Topic: Connecting to e-smith server via VPN problems

[Andrew]

I was hoping someone can help me please as I have run out of ideas of what I may be doing wrong when it all should seem so simple

I have recently setup a server running e-smith 4.1.2 (server and gateway - dedicated) connected to the internet by an ADSL connection. I have enabled PPTP with 5 clients (this can be dropped back to 2) on the server side and I am trying to connect to the e-smith server through a VPN connection under Win2K SP2 from the NT University where I work.  There is no firewall in place between the two systems. I set up the VPN connection through the simple setup under Win2K and then try to connect. I keep getting a "Error 678: There was no answer" response on the Win2K system.

When I run TCPDUMP on a seperate Linux system and monitor the connection between the two systems I get the following report:

16:56:47.402283 ppp0 < *****.ntu.edu.au.1209 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723: S 2092300627:2092300627(0) win 16384 (DF)
16:56:47.402360 ppp0 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723 > *****.ntu.edu.au.1209: R 0:0(0) ack 2092300628 win 0
16:56:48.114074 ppp0 < *****.ntu.edu.au.1209 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723: S 2092300627:2092300627(0) win 16384 (DF)
16:56:48.114140 ppp0 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723 > *****.ntu.edu.au.1209: R 0:0(0) ack 1 win 0
16:56:48.879317 ppp0 < *****.ntu.edu.au.1209 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723: S 2092300627:2092300627(0) win 16384 (DF)
16:56:48.879379 ppp0 > *****.*****.bigpond.net.au.1723 > *****.ntu.edu.au.1209: R 0:0(0) ack 1 win 0

which shows it is trying to talk. I have tried connecting using both a user account and the admin account but to no avail. Can anyone please supply a suggestion as to what I am doing wrong or what I could try?

Thanks,
Andrew.

[Dan]

I have also been having no luck establishing a PPTP connection to version 4.1.2 (running in server-only mode).  

If you haven't seen it yet (maybe it's not applicable to your situation), there is a bug fix for PPTP-VPN on the e-smith.org site, for server-only installs.  That didn't solve my problem (I believe that I have now implemented the fix correctly).

I confirmed that I have 128 bit enctyption on my NT 4 machine (SP6a).  I have opened port 1723 and allowed PPTP and IPSec pass through on my Linksys router (latest firmware upgrade completed).  A port scan shows 1723 is open.    

I have also tried both user and admin accounts and neither works.  

Sorry that I haven't offered any help, beyond the bug fix suggestion.  I am also looking for a solution to the e-smith server not responding to PPTP.

[Andrew Roberts]

I was having the same problem and I found the info in message:

http://e-smith.org/bboard/read.php?f=3&i=3922&t=3917

helped quite a bit.

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andrew]

Thanks, Andrew.

After reading that thread and checking the module listing using LSMOD I found that pppd module was not installed. So I installed it and after playing with the Win2K configurations on the client side, worked like a dream.

Now if I can just get Win2K to stop trying to route my email through the VPN connection that's been created I'll be set

If you want some good documentation on this for future reference please have a look at http://poptop.lineo.com/help.html which I found after some exhaustive searching.

[Dan]

Thanks for the info, Andrew.  I also was lacking the module.  Unfortunately, installing it didn't solve my problems completely.