How-To: Connect to a Cisco VPN with Ubuntu using Vpnc

I have seen a lot of posts out there about people having headaches connecting to Cisco VPNs using the Cisco VPN Client, mostly because they have trouble compiling it in Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. I recommend using the open source alternative vpnc. Vpnc works with the following according to the previous link:

• Cisco VPN concentrator 3000 Series
• Cisco IOS routers
• Cisco PIX / ASA Zecurity Appliances
• Juniper/Netscreen

Supported Authentications: Pre-Shared-Key + XAUTH, Pre-Shared-Key
Supported IKE DH-Groups: dh1 dh2 dh5
Supported Hash Algo (IKE/IPSEC): md5 sha1
Supported Encryptions (IKE/IPSEC): (null) (1des) 3des aes128 aes192 aes256
Perfect Forward Secrecy: nopfs dh1 dh2 dh5

If your workplace or school has given you .pcf file to use with your vpn, it shouldn’t be too hard to get you on your vpn:

1. Install the vpnc client: In the terminal enter “sudo apt-get install vpnc.” Or use the synaptic package manager.
2. Save this script to your hard drive without any extension (Such as .html). (This script was written by Stefan Tomanek, and updated by Wolfram Sang.)
3. Make the script executable by navigating to the directory you saved it in the terminal and type “chmod +x pcf2pvnc“.
4. Copy your pcf file to the directory of that script, in the terminal enter “./pcf2pvnc YourPcfFile.pcf NewPvncFile.conf” substituting YourPcfFile.pcf and NewPvncFile.conf with the appropriate file names for your files.
5. Finally, in the terminal enter “sudo vpnc NewPvncFile.conf“. If all goes well it will connect to your vpn server and ask you for your user name and password.