Thanks for the heads-up!
I managed to apply those instructions to the network-manager program in GNOME, so that the VPN connection can be launched with a mouse click, rather than from the terminal. 1. Open a terminal and run "sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc-gnome" 2. Open the "Network Connections" (network-manager) window and select the "VPN" tab. 3. Click "Add" > "Cisco Compatible..." (drop-down menu) > "Create" 4. Fill in the fields as follows: Gateway: vpn.umd.edu User name: (your directory ID) User password: (I set the drop-down menu to "Always Ask" Group Name: UMD Group password: i#|fOd!jisYR5r9N (I set this drop-down menu to "Saved" for convenience). 5. Click the "Advanced..." button at the bottom-right of the window 6. The "Domain" field should be left blank, and ensure that everything else is set to the (default) option 7. "Disable Dead Peer Detection" may be left blank 8. Click the "Apply" button in that window and "Save..." in the previous window. To launch the connection, simply click on the network-manager icon > "VPN Connections" > (whatever you named that connection), and it should work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I also discovered (and previously used) an AnyConnect equivalent plugin for the GNOME's network manager. This program lets you select the 'Group' when you launch the VPN, rather than hard-code it into to the profile, as we did for VPNC. Installation and configuration instructions: 1. Open a terminal and run "sudo apt-get install openconnect" 2. Once it completes installing, restart your computer (otherwise, it may not work after setting up the connection). 3. Click on the network manager icon on the top-right of the screen > "VPN Connections" > "Configure VPN" Alternatively, open "Network Connections" and click on the "VPN" tab. 4. Click "Add," select the "Cisco AnyConnect..." option from the drop-down menu, and click "Create..." 5. Name the connection anything you want. In the "Gateway:" field, enter " vpn.umd.edu" (no quotes). Leave everything else blank. 6. To initiate the connection, click on the network manager icon again (top-right of screen) > "VPN Connections" > (whatever you you named the connection). A window should pop-up. In that window's top-right corner, there is a button that looks a cable. Click it. In the fields that appear, select the group (as you would in any other Cisco VPN client) enter your UMD directory credentials, and click "Login." If the network manager icon in the top-right of the screen (desktop) displays a lock (should take a matter of seconds), then the connection attempt succeeded. NOTE: This client seems to have some reliability issues. If you run into such a problem, run the command "sudo /etc/init.d/vpnagentd_init restart" (no quotes). If that doesn't work, try rebooting your computer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you find these instructions useful! -Jesse P.S. For those of you who use the ECE, ISR, Math, or Physics VPN connections, have you figured out how to configure that VPN connection for VPNC? On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Luther Richard Clark Jr <lclar...@umd.edu>wrote: > *NOTE: This is not an official University Document.* > > *Accessing the University of Maryland VPN on Linux* > > *Virtual Private Networks *are a vital IT productivity tool that allow > users to safely and securely access work resources from home or another > remote location. They also provide a layer of security when using WiFi > networks during travel. The University of Maryland graciously provides a > VPN service for use by faculty, staff and students. It also provides client > software for users to install on their personal or loaned computers. There > are a number of guides available for installing and configuring the Windows > and Mac OSX clients for use with the University of Maryland VPN service but > a paucity of offerings for configuring a personal computer running Linux to > take of the service. Those that are available are out of date. This guide > attempts to address the need for a reliable, cross distribution method of > accessing the University’s VPN and gathers in one location information that > was formerly scattered across a number of web pages. > > > The Cisco VPN client for Linux provided via Terpware is no longer > actively developed and only functional on a handful of older Linux distros. > A better option is to use vpnc which is available for many different > distributions. This how to has been tested on Fedora 19, Red Hat Enterprise > Linux 6.4, Debian Squeeze and OpenSUSE 12.3. > > 1. *Install vpnc. *This can be accomplished by opening a terminal and > typing > > *sudo yum install vpnc * > > on a Fedora or RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux system (users of the latter > must have the EPEL <http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL> repository > enabled) or by issuing the command > > *sudo apt-get install vpnc* > > on a Debian based system (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint). > > If you do not use sudo on your system, issue the > > *su -* > > command, type in the root password, and issue the commands (but without > the 'sudo') > vpnc is installed by default on Fedora 19 and OpenSUSE 12.3. > > 2. *Update the configuration files. *In the /etc/vpnc/ directory there > will be a file either called default.conf or example.conf. It will contain > the following lines or something similar: > > *#IPSec gateway my.vpn.gateway* > *#IPSec ID my.ipsec.id* > *#IPSec secret mysecret* > *# your username goes here:* > *#Xauth username* > > Issue the following command, changing the source filename if necessary: > > *sudo cp /etc/vpnc/example.conf /etc/vpnc/umd.conf* > > Then, using the editor of your choice (I prefer vi), change the > configuration to the following: > > *IPSec gateway vpn.umd.edu* > *IPSec ID UMD* > *IPSec secret i#|fOd!jisYR5r9N* > *Xauth username your_username_here* > > You can issue one of the following command to begin editing the file: > > *sudo vi /etc/vpnc/umd.conf* > > *sudo nano /etc/vpnc/umd.conf* > > *sudo gedit /etc/vpnc/umd.conf* > > Replace *your_username_here *with your University of Maryland Directory > ID. *Be very careful not to leave any spaces before or after any of the > entries. * Doing so will cause the connection to fail. > > 3. *Start vpnc. *Issue the following command: > > *sudo vpnc umd* > > and enter your University of Maryland Directory password when prompted. > Navigate to http://noc.net.umd.edu/cgi-bin/netmgr/whoami to confirm that > the VPN connection is up and running. If it is, you will see a web page > informing you of your IP address on the University network. > > 4. *Close vpnc. *When you are finished with your business on the campus > network, issue the following command to close the VPN connection: > > *sudo vpnc-disconnect* > > Luther Clark Jr. > IT Support Assistant > Office of Academic Computing Services > College of Behavioral and Social Sciences > University of Maryland >
