Re: [gentoo-user] How to IPSEC "M$oft" VPN client setup

[Paul Hartman]

On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:29 PM, Michael Higgins <linux@×××××××.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks, Paul. I've already the "solution", as I'm not so much trying to get something accomplished (access machines "inside" which I can do just fine with SSH tunnel), as to figure out why we have these various, related, open source software packages available but no basic client-to-corporate "real-world" implementations specifically outlined for the Gentoo community -- that I can find. :(

Well I am by no means an expert but I think the big problem in finding
answers is that a "VPN" has no specific definition... it's a general
term used for dozens of different and mostly incompatible
technologies. See here for someone's list (from 2006) of different
types of VPN servers: http://lists.virus.org/vpn-0604/msg00005.html

I've been happily connecting to a Cisco ipsec VPN for years in linux
using either the proprietary cisco-vpnclient-3des or the open-source
vpnc and it works just fine. In fact it works better tha on Windows,
because there is no 64-bit Cisco VPN client on Windows! I've also
connected Windows XP and Linux using a PPTP (known to be insecure) VPN
without problems (using poptop? or something. it was a long time ago).
If your VPN uses Checkpoint SecuRemote then that's a very specific
implementation you need to focus on.

Wikipedia's page on Checkpoint VPN has some info that may be useful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_Point_VPN-1

The wiki page mentions Nokia using Checkpoint in their own branded VPN
solution. On Nokia's mobile VPN client page, there are some PDFs that
contain set-up info for Checkpoint VPNs which may give you some clues
as to what settings you need to use in your linux implementation:
http://www.businesssoftware.nokia.com/mobile_vpn_downloads.php

I did some more googling and found what appears to be the actual
Checkpoint client for Linux. YMMV, use at your own risk, etc :)
http://students.ee.sun.ac.za/~15312704/linux/sc_linux_1-53328_36.tgz

I don't know if it'll even work on a modern Gentoo... it seems to be
geared toward Redhat 7, which isn't exactly a new release. But maybe
redhat in a vmware is better than Windows in a vmware. :)

Good luck!