Setting up VPN

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Level 1

11 points

Setting up VPN

Hey,

I have been wanting to establish my own personal VPN for some time now. Note: I am relatively speaking technologically savvy, but lack in various instances of wireless terms, so I'd appreciate patience.

I just purchased OS X Mavericks Server with the intent of creating a VPN. I have, so far, enabled VPN with the host name [my-Computer-Name].local and my own personal shared secret. I want to set up a L2TP and PPTP VPN because some wireless access points restrict access to one or the other. I have added myself as Administrator of my personal server. I have also enabled profile manager, and installed my iPhone as a device under my administrator account using my IMEI. I then set up the VPN on my iPhone using the administrator username and password [my computer account name and password], and the correct shared secret, with the correct server. It does appear to connect, but is denied due to "Authentification Error." I also would appreciate some advice on how to connect remotely on a different wireless access point. I am aware that I'd have to purchase my own domain.

Thanks,

Jacob Alford

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), Early 2011, 15"

Posted on Nov 1, 2013 8:17 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Jim Putnam

Level 1

25 points

Nov 1, 2013 9:05 PM in response to Jacob Alford

I've been on the same quest. Unfortunately, the L2TP VPN service in the latest version of Server (3.0) is broken. Apparently one can revert to the Mt. Lion racoon (VPN) underlying code but the real answer should come RSN with a new Apple rev that addresses this bug.

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Answer 2

Jacob Alford Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 1, 2013 9:27 PM in response to Jim Putnam

Thanks for the reply! Also, how do I know if my iPhone is set up as a proper device? Also, the authentification is the computer account username and password right? [The same one as under the 'users' panel of the server app]

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Answer 3

Nov 1, 2013 9:33 PM in response to Jacob Alford

You'll know for sure when the VPN connects ;-) Yes the username and password should be the same. Getting the shared secret right for L2TP is important but none of this matters until Apple fixes it. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5471582?answerId=23592433022#23592433022&ac_cid=tw123456#23592433

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Answer 4

Jacob Alford Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 1, 2013 9:39 PM in response to Jim Putnam

I guess we're going to have to wait for the update then :-)

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Answer 5

Nov 2, 2013 8:10 AM in response to Jacob Alford

FWIW(1): Consider migrating your local DNS out of .local, as trying to mix local DNS and Bonjour has a history of causing problems.

FWIW(2): I usually run VPN servers at the gateway, as that avoids the problems that can arise with getting the VPN through NAT. It also means I'm not tied to OS X Server, nor to having a particular host active on the target network. VPNs and NAT work at cross-purposes, and do not always work entirely as desired.

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