Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of ashokpappu
ashokpappu

asked on

cisco VPN client On linux

hi

I am trying to connect to my work from home via cisco VPN client. It works great on windows But I am trying to connect via Linux. I was able to install Cisco Systems VPN Client Version 3.6.3  on my redhat 9 Kernel and start the service when I try to connect the my work I am getting this error Message.

[apappu@localhost vpnclient]$ ./vpnclient connect company.pfc
Cisco Systems VPN Client Version 3.6.3 (Rel)
Copyright (C) 1998-2002 Cisco Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Client Type(s): Linux
Running on: Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp #1 SMP Tue Apr 13 17:40:10 EDT 2004 i686
 
Enter a group name: radius
Enter a group password:
Initializing the VPN connection.
Failed to contact the security gateway.

I made sure that I disabled my firewall. So what is going on here any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ashok Pappu
SOLUTION
Avatar of grblades
grblades
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of MrYowler
MrYowler

*===================================================*
* SOMEONE EMPLOY ME!!  MY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE RUNS OUT SOON!!!  *
*                     Contact me at mryowler at cyberarmy dot com                           *
*                                                                                                                   *
*                        I deserve better than starvation and death!                              *
*===================================================*





There is a high probability that vpnclient is attempting to connect to the wrong gateway server, or is doing so with a configuration which is preventing the connection attempt from succeeding.  What are you configured to connect to, and how?  What is the server configured to look for?

These are probably not questions that you should actually openly answer, in public discussion channels - but they are questions which you might want to ask yourself, if you haven't, already.

If you want to contact me directly, perhaps via email, with configuration specifics, I may be able to provide more specific help - but I think that if you look into these areas, that you will probably find where things are mismatched, for yourself.

Once you get it worked out, don't forget to restore your firewall setup.  Otherwise, you are just opening up a backdoor tunnel for intrusions into your corporate network...  :)



The Wiley CyberKitty

Avatar of ashokpappu

ASKER

I am sure this is connecting to the correct gateway because I can connect with the same profile via windows Machine. I copied the cpmpany.pfc files from windows to linux and am using the file to connect from linux.  So I dont think there should be any gateway Issues Please let me know if I am wrong
interesting...  It had occurred to me that the profile might have been copied to the worng place, or set up with ownership and access rights which made it unreadable to the vpnclient software, when you run it.  If you are relatively sure that this is not what's happening, then I defer to grblades.  We'd be guessing, as to what really *is* happening, and if you're fairly certain that you are hitting the right gateway, then there should be logs of the event, and what it found wrong with the access attempt, on that gateway.  You'll want to know what those logs have to say about your access attempt...  :-|


The Wiley CyberKitty


Interestingly In uninstalled the VPN client and  reinstalled it  and copied the profile to /etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles/ and changed the permissions 777 to the file in that directory.
Correct me If I am wrong

if the name of the pfc file is company.pfc my command should be

/usr/local/bin/vpnclient connect company.pfc

is this correct. if so I am getting this error Message

[apappu@localhost mydownloads]$ /usr/local/bin/vpnclient connect company.pfc
Cisco Systems VPN Client Version 3.6.3 (Rel)
Copyright (C) 1998-2002 Cisco Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Client Type(s): Linux
Running on: Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp #1 SMP Tue Apr 13 17:40:10 EDT 2004 i686
 
The profile specified could not be read.

the same thing is happening even if i run this as root
try specifying the full path to the config file, on the command line?

/usr/local/bin/vpnclient connect /etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles/company.pfc

I'll admit; it looks right...  But the single most frustrating thing in the world, in dealing with VPNs, is having trouble connecting to a server, such that the server shows no log entries, to help you to analyze the problem.  This typically happens when you aren't actually connecting to the server, to begin with, or when you are attempting to connect to a different server than you think that you are...

The error messge seems to indicate that this is likely to be the case for you...  :-|

yes I already tried that Still the same Message
already tried the command by specifying the full path still no use I am getting the same message
Here's a thought...  you copied it from DOS to linux, right?

Maybe the client is having problems reading the file, because it is still a DOS text file - carriage returns *and* line feeds at the end of each line, instead of just carriage returns...

Have you tried ftp'ing it to the server, as an ASCII file?  That should ensure that it gets formatted for the target operating system, and may make the file readable to vpnclient...


Just a thought, from the Wiley CyberKitty...  :)

 
dont think so because when I open with a the company.pfc editor I dont see any special characters at the end of lines
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
SOLUTION
Avatar of Tim Holman
Tim Holman
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
if you open the file in VI you would see the returns at the beginning of the line. I had some problems with this when I copied some awk script files over a few weeks back.
I manually type the file in Unix but it still cannot find the file.

Is there a default location the vpn client looks for. Also can come pne Please tell me if I need to specify the PFC extension when I use the vpn client

say for example which one is correct if the name of the PFC file is company1.pfc
1.  /usr/local/bin/vpnclient connect /etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles/company1.pfc

2.  /usr/local/bin/vpnclient connect /etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles/company1



is 1 correct or 2

Thanks
 Ashok Pappu
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
what is the status of this question... no response has been posted by the author in 2 months....

thanks
What is the status of this question, as it has been several months since the last post? If you have any questions on how to properly close a question, assistance can be found at https://www.experts-exchange.com/help.jsp#hs5