[d0ct0rteeth]

How do I VPN in to my Office Windows Network using my Powerbook?

I can connect to the server, but I cant see the network (where are my files?)

Can you connect on a Mac? Can you "map a network drive" ?

- Doc

[larkost]

What sort of VPN? If it is run by a Windows server then it is probably PPtP and you just use internet Connect (it is in Applications) to setup a connection.

... but from the rest of your question I get the idea that you are a bit confused about what a VPN is. What exactly are you trying to do? Are you just trying to do filesharing? If so then "Connect to Server" in the Finder's Go menu, or the Network icon in the Finder sidebar might be what you are looking for? For the former you need to have the proper URL (something like smb://ip-address/sharename possibly with more for username and password). You can even save this as a favorite in the Connect-to dialog. Sadly, you have to be a bit more creative with SMB shares, as the auto-mount system s a bt buggy with them, but there are a few hints over at MacOS X Hints on this subject.

Oh... and one more hint, just in case there really is a VPN involved... most VPN servers do not pass broadcast packets (performance and looping reasons), so you won't see the network shares in the Network Browser. You will have to manually go to each address.

[olePigeon]

Depends on the VPC. Novel and Cisco have their own proprietary VPN clients. Well, proprietary encryption for the VPN.

[d0ct0rteeth]

no success either by internet connect or "connect to server" from the "go menu"

I can connect to the server via "internet connect" but it just says "connected to XX.XX.XX.XX, and connect time XX.XX.XX"

This is the info that works on PPTP

serveraddress: corp.companyname.com
accountname: username
password: password

However I cant browse to see the files. We do have a cisco firewall (i believe a pics 550) however all the PC guys just go right thru windows and dont use a Cisco client.

[larkost]

Once again... I don't think you understand what a VPN is... you need to first connect to the network with Internet Connect, then you need to connect to the individual server. Just like you would on a Windows box. It is not an either or thing. Your biggest problem seems to be that you don't fundamentally understand what you are doing. Without that the details are unimportant.

Oh... and with PPtP it does not matter that the firewall is made by Cisco. That would only matter if you were connecting with Cisco's proprietary implementation of IPSec. PPtP may be the least secure VPN in existence with the most inconsistent growth path imaginable, but Microsoft at least made sure that everyone agreed on how to implement each version, so there is not the fragmentation that is abundant with IPSec implementations.

PS... I hope you are just being silly on the username/password info. And assuming so, how more pointless could it have been to list it? How does that help us troubleshoot?

[zzarg]

Under Internet Connect there is a "VPN (PPTP)" option.
You would have to enter the server details there (these are the settings for the VPN server, not the one you want to list files on)
Supply those details and connect. Note: if you need to dial up or whatever first you should do that *before* starting the VPN session - it needs an existing connection to operate over
Once connected you can then use the Finder to connect to a network server - you'll have to enter any local network credentials here if you have to log on to specific drives or directories.

One thing to be aware of - the standard VPN solution assumes you're going to route all traffic over the remote gateway... so if traffic is blocked you may not be able to browse the web, get external email or use IM clients until you disconnect. The VPN solution does support it (apparently) - but I've not got it working yet ! DigiTunnel apparently solves this problem, but I've not tried it yet