The outside world can then not 'see in' (though the people on the local network can generally see out!). The people running these networks do not want the public (that is, the rest of the internet) to have access to their local network - considered private - so they secure it. Many companies and universities (and some home users) run a 'local area network' (LAN) in their buildings, where many computers are connected together so that employees or students can share resources (printers, shared files, etc.). This section is very introductory, and if you know what a VPN is, you can skip it. Certainly, if you want to cut to the chase, head for part 2! If you are familiar with VPN and the vagaries of how things work on modern computers (and particularly on Linux) you can skip it. If you are familiar with VPN connections under Microsoft Windows, you might still benefit from reading this section. If the above step leaves you with no internet connection at all, replace the original file and reboot.Backup /etc/network/interfaces to /etc/network/interfaces.original.ĭelete all lines from /etc/network/interfaces not including the string 'lo' (leaving two lines, probably the first two, beginning auto and iface).If your new connection is greyed out and unselectable, or all you see is Manual Configuration.: Left click the network manager applet and select VPN Connections then click on your connection to connect.

There may be another icon that looks similar to this, which will bring up a dialog 'Connection Properties' if you left click it - this is not the one you want. Left click the network manager applet (two monitor screens one behind the other probably in the bottom right of your screen) and select VPN Connections-> Configure VPN-> Add, then enter your connection details. Install the plug-in for your connection type - either network-manager-pptp, network-manager-vpnc (Cisco) or network-manager-openvpn (use Synaptic Package Manager or apt-get).

Install Network Manager Applet through the Add/Remove in the Ubuntu menu.

Obtain your connection type (currently available are Microsoft PPTP, Cisco, or OpenVPN) and authentication details from your VPN administrator.

If not, the remainder of this document will walk you through the process in more detail, and hopefully will help you get sorted! If you are lucky, you will be able to get connected using the instructions in this section. There is also information available on how to set up a VPN server. It describes connecting to a VPN as a client. This document was originally written for Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft), running the GNOME desktop, by freeatlast.

Automatically starting your VPN connection on log-in.

Configuring a connection (VPN Management).

Installing and managing a VPN connection.

Checkpoint ubuntu vpn client