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VPNs on Mac OS9 or OSX?

Posted by Cliff on from the choosing-the-right-software dept.

$hy_guy asks: "I hope you guys can give me a hand here. I wanted to purchase a new Power Book but I want to be able to still connect to my office via a VPN connection. I am not going into why I'm going to purchase a Power Book but I'm looking for some solutions. Is there anything available for OS9 or OSX, I would assume that there would be a better possiblitiy with OSX. I also rather not run a Windows emulator within OS9 or OSX to do this."

8 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Vtun -- runs on FreeBSD, maybe OSX? by Tet · · Score: 2
    Vtun could be an option.

    Unlikely. The original request was to be able to connect to the existing office VPN. That almost certainly means a Cisco VPN using IPsec, and Vtun doesn't do IPsec.

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    "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
  2. OS X has ssh2 out of the box. by hatless · · Score: 2

    Mac OS X, bless its BSD heart, includes an ssh implementation. When you turn on the telnet daemon, it also turns on sshd. It was one of many pleasant surprises.

    It would have been helpful if the poster of the original item had mentioned wht kind of VPN they wanted to set up. ssh? PPTP? Something else entirely?

  3. SSH Tunnels by HerrNewton · · Score: 2

    MacSSH now supports SSH2 and port forwarding, and it's a snap to set-up. Under MacOS X, you should b eable to do it right from the terminal. (Std. disclaimer: I'm a graphic designer.)

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    Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
  4. Vtun -- runs on FreeBSD, maybe OSX? by 1010011010 · · Score: 2
    Vtun could be an option.

    From the FAQ:


    1.9 What platforms are supported by VTun ?
    VTun was developed on Linux and then ported to several other OS:

    Linux (any glibc based distribution)
    Solaris
    FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and other BSD clones.


    I think Darwin, and therefore OSX, is FreeBSD-based, so vtun might work. Don't know how Mach would play into it, though...


    - - - - -
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    Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
  5. Sure! by bconway · · Score: 3

    If the commercial VPN software that currently exists for OS 9.1 doesn't exist of OS X, it soon will be. Alternatively, if you're feeling adventurous, you can always grab one of the free projects out there and compile your own. You'd be amazed at how much faster Samba works under OS X than the Apple equivalent for SMB sharing.

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    Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
  6. OS X is BSD so... by cperciva · · Score: 2

    You should probably be able to use more or less any BSD VPN daemon. A quick search of FreeBSD's ports collection finds vpnd as an example. While it only officially supports linux and FreeBSD I don't expect you'd have much trouble porting it to OS X.

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    Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
  7. SSH + PPP? by bruckie · · Score: 2
    Assuming that OS X is fairly similar to Unix, and assuming you have control over both the client and server, you could just set up a PPP session through an SSH tunnel with routing on both ends.

    Check the Linux VPN HOWTO for details.

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    There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
  8. TunnelBuilder by update() · · Score: 4
    I've never tried it but at my work they distribute TunnelBuilder to Mac users who want to VPN. It runs on OS 9 - I don't know what the OS X status is.

    As always, a simple Google search turns up plenty of alternatives. (Ashley Laurent, IntraPort, a Cisco OS X client.) As frequently happens, it doesn't seem like the questioner did the slightest homework before coming here.

    Unsettling MOTD at my ISP.