vpn - cisco ssl anyconnect client - unable to tunnel browser connections
2013-10
user1489048
My institution uses a cisco ssl vpn which I connect to with anyconnect secure mobility client.
I have a server running sshd and r-studio server at the institution, which is only accessible from on-site or VPN ip addresses.
When logged into the vpn with anyconnect from home, I can ssh to the server, but cannot access the r-studio server through my web browser with port 8787 (default rstudio www-port). I have also tried changing the r-studio www-port to 80 with no luck.
Pretty much anything through a browser isn't tunneled through the VPN.
How can I access this and other services through my institution's vpn from my web browser?
Thanks!
maxwellb
This will vary depending on the network and route settings for your organization. Cisco and other VPNs advertise certain routes to connected clients. It sounds like the DNS to resolve the r-studio server, or the r-studio server itself, is not on a route advertised by the VPN. When troubleshooting with your system administration team, they may ask you to try to connect by the IP address of the server (do you know this?) or ping the server, or telnet to the server and port combination. In the end, this sounds like a configuration problem that you will need organizational support to resolve.
Make sure that you only have one connection active, and are not on any home networks with a similar IP address to the r-studio one. If an advertised route conflicts with a route to your home router, there might be a conflict. Try changing the IP range offered by your home router, and check for any other virtual networks, such as from virtual machines.
EDIT: I also notice you drew particular attention to the browser. "Anything through a browser" isn't working. By the same principles, check your browser's Proxy setting. If you have previously been accessing a proxy, that proxy may no longer be on an available network. If this is the case, you'll have to change your browser settings not to use a proxy when connected to the VPN.
And remember: Don't Panic.
Oliver Hanappi
I don't know if it is possible but I would like to configure a Windows 7 VPN connection in a way that I can connect to a network which I normally reach by using Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client. Does Cisco use a protocol which Windows 7 understands also and where can I find the configuration details of the VPN connection?
If you wonder why I'm trying to do this: I need to connect via VPN to several different networks from different companies/organizations/universities and each one uses its own VPN client. I don't want my computer to have 5 VPN clients installed, therefore I'm trying to replace them with simple Windows VPN connections.
Joey
That greatly depends on the configuration of the server. Cisco Concentrators can speak PPTP which works on nearly every version of Windows, but it's costly in terms of performance. The number of possible connections drops to about a tenth for the server so this is rarely activated.
Furthermore there seems to be an option to enable L2TP. The documentation states that but at least for our university here no one figured out how to enable it and set it up.
You would have to ask the person maintaining the server whether one of the above options apply.
For the "usual" Cisco IPSec over UDP there is no native option in Windows, unfortunately.