VPN on N900 Help
 

So I am a total newbie with Maemo so please forgive the ignorance. I attempted to search the message boards, but much of the information is either above my head, or it does not seem like there is such a way to utilize a VPN client with GUI for freemantle.

I saw threads for a product called VPNC that was on the N800/N810, and it seemed to work with Cisco concentrators, however the only thing I found was on the devel thread. Even though I was brave enough to install and test it (saw some threads saying it worked fine), I end up not being able to utilize alpha-numeric characters. It will only take a password that is fully numeric. I assume I either 1) did something wrong or 2) I should not be using the app since it is still in dev and there could be an issue with alpha characters.

Anyway, if anyone could help me out and guide me to a VPN client that could work to connect to Cisco, it would be appreciated!!

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Hi there!

Yes, this is the wrong location to file bug reports, but for the record:

CONFIRM!

I have noticed this too. The user password dialog simply refuses non-numeric characters.

I find it very improbable that this decision was done on purpose.

I would file a bug report, but unfortunately I don't yet have a bugtracker account and the registration server doesn't seem to like my email address :( will try again soon

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Thanks for the reply! I will try and enter one to the developer as well.

Also, as an FYI there is another GUI client out there that seems to be working. The issue I do notice with it is that it works fine one time only. It seems to not release/disconnect correctly as a reboot is needed before it works again.

Will post in the appropriate forum. Thanks!

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

If you are trying to connect/disconnect while on a cellular network, it will mess up your /etc/resolv.conf file.
You cannot use vpnc successfully on a cellular network that I have seen yet unfortunately. :(

If this happens, you need to edit the /etc/resolv.conf file to say:

nameserver 127.0.0.1

Then your network will work again.

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

I see...too bad, would be great if we did not have to! Thanks for the information!

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Encouraged by this thread, I finally dared to install vpnc 0.5.8-0m5 from extra-devels, and found that I could use it exactly as I was used to on my Debian laptop. I could use it while on WLAN and even while on the cellular network, though I noticed that at one point /etc/resolv.conf became empty. So I restored it manually, but when it happened again, I found that it didn't seem to make any difference whether I restored it or not (neither when using WLAN or the phone network). I'm now leaving /etc/resolv.conf empty, simply because I wanted to see what's the difference. Can anyone tell me?

So, at least for me, the connectivity of the N900 doesn't leave any wishes open after having successfully installed ssh client and server, and now vpnc, which I need to connect to the Cisco concentrator run by the university I'm working at.

:) Kudos to maemo.org !!

PS: Since this thread started with issues about the GUI of vpnc, I should perhaps also say that I didn't try that. It's anyway more convenient for me to have vpnc started by a script, and having the necessary configuration in /etc/vpnc. Doing so, I didn't have any problem regarding non-numeric characters in username and password.

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Meanwhile I found a bug reported on this issue of the occasionally emptied /etc/resolv.conf on a Swedish list:

http://groups.google.se/group/linux....5bb0e7dd?fwc=1

Will try to forward this to a maintainer, since I didn't find a trace of it at bugs.maemo.org. Still, I would like to understand why this bug seems so benign.

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Any luck with the "openconnect" packages?

I've given them a quick shot with the hopes of getting SIP and LDAP connectivity to my office network, but wasn't immediately successful.

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

I didn't know that there was an alternative to vpnc, thanks for the pointer. I'll stick with vpnc, though, because it works for me like a charm, and I don't want to try my luck again by installing from extras-devel.

Re: Vpnc - n900?
 

Hi,
Good to hear that it works for you.
I initially installed both the VPNC and the GUI application and faced the same issue of the numeric characters. After your thread, i changed my default.conf under /etc/vpnc with the appropriate username and pwd.

But my question is how do i connect? If i click on the x11vnc, there is not activity and it is not connected as well. No error messages.
The GUI still shows my older connection and when i try connect, again the same numeric problem.

Can you pls eloborate, in which file you will enter the non numeric pwd and then how will you invoke the connection to VPN?

Thanks.