How to setup Cisco VPN using VPNC in Ubuntu 9.10

Today, I was trying to setup the Cisco VPN client at home to connect to my office PC to check my emails. So, I began googling around for help… and, very quickly, I found this…

Following the steps written in the Ubuntu Community documentation has helped me setup almost 90% of it (The steps are quite short anyway). And then, I met a blocker. I am unable to decipher the IPSEC password needed in the VPNC. This password is actually located under enc_GroupPwd in the Cisco profile file (*.pcf).

The following steps are the funny method on how I retrieve IPSEC password from the Cisco profile (*.pcf):

You will need to have network-manager-vpnc and network-manager-vpnc-gnome installed to be able to connect to a Cicso VPN.

1. Click on the Ethernet/Wireless icon on the right side of the top panel.
2. Go to VPN Connections.
3. Select Configure VPN….
4. Select Import.
5. Choose the Cisco Profile (*.pcf) and click on Open button.
6. A dialog will open with all the setting filled.
7. Go to Group Passwords (This is the IPSEC password).
8. Check on the option, Show passwords.
9. The IPSEC password will be revealed.
10. Copy and paste the password in the /etc/vpnc/<vpn_file>.conf
11. Run the Terminal.
12. And, use the command, vpnc-connect <vpn_file>

Lastly, I am going to paste the steps from Ubuntu Community Documentation here for easy reference.

==== VPNC ====
The Cisco VPNC client is available in the vpnc package (SPM).

Configuration files are stored in /etc/vpnc, which was protected to root on my installation so you might need to use sudo for all commands here. Copy example.conf to myvpn.conf

sudo cp /etc/vpnc/example.conf /etc/vpnc/myvpn.conf

and edit the new file to look like this:

IPSec gateway <host>
IPSec ID <group username>
IPSec secret <group password>
Xauth username <username>
Xauth password <password>

IPSec gateway <host>

IPSec ID <group username>

IPSec secret <group password>

Xauth username <username>

Xauth password <password>

Note that you can leave out <password> if you want, and you will be prompted. Now, run vpnc-connect myvpn to start the connection – your output should look something like this:

> vpnc-connect myvpn
Connect Banner:
| Welcome to
|
|
| *** VPN Service ***
|
| Your connection is now secure

VPNC started in background (pid: 7885)…
> vpnc-disconnect
Terminating vpnc daemon (pid: 7885)

You can then connect/disconnect with the commands vpnc-connect myvpn and vpnc-disconnect myvpn.

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