NMU VPN

From Computer Science Community

Getting NMUBUNTU to work with the NMU VPN is a fairly simple process. We only need to install two packages, and do a little configuration. Here is the process in detail.

[edit] Software Packages

We only need two packages for this network-manager-vpnc and vpnc. Now, when I say two packages, I am assuming that you already have the Gnome Desktop, as well as the Network-Manager application already installed. If you do not, I think that the network-manager-vpnc package will install them for you, but just in case, make sure you have them installed first.

To install these packages, simple search for the packages using Synaptics (GUI Package manager), or enter the following commands in a terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc vpnc

That should take care of our packages, so lets move on to the next section.

[edit] Configuration

OK, to get started, click on your Network-Manager icon, and navigate to VPN Connections→Configure VPN, which looks like this:

You will now have a window which contains an empty list (supposing you haven't already added a VPN). Click the "'Add" button, and click through the prompts, keeping the default values, until you get to a window that look like this:

Now just type in the values you see in the picture above, and click the Optional tab, and click the checkbox for the first item (the one that talks about a user name). Fill in your NMU network login name (cwells in my case), and then click Forward. That should do it for configuration.

[edit] Using the VPN

Ok, now that you have the VPN configured, you just have to activate it when you want to connect. To do this, click on your Network-Manager icon in your system tray again, and select the VPN Connections option again. This time you should notice that there is an option called NMU, or what ever you decided to name your profile. Click it, and if its the first time you have used it, you should be presented with the following prompt:

Your password will be your NMU network password, and your group password can be given to you by a UNIX User Group member. Make sure you click the checkbox labeled Save passwords in keyring, and then click ok. If all goes well, your Network-Manager icon should do a little animation, and then change to the same icon, but this time with a padlock in the lower right corner.

Congratulations! You have connected to the NMU VPN.