2010-10-06 // VPN KIT (former Uni Karlsruhe): use it with Ubuntu Linux

Connecting to university VPNs is always… fun. This is also true for the KIT VPN, especially because there is so much outdated information out there. E.g. there is no more Cisco compatible endpoint¹⁾ but tons of vpnc tutorials! You have to use the Juniper Networks software jnc now.

However… it worked after all. The IT guys were friendly enough to put helpful information at the online help. But to make it even easier, here are a my hints to get the KIT University Karlsruhe VPN connection running:

1. Make sure you got a working Java RE. I used sun-java6-jre, therefore I don't know if it runs with OpenJDK.
2. If you are running a 64bit Ubuntu,²⁾ you need some 32bit wrapper libraries for jnc:

   sudo apt-get install libc6-i386 lib32z1 lib32nss-mdns

3. Open a terminal, download and untar the jnc archive the KIT VPN help provides for Linux:

   cd ~
   wget https://www.scc.kit.edu/scc/sw/juniper/7.0/linux_vpn_7.0.tar.gz

4. Extract the archive and remove it afterwards:

   tar -xzf linux_vpn_7.0.tar.gz
   rm linux_vpn_7.0.tar.gz

5. There should be a juniper_linux directory within your home dir now. Change into it and run the included vpn-install.sh script:

   cd ~/juniper_linux
   ./vpn-install.sh

   Simply follow the instructions (e.g. you have to enter your RZ username).

6. Make sure jnc is executable:

   sudo chmod a+xr /usr/local/bin/jnc

7. You can remove the temporary juniper_linux directory now:

   rm -rf ~/juniper_linux

   That's it.

To establish the connection, open a terminal and type jnc -n kit. The program should start and prompt you for your account's password. Example output:

user@computer:~$ jnc -n kit
Server certificate verified and CN is vpn.kit.edu. Saving in /home/user/.juniper_networks/network_connect/config/vpn.kit.edu.der.
Password: 
Connecting to vpn.kit.edu : 443.
Waiting for ncsvc for 3 seconds... done
ncsvc is running, but tunnel is not established yet. Waiting for 3 seconds... done.
ncsvc is running in background (PID: 2448):
tunnel interface tun0, addr: 141.3.193.37

You can use jnc stop to close the VPN connection. Example output:

user@computer:~$ jnc stop
ncsvc is running, sending signal... terminated.
user@computer:~$

2011-10-25: Updated the installation instructions, there is a new VPN software version (7.0).