Re: [gnome-network]Re: gnome-network VPN client

[Rodrigo Moya <rodrigo gnome-db org>]

On Mon, 2003-10-27 at 12:29, Paul Coates wrote:
> On Sun, 2003-10-26 at 11:46, Rodrigo Moya wrote:
> > On Sat, 2003-10-25 at 14:24, Paul Coates wrote:
> > > Rodrigo,
> > > 
> > > I was wondering if there were any plans down the road for VPN client
> > > software in gnome-network?
> > >
> > we have talked somewhat about it, but nothing really clear has come out
> > of that. But yes, I suppose we really want to have that in
> > gnome-network.
> > 
> > >  I recently wrote a very simple GTK2 client
> > > program for our users, replacing the pptp-php-gtk package at
> > > http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net/ which uses gtk 1.x
> > > 
> > > I'm guessing that the need for the kernel module providing MPPE
> > > encryption will be a problem.
> > > 
> > > My program is very simple as all the options are preset so our users
> > > don't have to do any configuration themselves, but I was planning on
> > > developing the software further to provide full functionality provided
> > > by pptpclient. (I've got screenshots on my test web server at
> > > http://linux.ncl.ac.uk/vpn/new.php)
> > > 
> > > Is this the sort of thing you would be interested in or do you have your
> > > own plans for VPN including IPSec etc.
> > > 
> > yes, we want this. Although I suppose we want more than a simple client
> > program. I am not an expert at all on VPN, so excuse me if I'm wrong,
> > but I think what we want is some sort of integration into the login
> > system, don't we? That is, we could have the GDM login screen allow
> > login into the VPN directly. Or am I wrong, and just the client program
> > is enough?
> > 
> > What are your thoughts on that?
> 
> My experience with VPN's is limited to connecting to our Microsoft VPN
> servers using PPTP and MPPE encryption...
> 
> I always considered VPN to be similar to dialup, both provide a new
> network interface with an IP address on the remote network, and you need
> to setup your routing to play nice with the other network interfaces.
>
hmm, ok.

> Following that thinking the best way to to start a VPN connection is the
> same way as a dialup connection. Yes this could be automated in some way
> using a logon script if you have a real network connection, but what if
> you want to switch to another VPN server or start a second VPN
> connection to another remote network.
> 
right. Does all this need root access, or can any user start VPN
connections without root access?

> Another problem I am having now that I've started thinking more about
> this, do we want to limit who on a computer can use a VPN connection and
> if so how do we do that (connection sharing). Do we allow multiple users
> to start and modify a VPN's settings?
> 
hmm, this sounds a lot like ppp connection setup, which we dropped in
favor of having it in gnome-system-tools (a more admin-like set of
tools). If users need root access, and things work as other network
interfaces, this sounds much better to be implemented in
gnome-system-tools.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I have never used a VPN, so I dont know
what I'm talking about :-)

cheers