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I just subscribed and installed RedHat Enterprise Desktop 6 a few days ago.  My goal to evaluate using Linux as platform for supporting MS networks.  One of the primary tools I need is VPN of the PPTP variety.  I am unable to configure VPN in Linux Ent Desktop.  The Add button the VPN tab of Network Connections panel is greyed out.  I have add NetworkManager using Yum (at least, I think I used Yum.)  I can see in Add/Remove that "VPN -PPTP" is enabled..  I tried disabling the PPTP component then re-enabling followed by reboot each time.   Did not help.

 

I would greatly appreciate any help I can get on this.  Very frustrating that in Ubuntu I can do this in five minutes. 

 

Thank you,

M~

vc
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Responses

DK Red Hat Active Contributor 209 points
11 April 2011 2:05 AM

Hi Malcolm,

 

RHEL does not provide/support vpn clients in the media. so, need to download it from third party vendors.

 

One possible way is to use EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository.

 

Following is a possible way to use VPN in RHEL box.

 

 

1. Config the repository setting and make yum to search/install the packages in EPEL repository.

 

[root@test ~]# rpm -Uvh http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-5.noarch.rpm

 

2. Install the relevant packages by running yum

 

[root@test ~]# yum install vpnc

 

3. Check the icon and you can find a sub menu "VPN Connections" is avtive now and you can configure the VPN site.

 

4. Click the icon of NetworkManager and choose the VPN site under sub menu "VPN Connections". A successful info will popped up if everything is ok.

 

Cheers,

Daniel

andriusb's picture Red Hat Guru 3695 points
11 April 2011 2:42 PM

It doesn't sound like you have the NetworkManager VPN plugin for vpnc installed, if you are connecting to a Cisco concentrator. Once you add the EPEL repo,

# yum install NetworkManager-vpnc

NOTE: The EPEL packages are unsupported from Red Hat.

 

Some more resources in KBASE:

 

How do I use Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL)?

 

How can I add a new yum repository as a source to install software? (can also apply to RHEL 6)

vc Community Member 78 points
13 April 2011 8:11 AM

Thanks Daniel for the assist.  I will try this when I return home on Thursday.  Will let you know how it worked.

 

Malcolm

DK Red Hat Active Contributor 209 points
13 April 2011 8:34 AM

Hi Malcom,

 

Hope your good luck. ;)

 

- Daniel

vc Community Member 78 points
14 April 2011 6:55 AM

 

Daniel,

 

The first command completed successfully.  When I ran the second command to install -vpnc I received the response that follows --

 
 
 



Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: poptop-stable. Please verify its path and try again.
 
 

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Malcolm

DK Red Hat Active Contributor 209 points
14 April 2011 8:34 AM

Hi Malcom,

 

I assumed your machine is 64bit. Can I see what is the result of 'uname -a' command?

Seems there's some problem in mirroring information also.

 

Could you try Andrius's suggestion as well? Especially the following link would be helpful in your case.

 

How can I add a new yum repository as a source to install software? (can also apply to RHEL 6)

 

Regards,

Daniel

vc Community Member 78 points
14 April 2011 4:55 PM

Hi Daniel,

 

My computer is actually a 32 Bit machine.  However, I received same error when attempting to apply updates that were advertised to my current build.  I'm on the road today.  Will apply your suggestions this evening and report back to you about 9:00 PM Pac time.

 

Have a great day.

M~

vc Community Member 78 points
15 April 2011 1:56 AM

Hi Daniel,

 

Here's answer to your uname command question ...

 

[root@serenity ~]# uname -a
Linux serenity.vcitsupport 2.6.32-71.24.1.el6.i686 #1 SMP Sat Mar 26 15:30:33 EDT 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
 
M~
vc Community Member 78 points
15 April 2011 1:56 AM

Hi Daniel,

 

Here's answer to your uname command question ...

 

[root@serenity ~]# uname -a
Linux serenity.vcitsupport 2.6.32-71.24.1.el6.i686 #1 SMP Sat Mar 26 15:30:33 EDT 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
 
M~
DK Red Hat Active Contributor 209 points
15 April 2011 5:36 AM

Hi Malcolm,

 

I checked the epel repo with RHEL6 and it seems have a problem in mirroring list.

I installed vpnc for RHEL5 in RHEL6 machine and it seems work well.

 

Please try following method to make a repo for EPEL.

 

https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-9955

 

It's for RHEL5 but that looks working properly in RHEL6 as well.

 

Regards,

Daneil

vc Community Member 78 points
16 April 2011 10:46 PM

Hi Daniel,

 

I decided to do fresh install to make sure none of playing around may have caused a problem.  I will do as you suggeested.

 

Thanks for going the extra mile by checking the mirror source.  I hadn't suspected the source.  Will update you tomorrom, late morning (Sunday -800 GMT).

 

M~

vc Community Member 78 points
17 April 2011 4:55 AM

Daniel,

 

Dude, you'd be proud of me.  Got the rebuild completed along with the re-registration process, etc ...  I have the epel repo built.  Just ran the Yum List command to confirm (got error msg here previously.)  Looks great so far.  Will try VPN after I tuck the kid in.

 

M~

vc Community Member 78 points
17 April 2011 8:00 PM

My situation has progressed (see thread.)  The repo is active.  I am now able to apply updates without encountering any error messages.  The "Add" button on the NetworkManager VPN applet is enabled.  However, PPTP is not a choice.  Only IPSEC.  Add/Remove program shows PPTP is installed.  As I am writing this I realize the PPTP listed in Add/Remove is version 6.  I used EPEL for RHEL5 as was suggested to resolve repo problem with version 6 mirror.   Could this have anything to do with failure to see PPTP as a VPN option?

 

Please don't be shy with input.  Thank you,

 

Malcolm 

ir. Jan Gerrit Kootstra's picture Guru 12826 points
18 April 2011 4:32 AM

Malcom,

 

 

You switched to epel5, this may have caused some problems due to different versions of dynamic libraries used by the software.

 

I would suggest trying epel6 again. Let's find out what is/was wrong with your local mirror.

 

 

I checked and in the Netherlands vpn software from epel6 is available.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Jan Gerrit Kootstra

vc Community Member 78 points
18 April 2011 5:47 AM

Hi Jan,

 

Thanks for the response.  As a newbie to Redhat/Linux I still learning the command structure.  How would I know the path to access the Netherlands epel 6 resources?

 

M~

RB Community Member 80 points
11 January 2012 1:26 AM

I've been using RHEL for a few weeks now and I'm seeing the phase "Redhat does not support ..." a lot. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't make a bad choice.