Network Manager

The easiest openvpn client is network-manager. If you are using Ubuntu run:

# aptitude install network-manager-openvpn
# restart network-manager

• Now click on the network-manager applet, select configure VPN, and setup a new open-vpn connection.
• Set the gateway to you server
• Set the type to Password
• Point your CA to a copy of your server’s ca.crt and everything should just work

Everything Else

Linux, Windows and OSX all have ports of OpenVPN, and I have setup the client on each of them. Unless you want to pay for Viscosity on the mac, the chances are you will need a client configuration file.

Attached is a simple client configuration file that will work. Edit it to match your server’s settings where appropriate. You will need this and your ca.crt in the same directory. On Windows the file extenion is “.ovpn”. On linux my file is called /etc/openvpn/client.conf

##############################################
# Sample client-side OpenVPN 2.0 config file.
# for connecting to multi-client server.
##############################################

# Specify that we are a client and that we
# will be pulling certain config file directives
# from the server.
client

dev tun
proto udp

# The hostname/IP and port of the server.
remote my-server-2.domain 1194

# host name of the OpenVPN server.  Very useful
# on machines which are not permanently connected
# to the internet such as laptops.
resolv-retry infinite

# Most clients don't need to bind to
# a specific local port number.
nobind

# Try to preserve some state across restarts.
persist-key
persist-tun

# Certificate Authority
ca ca.crt

# Username/Password authentication is used on the server
auth-user-pass

# Verify server certificate by checking
# that the certicate has the nsCertType
# field set to "server".  This is an
# important precaution to protect against
# a potential attack discussed here:
#  http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm
#
# To use this feature, you will need to generate
# your server certificates with the nsCertType
# field set to "server".  The build-key-server
# script in the easy-rsa folder will do this.
ns-cert-type server

# Set log file verbosity.
verb 3

On linux to start the openvpn client simply type:
# openvpn -config /etc/openvpn/client.conf

To manage the connection on Windows I would suggest using OpenVPN GUI. And either tunnelblick, or Viscosity (non-free) on OSX.

I found this: http://www.andrewgrant.org/2008/03/30/how-to-sync-an-iphone-with-two-or-more-computers.html

http://www.anomalousanomaly.com/2008/10/31/triple-booting-your-mac/

But in a hybrid network of Windows and Macs it makes good sense and allows you to create PDF files from any program on a Windows PC. Just use CUPS-PDF to setup a PDF virtual printer on a Mac, and share the printer.

Now every Windows PC on the network can create PDF files printing to this shared printer.

The install was easy enough, and the drivers being included on the leopard disk means everything runs smoothly. I think the best hardware for running windows on is a mac.

Of course then there were gigabytes of updates to download, and I needed a virus scanner (AVG is acceptable and free). Then IE7 and firefox to download, I think it took me half a day to get setup. It took me another half a day to realise what a bad choice I had made.

My macbook running OSX is fast and stable. I rarely have a crash, startup is quick, and though not lightning, most applications start quickly and the computer always seems responsive. Now in XP, I didn’t have a Vista disk handy, my computer became a steaming pile of poo to use.

My fresh install was slow and unreliable and plain and simple frustrating. So I spent a day getting what I need from the playstation store and then I reclaimed my disk space.

If you really think Windows compares you haven’t given Mac a fair go, or simply have no taste.

I wanted to use the Playstation Store today, and you need to install a download manager to get the games on to the PSP.  And of course it runs on Windows only. I can’t find a way around it. Codeweavers may work, I haven’t tried.

After 6 months I have given 5gb of disk to Bootcamp and windows. I have given up my ideals for Crash Team Racing. I am a cheap and dirty tramp. 

There are some fixes. See: http://allinthehead.com/retro/218/accessing-a-windows-2003-share-from-os-x. But I am not the Domain admin, and the change was refused.

I was hoping that Leopard’s implementation of Samba would fix the problem, but in the list of 300 improvements, samba was not mentioned. Anyway, my first time in the office in the 2 weeks since Leopard’s release, and it works! I can interact with the windows network seamlessly. I guess if it’s not one of the 300 new features it’s one of the +’s.

Either way I am happy, whether it was deliberate in the apple’s implementation of Samba, or simply a feature of the newer version included in Leopard, it works.