Re: [Openvpn-users] Interaction with Windows VPN Server/Client

[bishop <bi...@pl...>]

Theepan wrote:
>>Theepan wrote:
>>
>>>Hello,
>>>
>>>Can OpenVPN for Linux connect to a Windows NT/2000 VPN Server, and vice
>>>versa - can a Windows VPN Client connect to OpenVPN?
>>
>>OpenVPN uses the Linux TunTap driver, version 1.1 for kernel 2.2 and
>>version 1.4 delivered with kernel 2.4 .
>>
>>The TUN interface has not been delivered for Windows.  There is an effort,
>>and the vtun-users or vtun-devel list tracks the progress.  Go search.
>>
>>The TUN device is a sub-project or co-project of the VTun project, which
> 
> is
> 
>>why it uses the same lists.
>>
> 
> Actually, that wasn'y my question - weither OpenVPN will be ported to
> Windows or not. The question was, is OpenVPN able to communicate and
> establish a VPN connection with other VPN products (such as Windows VPN
> clients, Cisco routers, etc.) or ONLY other OpenVPN's.
> 
> I don't know much about VPN, and maybe I was wrong asking the question, but
> I thought there existed some kind of standards (like RFC) describing how VPN
> connections are established and "used", just like FTP, WWW, IRC, you name
> it.

Oh!  I'm sorry!  Yes, I misunderstood, completely.  The common question I 
hear is "Will XX be ported to windows", and I made a bad guess.

To the best of my knowledge, no : OpenVPN may only, at this time, connect 
with other OpenVPN nodes.

Here's also what I have heard:

  - PPTP is a rather established protocol, although I've not seen the RFCs 
describing it.  I've linked Windows to Linux servers.

  - VTun is the other Tun-using implementation.  It's the closest to 
OpenVPN, but is not compatible.  VTun may also only connect to other VTuns.

  - IPSec hosts can, usually, connect to other IPSec hosts.  These include 
Cisco hardware, Win2k (I think that's the version), PIPSec under linux, 
FreeS/WAN under linux, several smaller VPN hardware devices and a few 
software implementations.

Note that some mangling is usually required, however.  For instance, 
FreeSWAN needs an optional x.509 patch before the windows IPSec will talk 
with it appropriately, I hear.  Also, the amoung of configuring is 
inversely proportional to how broad the support is - FreeSWAN, for 
instance, is far too complex for my little brain.  I tested a FreeSWAN 
kernel RPM with the help of a friend's comfig pair.

The PIPSec IPSec shows the most promise for getting OpenVPN to use IPSec. 
It's an older TUN-using user-space IPSec implementation that's been 
unsupported for about 3-4 years, from what I hear.

  - bish

-- 
	Excellent... rime ice, a summit ridge, small trees blanketed in
	snow and ice like legions of twisted killer mutant deranged snow
	goons.			-- Erick DeOliveira 20020208
  	 
		   Describing his first Winter Ascent