how many options I tried, which post I listened to, and how much I looked through syslog etc.

All I got was the extremely helpful "Connection Failure" message to come up. This is ignoring the other errors that had to be hard-erased such as the two configurations that appeared but could not be edited or deleted through the GUI. NetworkManager is anything but a panacea as some posters make out on this thread, making out as if all you have to do is pass the hurdles of getting it to appear at the top right of your desktop, and getting it to display the name of your VPN so that you can connect to it.

And this was through hours of playing around with it, and a full format of ubuntu and reinstall.

[Raa]

But do not do the "route replace default" one later unless you want to kill access to your internet locally (at least I think that's what did it).


Sure you did not have to add "route replace default". That was just an example. I was too tired to explain how to route, and just added a small example.


So to get the thing running, first I had to do the sudo pon tunnel debug etc thing, and then type

sudo pon tunnel_name debug dump logfd 2 nodetach
(wait until it had finished doing its stuff)
sudo /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/tunnel_name
ping 192.168.30.5 (to see if it worked)


Actually the files in ip-up.d folder should not be named exactly as the tunnel name. And they shuld not be runned manually. When pptp tunel starts, it should be runned automatically. Just ensure it is executable and have correct permissions.

[ronnieredd]

Mine works!
I installed all of the network manager plug-ins and all of the knetwork-manager packages. I use the standard Ubuntu (Gnome) window manager. I use some of the kde stuff in other places so you may need all of the regular kde dependencies. I'm connected to our watchguard firewall right now. Some of the things I have installed that may help (or not):

dhcdbd
dhcp3-client
ifplugd
ifupdown
iproute
kde
kdenetwork
kdnssd
knetworkconf
knetworkmanager
kppp
laptop-net
netbase
netgo
net-tools
network-manager
network-manager-gnome
network-manager-openvpn
network-manager-pptp
network-manager-vpnc
networkstatus
wireshark (will help capture data for diagnosis)
wlassistant
wpasupplicant (just for your wireless)
Plus any smb (Samba) packages you may need

I'm sure there's more than you need listed, however, these are the things I installed along the way to get it to work. The last couple of things I installed, that worked for my setup, was the plugins for network manager and KNetworkManager. I ran KNetworkManager and everything came together.
I also tried Kvpnc and it would connect, but I couldn't talk to anything on the other network. It may work better once the above mentioned plugins are installed.
When/If I get some time, I'll uninstall some things to narrow it down to what's really needed.

[crb]

!!!!!!!!@*(*(@ Maybe if I could get the buggy thing to work, I would have?!

If it had worked properly, it would have been GREAT. But even though I could get the network connection "configured", and able to at least get it to look like it was doing something, it would not work, no matter how many options I tried, which post I listened to, and how much I looked through syslog etc.

Sorry, didn't mean to come across as nasty.

It's less than "friendly" at the moment, and I'm doing my best to improve it in Ubuntu while the upstream author is missing, and development upstream is slow (or effort being spent in other directions, e.g. OLPC/wireless).

Connections that appear and can't be deleted can be removed from gconf. Ultimately I'm trying to get new packages into a state where you can't add bad connections, and this is a bug I don't see myself so its hard to diagnose.

At the end of it, all NM-PPTP does is call the command line PPTP client with options on the command line, instead of from a peers file. If you can get the options that work for you in the peers file, you can probably get it to go from NM.

In the event of failure, lots of useful information goes to syslog, and more goes there if you enable debug in the properties dialog. Not obvious to new users, of course, but it exists.

I've got lots of people raising a bug on the package saying "error 15, can't connect". It's the standard PPTP error. I am hoping one of the people with the error will actually give me a debug log so I can try and find out if there is a common problem!

Where were you looking for help with this? Is there somewhere I can document all this where you would likely have found it?

[shelzmike]

Okay, quick intro - I am a complete noob to Ubuntu (and Linux for that matter) but am already an adoring fan.

I was able to get the VPN configured through the network manager; however, everytime I try to connect, I get an error message that says "Could Not Start CONNECTION NAME DUE TO CONNECTION ERROR VPN Connection Failed" (More or Less). I have no idea what is wrong, except for maybe a router issue? Is that possible? I can connect to the same VPN from other M$ machines at my home with no problems.

I have attached the syslog file.


I appreciate the help here. Being able to do this is vital for me as this is a work VPN and I am a telecommuter for the most part. Thanks in advance.

[crb]

ppp-debug / no

Please set 'Debug mode' to ticked in the properties dialog and post the syslog again.

Craig

[Hortinstein]

yeah i did this and am still having problems its connected, but i dont think the DNS is updating right or something (trying to connect to WSU campus)

[shelzmike]

Please set 'Debug mode' to ticked in the properties dialog and post the syslog again.

Craig

I realized that I had not since I have posted. I appreciate the response. I will do this, but it may take a day or two. Thanks in advance for your help!

[paranoid87]

i am also going to try this

i had similar issues...debug mode must be the reason..


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electricity suppliers (http://www.you-switch.org/electricity-suppliers)
Cheapest broadband (http://www.broardband.net/cheapest_broadband.php)

[shelzmike]

Please set 'Debug mode' to ticked in the properties dialog and post the syslog again.

Craig

Okay, I have had a time the past couple of days. My MB crashed and I needed to get a new one. I now have an AMD 64 bit. (many be important to what I am about to say).

So, I installed ubuntu AMD 64 (Feisty) (again) and installed the Network Manager and configured the VPN through that. Everything Seemed to be straight forward, but when I went to connect, it was not.

Per your last post I did enable debugging on the connection (and this is the noob in me, I am not sure how to access that log, unless it is just under the syslog file)

Either way, I think I am now getting less accomplished with the connection now than I did from the last post.

Now the only thing that I get back is the following:

Jun 15 15:35:27 mike-ubuntu kernel: [11499.721013] nm-ppp-auth-dia[6635]: segfault at 0000000000000088 rip 00002b9d2e7d721b rsp 00007fff81e66770 error 4

I think I got further last time because I was using pptconfig. However, I cannot install pptpconfig due to dependencies that are needed. Unfortuntately, I cannot install those dependencies because i get an error stating unsupported 'i386' error, which I am taking to mean that because I have AMD64, I cannot install pptpconfig.

Yesterday, I tried setting up the vpn manually, which I probably do not have to tell you did not work to well. However, I have since had to reinstall Ubuntu, so there is no strange code laying around.

So, there you have it, any possible help here? I am willing to do whatever it takes as I have to be able to connect to my office VPN and would hate to have to go back to M$. Thanks in advance for any help!

[mgmiller]

I don't know if it will help, but if you were closer using 32 bit Feisty, there is no reason why you can't install that instead of 64 bit. The 32 bit version runs great on a 64 bit AMD CPU.

[shelzmike]

I don't know if it will help, but if you were closer using 32 bit Feisty, there is no reason why you can't install that instead of 64 bit. The 32 bit version runs great on a 64 bit AMD CPU.

Ever the hard-head, (I still have this on my table of options); however, I want to see if I can get this to work. It is not a main machine, so I have time to kill. Thanks for the reply!

[Garf]

Sorry if I have missed a whole lot of posts, but I installed both of those packages, and nothing happens...

I didn't get anything in the notification area, and when I went to run the program from the Applications Menu, nothing happened..

I also went into the terminal and tried to run NetworkManager from there... as normal user and root... nothing..

Whats going on??

This happened on two ubuntu machines today, the first of which I put down to being a virtual machine, but my standalong machine at home is doing the same thing..

Any help apreciated.

[vishalwarke]

I am having trouble connecting to my schools VPN. I installed PPTP, rebooted my computer and configured the connection. But when I try to connect to it I get following error msg: "Could not start the VPN connection UA VPN due to a connection error. VPN connection failed"

Someone pl help. Thanks,

[shelzmike]

To start with, I do not have the answer to this, as you can see am having problems of my own. However, what I did want to let you know is that you are going to want to run a syslog in debug mode so that the people in the forums can troubleshoot the exact step that does not go through. Also, in case you have not, there are other posts in this thread dealing with the same issue, and if you have not done so yet, you may want to view all the posts in this thread to see if anything in there can help. Good Luck!

[Djeneral]

I have problem connecting to VPN wireless !
I'm new to linux and using Ubuntu 7.04.I'v get access to network (dc++ is running in local hub) but VPN is not responding also the pptpconfig.Please help!

[KevinBuntu]

If you are having problem connecting to a Windows 2003 server's VPN server, try this:

In VPN Configuration panel:

in "Authentication" tab, check "refuse EAP"

in "Compression and Encryption" tab, check both "Require MPPE encryption" and "Require 128 bit MPPE encryption".


That did the trick for me! :D

[patsimon12]

I am having similar issues using KVpn to connect to my works PPTP network. I know I can access this from behind my home router as my windows laptop connects without issue.

The log from KVpn is (removing log in details)

info: Global configuration loaded.
debug: Profile found: EMU
debug: Wallet enabled and available, reading passwords from wallet.
debug: Folder for kvpnc has been set.
debug: read of user password was successful.
debug: read of preshared key was successful.
debug: read of preshared key password was successful.
debug: Last used profile found: EMU
debug: New type: pptp.
info: The required daemons (pppd and pptp) are available, connect will be enabled.
debug: Preserving network environment
info: Connect try requested
debug: pppd: /usr/sbin/pppd
debug: /usr/sbin/pppd has MPPE support and uses new style.
debug: Test support of replacedefaultroute pppd: failed
debug: Some passwords which are need got from password enter dialog.
debug: No default interface given, tried default interface, got success, using "eth0".
info: "PppdUpScript" started.
info: "PppdUpScript" finished.
debug: pppd peer script: /etc/ppp/peers/kvpnc.EMU
debug: pppd chat script: /etc/ppp/chap-secrets
debug: Username: AD\patrick
debug: chmod of /etc/ppp/chap-secrets (go-rwx) started.
debug: pppd: /usr/sbin/pppd
debug: Trying to connect to server "blah.blha.blah.blah" with user "AD\patrick"...
info: "pppd" started.
info: "pppdDelDefaultRouteProcess" started.
debug: [pppd] Using interface ppp0
debug: [pppd] Connect: ppp0 /dev/pts/5
debug: [pppd] LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests
info: Connection has been terminated.
debug: [pppd] Connection terminated.
info: Connection has been terminated.
info: Disconnect requested
info: Not connected.


Can anyone shed any light on this?

[weedenbc]

When I run
sudo apt-get install network-manager-pptp

I get an error that it couldn't find the package. Did the package get renamed or maybe my repositories are screwed up somehow?

Using a new install of Fiesty.

[tienhn]

Hi All,
I am new to Ubuntu but ok with computer/linux. I followed your post to install the network-manager-pptp and here is the message I got:
==========

tienhn@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package network-manager-pptp

==========

What did I do wrong?

TIA.

[mgmiller]

network-manager-pptp is in the universe repository. Make sure it is checked as enabled in synaptic package manager in the Settings > Repositories area.

[Crick]

Well, I figured out how to do it quickly, easily and painlessly. I'm going to outline how in what I hope is a fairly braindead fashion.

The first thing to recognize is that IF YOU HAVE AN ADSL ROUTER and you are connecting via VPN to a machine that IS IN THE NETWORK OF THE VPN then you have a LAN TO LAN connection, not a CLIENT TO LAN connection.

So here is a howto for Ubuntu Feisty, if you have this setup. (Should also work if for some reason the machine you are VPNing to is the machine you want to, say, rdesktop to).

1. Go here: http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/howto-ubuntu.phtml

2. Start at "Installing the Configuration Program"

3. Go until number 10 of "Configuration". My clarifications below:

4. Now, for my settings. I am going to be referring to the diagram here:
http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/routing.phtml#lan-to-lan

http://i11.tinypic.com/682q2hl

10.20.0.36 -> Your ADSL Router's address (you might know this because you can access it via a browser directly)

22.0.0.22 -> The VPN that you connect to. You will know this if you use the windows VPN client - it's in properties -> General -> (Host name or IP Address of destination (such as microsoft.com or 157.54.0.1)

192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 -> The subnet you wish to connect to. I'm not sure what to do if your local and remote subnets are the same down to the first 3 bytes, ask someone else, I don't know. Maybe configure your ADSL router so that your subnet is different to the remote one?

Also, note that the login name and password is with the "user name: password" in the windows connect dialog for the sake of this example is "dave" and "my_secret_password".

Ok, now we plug in values. In the pptpconfig "Server" tab, we put in the following
name: foo (name doesn't matter)
Server: 22.0.0.22
Domain:
Username: dave
Password: my_secret_password

I don't think the routing tab does anything, but you can click LAN to LAN, that probably doesn't hurt.

Encryption tab, check Require MPPE, Refuse Stateless Encryption, Refuse to Authenticate with EAP. Maybe yours is different, start with these options.

And misc, we may as well check the first two options, start tunnel when this program starts, and reconnect if disconnected.

Once we are done there, click "Add" to add all this info, which will create a new configuration labelled "foo". This is an important step.

Start this connection.

It should say something like:
Using interfacte ppp0
pptpconfig: monitoring interface ppp0
Connect: ppp0 <---> /dev/pts/1
CHAP authentication succeeded
MPPE 128-bit stateless compression enabled
Cannot determine ethernet address for proxy ARP.

That last thing about the proxy ARP thing is not a bad sign, don't worry about it.

if we do an ifconfig, we should see an entry for ppp0, and if we do a route -n, we should see something like the following:

202.4.29.106 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
203.0.0.55 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 10.20.0.36 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0


But that's not enough. We need to add a couple entries to the routing table.

Open up an xterm,
route add -host 22.0.0.22 gw 10.20.0.36
route add -net 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev ppp0

Both of those are necessary to get it to work.

Your routing table should look like the following with route -n:
202.4.29.106 10.20.0.36 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 ppp0
202.4.29.106 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 ppp0
192.168.30.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 ppp0
203.0.0.55 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 10.20.0.36 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0


Now, try and ping the mail server, it should work. e.g.
ping 192.168.0.7
rdesktop should work too, you might try that as well.
Now that we have proven it to work, we will want to automate it.

Put the two routing commands in /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/routing and chmod it so that it is executable. Make sure that there is a line in /etc/ppp/ip-up to execute the script. Put it at the end, e.g.
/etc/ppp/ip-up.d/routing

If you keep getting an annoying error saying that it is "Unable to remove undo file /var/run/pptpconfig.foo.undo", you can counter that by putting in the following into your "routing" script:
touch /var/run/pptpconfig.foo.undo

Lastly, you want to make sure that when you close the connection, you correct the routing table. Add the following lines to a script here: /etc/ppp/ip-down.d/routing, and chmod +x so that it can execute.
route del -net 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev ppp0
route del -host 22.0.0.22 gw 10.20.0.36


And again, make sure that script executes by referencing it as in the above by puting a line in /etc/ppp/ip-down .
/etc/ppp/ip-down.d/routing

I'm not sure that's the best way, but it works for me. Please let me know if what I am doing is somehow insecure or wrong. If others like it, feel free to include it in the documentation somewhere. I'm sure search engines will find it soon enough anyway.

Edit: Thank heavens that there is now an easy way to connect to the corporate VPN. For many power users, this will enable them to break free from the clutches of MS because they can now do complicated office stuff without paying the MS tax. This was the deal breaking feature for my new non-MS OS, and unfortunately it was just a bit too hard in PCLinuxOS (rdesktop would freeze a connection I could ping fine to), other than that, it's a great distro. Maybe in PCLinuxOS2008...

I'd also add that the resulting connection is MUCH more stable than using putty.exe with windows. My old ssh sessions would always time out within several hours (but sometimes in as little as half an hour) if I hadn't typed anything. It also appears less laggy.

[HautingLu]

If you are having problem connecting to a Windows 2003 server's VPN server, try this:

In VPN Configuration panel:

in "Authentication" tab, check "refuse EAP"

in "Compression and Encryption" tab, check both "Require MPPE encryption" and "Require 128 bit MPPE encryption".


That did the trick for me! :D

Thank You!!!! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Now if I can only get Terminal Server Client to work.

[msprygada]

OK, I can create a VPN connection. I then left click on the Network Manager in the notifications area. I select VPN Connections and the VPN connection I created. It opens the "Authenticate Connection" dialog box. I enter my login (domain\userid) and password. I click "Remember Password for this Session" and click "OK". The "Authenticate Connection" dialog box disappears and nothing seems to happen. Should I get a connection window or notification as it is attempting to connect like it does in Windows? If I go back into the Network Manager, I do not have Disconnect VPN as an option in the VPN connection menu so I am assuming that I am not connected plus I cannot get anywhere on my companies network.

I did the terminal commands of installing and killing the network manager and all this worked as expected.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Matt

[jim.guenzel]

This worked for me after giving up on pptp config
pptp config worked in 6.06 but not in 6.1 or 7.04.

This worked for me in 7.04. I used net work manger

From the root terminal

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome

then

sudo apt-get install network-manager-ppt

then

reboot

the network app ought to show up in the upper right work bar

if not then
/usr/sbin/NetworkManager

I also ran network manager as sudo once before rebooting
sudo nm-applet


Then click on the applet in the upper right work bar it to connect and to configure / add the vpn

Thanks
Jim

[schierly]

I have the following VPN connection on my Win XP working, but I dont get it to work in Ubuntu Feisty AMD64.

I tried the pptp network manager plugin, which lets me create and select the VPN Network. Nevertheless it seems that I can't connect to the internet. The network card is working fine, I receive the DNS Server and an IP Address, but to be able to use the Internet, I need to connect to 172.16.0.1. In Windows all encryptions are dissabled.

Can anyone help me.

Windows-IP-Konfiguration

Host Name. . . . . . . . . . . . . : axel
Primary DNS-Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Typ . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP-Routing enabled. . . . . . . : No
WINS-Proxy enabled. . . . . . . : No
DNS-Suffix Search List . . . . . . . : xxx.bbb.tld #

Ethernetadapter LAN-Verbindung:

Connection specific DNS Suffix: xxx.bbb.tld
Description. . . . . . . . . . . : Fast Ethernet Card
Physical Address . . . . . . : xx-E0-xx-92-00-00
DHCP enabled. . . . . . . . . . : yes
Autoconfiguration enabled . . . : yes
IP-Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.1.77
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.0.1
DHCP-Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 193.170.62.162
DNS-Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.0.1
Primärer WINS-Server. . . . . . . : 172.16.0.1

PPP-Adapter INTERNET:

Connection specific DNS Suffix
Description. . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Addresse . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
DHCP enabled. . . . . . . . . . : Nein
IP-Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.4
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.10.4
DNS-Server. . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.0.1
172.16.0.1


/var/log/messages

Sep 6 22:49:26 xxx-desktop kernel: [ 2049.368231] nm-ppp-auth-dia[8301]: segfault at 00000000
00000088 rip 00002ae13c02821b rsp 00007fff74612f30 error 4

I maybe have to add a route or so, but which one? Can anybody help?

EDIT [SOLVED]

Never believe Windows when it's saying that's a VPN Connection. The connection typ was a point to point connection.
I did the setup through the config files of linux-pptp , and it's working now.

[OskarB]

Hi,

I tried to follow the howto in the first post... but I'm not sure if I got it right... is it any way to see if the VPN works?

When I write in the servername (http://www.sobernet.nu) in Evolution I get no Error-prompt.. but I dont get any answere mails from the server either...

Anyone know how I can see if the vpn-connection is OK?

Thanks!

//Oskar

[Snipershot]

I'm silly, ignore this message for now.

[sarasotab]

I followed the instructions, but pptpconfig would not install. The following error ensued:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
pptpconfig: Depends: php-gtk-pcntl (>= 1.0.0) but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages
root@ubuntu-laptop:~#

Is there something I am missing? I am running Dapper 6.06 Lts

Bob

[coloured]

Here is the fix for this problem below - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=547991

OK, I can create a VPN connection. I then left click on the Network Manager in the notifications area. I select VPN Connections and the VPN connection I created. It opens the "Authenticate Connection" dialog box. I enter my login (domain\userid) and password. I click "Remember Password for this Session" and click "OK". The "Authenticate Connection" dialog box disappears and nothing seems to happen. Should I get a connection window or notification as it is attempting to connect like it does in Windows? If I go back into the Network Manager, I do not have Disconnect VPN as an option in the VPN connection menu so I am assuming that I am not connected plus I cannot get anywhere on my companies network.

I did the terminal commands of installing and killing the network manager and all this worked as expected.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Matt

[Snipershot]

Sep 11 03:11:10 sharine pppd[27199]: using channel 17
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: sent [LCP ConfReq id=0x1 <mru 1416> <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xb1e2038d> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0xac <accomp> <pcomp> <magic 0xd8be53a6> <auth pap> <mrru 1600> <ssnhf> <endpoint [MAC:00:15:c5:f7:da:e9]>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: sent [LCP ConfRej id=0xac <mrru 1600> <ssnhf>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: rcvd [LCP ConfAck id=0x1 <mru 1416> <asyncmap 0x0> <magic 0xb1e2038d> <pcomp> <accomp>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0xad <accomp> <pcomp> <magic 0xd8be53a6> <auth pap>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: sent [LCP ConfNak id=0xad <auth chap MS-v2>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0xae <accomp> <pcomp> <magic 0xd8be53a6> <auth pap>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: sent [LCP ConfNak id=0xae <auth chap MS-v2>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 sharine pppd[27199]: rcvd [LCP ConfReq id=0xaf <accomp> <pcomp> <magic 0xd8be53a6> <auth pap>]
Sep 11 03:11:11 shar