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As of 2015 Columbia UIT does not officially support Linux VPN. For Windows and Mac OS instructions click here.

What is VPN?

Using VPNs, an organization can help secure private network traffic over an unsecured network, such as the Internet. VPN helps provide a secure mechanism for encrypting and encapsulating private network traffic and moving it through an intermediate network. Data is encrypted for confidentiality, and packets that might be intercepted on the shared or public network are indecipherable without the correct encryption keys. Data is also encapsulated, or wrapped, with an IP header containing routing information.†

† http://web.archive.org/web/20150727173446/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Cc779919(v=WS.10).aspx

Why use it?

By routing traffic through the Columbia VPN you will have access to the university and library resources. Your traffic will be secured from point access to Columbia servers. This may be important when traveling or working from home.

Requirements

This tutorial assumes Ubuntu or Debian derivatives. Your mileage may vary. You will need to have some proficiency with the terminal to follow.

Instructions

  1. Download the oldest Mac client from the official CUIT page. You will need your ID and password.

  2. The client comes as a .dmg file. Use the 7z utility to unpack by running 7z x vpnclient-XXXXXXXXXXXXXX-k9.dmg.

  3. cd into the resulting CiscoVPNClient/Profiles directory. Open Columbia VPN.pcf in your text editor.

  4. Note the encrypted enc_GroupPwd value which should be a long (100+ bytes) string. You will also need values from the Host and GroupName fields.

  5. Use the Cisco Vpnclient Password Decoder.† This should produce a short password that you should keep somewhere safe.

    †† Note that this step presents a minor security vulnerability, as you are potentially exposing the group password to third parties. Contact CUIT to request Linux VPN support today! Until they do, run the C script locally instead of using the web service.

  6. Install network-manager-vpnc or network-manager-vpnc-gnome depending on your distribution. In my case, I run "sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc-gnome`.

  7. Alternatively, sudo apt-get install vpnc for the command line version of the tool. Skip to Step 11.

  8. If you installed the network manager (nm) plugin, reboot. Left-click on the nm status icon, select vpn connections and configure vpn.

  9. Enter the value of host from Step 4 for gateway and your UNI and password for user name. Copy the group name from Step 4, and the decoded password for group password. Give the connection a reasonable name and save.

  10. In ipv4 settings click Routes and select "Ignore automatically obtained routes."

  11. You are all set! To use, left click on nm status, select vpn connections and click on name to connect. Look for a visual indication from nm to see if you are connected.

  12. Optionally, right click to edit connection and select "automatically connect to VPN when using this connection." You are done!

  13. If you went the command line route, edit /etc/vpnc/default.conf (create if needed) to include the following (without the squre brackets):

    IPSec gateway host [Host from Step 4]
IPSec id [groupname from Step 4]
IPSec secret [decrypted pass from Step 4]
Xauth username [your UNI]

    You can include your UNI password here, but it is not recommended to keep passwords in cleartext. For more information see here.

  14. Run sudo vpnc-connect and sudo vpnc-disconnect to operate. Look for tun when running sudo ifconfig to check for the connection. You are done!