VPN connection between 2 computers

[jdvilla]

I have a computer that I want to access in a network somewhere...

Currently, the server is providing some services and only accepting connections to certain ip addresses of the people requesting the service.

I want to be able to provide a secure connection, preferrably a VPN. Am I able to set up a VPN connection between this linux server and Win 2000/XP clients? There's a router on this network, and sad to say, there isn't a firewall at all... so once the machines get their ip address from the router... they're open to the world... (doh!!!)

Ok, so you might ask, why if there isn't a firewall, would I want to even use a VPN... well, that's the only think I can think of right now to solve my issue...

my issue: I'm letting people map drives to some SMB shares I have (I know, not a good idea already). Well, it seems to be that an ISP, Comcast, doesn't allow usage on those ports...everyone connecting under that ISP, well, can't connect.

So, I figure, if I can use a VPN, then I can add VPN usage to the service that their ip addresses are allowed to use, and I wouldn't have to worry about Comcast allowing traffic on certain ports...

So, in summary, I've been looking at some VPN clients, but not sure which would best suite my need, if any...

thoughts?

[leonpmu]

use pptp-php-client

The url is pptpclient.sourceforge.net (http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net)

look on the left panel for your distro there is good info for nearly every major distro....

[Gertrude]

You may want to check out OpenVPN. Its easy to setup, and has clients for windows as well as *nix vairients. It will traverse though NATed environments without having to do any port forwarding.

[jymbo]

Originally posted by Gertrude
You may want to check out OpenVPN. Its easy to setup, and has clients for windows as well as *nix vairients. It will traverse though NATed environments without having to do any port forwarding.

Agree...I use OpenVPN here on my LAN...I've connected my LAN with a buddy in Asia, and I also have a VPN connection for when I'm on the road. Very easy to set-up and supports both Windows as well as Linux clients.

And yeah, it traverses NATed firewalls, so you don't need to purchase the more pricey "VPN Internet Service" sold at most hotels (they give you a public IP).

Here is the howto I used to set it up. (http://openvpn.sourceforge.net/papers/openvpn-101.pdf)