Hello Everyone,
I have been tasked at work with setting up a VPN connection from our server to a client's network. The only problem is that I have never done anything like this before, so I am not sure where to start.
We are running CentOS 5.4 on our server. I do not yet know what the client is running for their VPN, the only thing I know of from the client, is we need to use IPSec for our VPN connection to them. I have been googling, and have found quite a bit of information, but it is a little overwhelming, as I am new to setting up a VPN. Is the a "standard" method for doing this sort of setup that I am missing so far?
If anyone has any quick pointers to get me started, that would be greatly appreciated.
I use Openswan regularly for IPSec VPN connections to remote sites. Although the documentation is a bit lacking it is pretty easy to get going once you've played with it a bit.
It is reliable, widely available and the openswan users support list is responsive.
If you have trouble connecting to the remote side, ike-scan can help in getting your key exchange settings right. That is usually the hard part, in my experience.
-geoff
--------------------------------- Geoff Galitz Blankenheim NRW, Germany http://www.galitz.org/ http://german-way.com/blog/
-----Original Message----- From: centos-bounces@centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces@centos.org] On Behalf Of Ski Dawg Sent: Mittwoch, 10. März 2010 02:12 To: centos@centos.org Subject: [CentOS] IPSec VPN Setup?
Hello Everyone,
I have been tasked at work with setting up a VPN connection from our server to a client's network. The only problem is that I have never done anything like this before, so I am not sure where to start.
We are running CentOS 5.4 on our server. I do not yet know what the client is running for their VPN, the only thing I know of from the client, is we need to use IPSec for our VPN connection to them. I have been googling, and have found quite a bit of information, but it is a little overwhelming, as I am new to setting up a VPN. Is the a "standard" method for doing this sort of setup that I am missing so far?
If anyone has any quick pointers to get me started, that would be greatly appreciated. -- Doug
Registered Linux User #285548 (http://counter.li.org)
Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. -- Steve Wozniak _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Hi
I can second that, Openswan is the way to go (sorry the ONLY way to go). Centos has the latest, but I would highly recommend to have Centos on both ends. Centos is one of the distros that uses NSS by default and standard out of the box, so this makes is easier.
There's also a PDF booklet (get that from amazon, its written by Paul Wouters, one of the Openswan developers), link on the website.
The toughest part is getting the keys and connections right, personally I would not do it without subscribing to "users@openswan.org" first, they are helpfull and you will find Paul on the list, too.
Been using Openswan (well it used to be freeS/WAN, hence the animal used) for many years and once you set it up and have the key exchange working you never have to change a thing again other then (in my case) "yum update openswan".
jobst
On 10/03/2010 18:08, Geoff Galitz wrote:
I use Openswan regularly for IPSec VPN connections to remote sites. Although the documentation is a bit lacking it is pretty easy to get going once you've played with it a bit.
It is reliable, widely available and the openswan users support list is responsive.
If you have trouble connecting to the remote side, ike-scan can help in getting your key exchange settings right. That is usually the hard part, in my experience.
-geoff
Geoff Galitz Blankenheim NRW, Germany http://www.galitz.org/ http://german-way.com/blog/
-----Original Message----- From: centos-bounces@centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces@centos.org] On Behalf Of Ski Dawg Sent: Mittwoch, 10. März 2010 02:12 To: centos@centos.org Subject: [CentOS] IPSec VPN Setup?
Hello Everyone,
I have been tasked at work with setting up a VPN connection from our server to a client's network. The only problem is that I have never done anything like this before, so I am not sure where to start.
We are running CentOS 5.4 on our server. I do not yet know what the client is running for their VPN, the only thing I know of from the client, is we need to use IPSec for our VPN connection to them. I have been googling, and have found quite a bit of information, but it is a little overwhelming, as I am new to setting up a VPN. Is the a "standard" method for doing this sort of setup that I am missing so far?
If anyone has any quick pointers to get me started, that would be greatly appreciated. -- Doug
Registered Linux User #285548 (http://counter.li.org)
Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. -- Steve Wozniak _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Geoff and Jobst,
Thanks for the reply. I will investigate openswan further.
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 3:15 AM, Jobst Schmalenbach jobst@barrett.com.au wrote:
Hi
I can second that, Openswan is the way to go (sorry the ONLY way to go). Centos has the latest, but I would highly recommend to have Centos on both ends. Centos is one of the distros that uses NSS by default and standard out of the box, so this makes is easier.
There's also a PDF booklet (get that from amazon, its written by Paul Wouters, one of the Openswan developers), link on the website.
The toughest part is getting the keys and connections right, personally I would not do it without subscribing to "users@openswan.org" first, they are helpfull and you will find Paul on the list, too.
Been using Openswan (well it used to be freeS/WAN, hence the animal used) for many years and once you set it up and have the key exchange working you never have to change a thing again other then (in my case) "yum update openswan".
jobst
On 10/03/2010 18:08, Geoff Galitz wrote:
I use Openswan regularly for IPSec VPN connections to remote sites. Although the documentation is a bit lacking it is pretty easy to get going once you've played with it a bit.
It is reliable, widely available and the openswan users support list is responsive.
If you have trouble connecting to the remote side, ike-scan can help in getting your key exchange settings right. That is usually the hard part, in my experience.
-geoff
Geoff Galitz Blankenheim NRW, Germany http://www.galitz.org/ http://german-way.com/blog/
-----Original Message----- From: centos-bounces@centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces@centos.org] On Behalf Of Ski Dawg Sent: Mittwoch, 10. März 2010 02:12 To: centos@centos.org Subject: [CentOS] IPSec VPN Setup?
Hello Everyone,
I have been tasked at work with setting up a VPN connection from our server to a client's network. The only problem is that I have never done anything like this before, so I am not sure where to start.
We are running CentOS 5.4 on our server. I do not yet know what the client is running for their VPN, the only thing I know of from the client, is we need to use IPSec for our VPN connection to them. I have been googling, and have found quite a bit of information, but it is a little overwhelming, as I am new to setting up a VPN. Is the a "standard" method for doing this sort of setup that I am missing so far?
If anyone has any quick pointers to get me started, that would be greatly appreciated. -- Doug
Registered Linux User #285548 (http://counter.li.org)
Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. -- Steve Wozniak _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
-- Jobst Schmalenbach General Manager, Webdevelopment and Tech Support P +61 3 9532 7677 M +61 411 611 855 E jhs@barrett.com.au W www.barrett.com.au
Everybody lives by selling something Sales Training, Consulting, Coaching, Seminars and Resources Barrett Sales Blog Subscribe to receive free weekly advice and tips for people who live by selling something
CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
I run a VPN server using OpenVPN. Looks like pretty robust technology to me.
Boris.
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Eero Volotinen eero.volotinen@iki.fi wrote:
I run a VPN server using OpenVPN. Looks like pretty robust technology to me.
but openvpn is not ipsec.
Good point. Sorry, my fault, I just wasn't paying attention.
Boris.
Boris,
Thanks for the reply. I was originally going to look into using openvpn, but then found out that the client requires the use of ipsec for the vpn connection, so I am investigating other options.
-
Boris Epstein -
Eero Volotinen -
Geoff Galitz -
Jobst Schmalenbach -
Ski Dawg