Tag: vpn

IT

Setting up a PPTP VPN to a Windows 2008 Server

Requirements

Linux
KDE
A Windows server to connect to.

Step 1: Install required software

yum install kde-plasma-networkmanagement-pptp NetworkManager-pptp

Step 2: Configure the network

In the KDE Network Manager plasma module, go to the tab VPN, click add and choose PPTP.

Enter and connection name you like. In the field "gateway" type the hostname or IP number of the Windows server you're connecting to. Under Login, Password and NT Domain, fill in your authentication data. Then click advanced.

In the advanced window, disable EAP and enable MPPE. Then click OK.

Go to the tab IPv4. Under method, I chose Automatic (VPN). But Automatic (VPN) addresses only is also a nice option: it sets the IPs but no DNS settings.

Go to the routes sub-tab. Switch on Ignore automatically obtained routes and Use only for resources on this connection to make sure the connection doesn't steal your traffic. Then I entered a manual route: 192.168.178.0/255.255.255.0 to gateway 0.0.0.0 (it is a ppp device after all).

You may want to configure IPv6 as well, but I don't at this moment, so I'm not documenting this.

Step 3: Connect

Click on the icon in the tray and connect.

Ubuntu/Debian

I'm running RedHat-based software on all of my machines. Above information may be useful for Ubuntu/Debian users, but it's not tested and I'm not supporting it.

Servers: RedHat Enterprise Linux/CentOS is more suitable for servers, as there's a lot of professional level support available. I think that's important, because if I say, get a car accident, I want the servers to be managable by another professional.

Desktops/Laptops: RPM packages are pretty exchangable between RedHat-based platforms. That's a good reason to run Fedora on the desktop.
© GeekLabInfo Setting up a PPTP VPN to a Windows 2008 Server is a post from GeekLab.info. You are free to copy materials from GeekLab.info, but you are required to link back to http://www.geeklab.info

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IT

Printing from a CUPS server to Windows 7

A colleague of mine has some family issues that require him to be home more often. However, work continues. So he started working at home with a laptop. Nothing special about that. What is special, is that we're running a piece of software ("RR") that has old-style telnet-like terminals, which is sending it's print jobs straight to the printer.

His laptop has a direct VPN connection to the company network, but his printer doesn't.

Network info

The old software ("RR") is running on a pretty new RHEL 5.6 installation. It uses CUPS to queue and deliver print jobs. In my situation, the RR printer has zero printers configured, there's another Linux server that has all printers configured and broadcasts those printers over the network. But you could leave that print server out.

Problem

RR cannot reach the printer directly. But it can reach the laptop, which is running Windows 7 Professional. I searched for an IPP server that I could install on Windows, so that the printserver could use that to relay messages to the local printer, but I couldn't find any.

Solution

Windows 7 still has the option to install an lpd server. It's not installed by default, but it's very simple to install.

Windows setup:

  • In the Windows 7 Control Panel
  • Go to the "Programs and Features"
  • Click "Turn Windows Features on or off"
  • Turn on the LPD protocol.
  • Now go to the "printers" and share all printers you want to share.
  • Don't use long names and names with spaces, like "HP Laserjet 4200 Series", which are hard to setup on the client. Use something short like hplj4200.

Client setup:
Now you can setup the client to print to lpd://[ip-or-hostname-of-client]/[printername], for example lpd://10.10.10.17/hplj4200

If you can't get it to work, please check printer permissions and the firewall of the Windows 7 machine, which must have port 515 open.

© GeekLabInfo Printing from a CUPS server to Windows 7 is a post from GeekLab.info. You are free to copy materials from GeekLab.info, but you are required to link back to http://www.geeklab.info

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IT

Useful VPN Services

Say you're living in China, and you have no web freedom whatsoever. Or in the Netherlands, and your favorite linux distro download site has been blocked by the corrupt "elite". Then having a tunnel to outside the country could be very useful.

I found two VPN services that seem very promising:
ItsHidden.com
MacroVPN.com

© GeekLabInfo Useful VPN Services is a post from GeekLab.info. You are free to copy materials from GeekLab.info, but you are required to link back to http://www.geeklab.info

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Linux

Share one VPN connection

My personal Linux laptop is a real spider in the web. It's got OpenVPN connections to the office, to the datacenter, to serveral family members, etcetera. I love it. But sometimes, there are some tasks that Linux simply can't do, like running a vSphere client.

For those situations, I use the second (Windows) computer on my desk to perform those tasks. However, this computer does not have a VPN connection right to the place I'm connecting to.

Continue Reading…

© GeekLabInfo Share one VPN connection is a post from GeekLab.info. You are free to copy materials from GeekLab.info, but you are required to link back to http://www.geeklab.info

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