[Discuss] Juniper VPN's

[matt at mattshields.org (Matt Shields)]

I ended up telling them to open a ticket with Juniper and they were able to
get their web based vpn portal to work with OS X.  I guess it was an issue
where the web portal wasn't telling OS X browsers to launch java properly.

Matt

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Tom Metro <tmetro+blu at gmail.com> wrote:

> Matt Shields wrote:
> > Anyone using the Juniper SA series VPN's?
>
> We're working with a client that uses a Juniper VPN. (We hate
> proprietary VPNs. What's worse is they have it configured to prevent
> split networking.)
>
> We've found that there are per-user settings on the server side that
> controls what sort of client you are fed (Java) or what sort of
> connection it expects. With OS X you have a choice between the older
> Network Connect client and the newer Junos Pulse, which you mentioned.
> I'm pretty sure you can't arbitrarily switch between these on the client
> side. The server settings have to be switched to match.
>
> Similarly, we're using OpenConnect as the client on Linux machines, and
> before that would work our accounts needed to be switch to "Linux mode"
> as the Windows admin called it.
>
> According to what I've read, OpenConnect will run on OS X, and gives you
> a lot greater control over the connection (like the ability to force
> split networking). However, to get Juniper functionality working you
> really need to build the bleeding edge version of OpenConnect, and even
> then might still need to apply a patch posted to the OpenConnect mailing
> list. (We've been involved in a few threads on the list. I can send you
> a link to the patch if you need it.)
>
> The funny thing about these proprietary VPNs is that they give the
> perception of being easier to use for the non-techie Windows users, yet
> then tend to be significantly time consuming to work with for power
> users. Open source has taken over most fields. Why are VPNs still a
> holdout? Is there not a super easy OpenVPN client for Windows yet? I
> know there is commercial support for OpenVPN.
>
>  -Tom
>
> --
> Tom Metro
> The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA
> "Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting."
> http://www.theperlshop.com/
>