Using MacOS VPN Client from Vista

Hi all - I've got a VPN Client (Nortel's Contivity) running on my mac, and I'd like to somehow connect with it, then have my networking in Vista use the VPN. Is this possible? I figured if I used Parallel's *shared* networking that it would work, but nada.

Or do I just need to obtain a Vista-based VPN client..
Thanks
Bobski

 

What VPN client do you use exactly?

 

MaximS - it's Nortel Networks Contivity VPN Client V3.5 build 043D.20070207.1104.
It's also claimed by Apani Networks - not sure what the relationship is there. Quite an abstruse piece of software I must say.

I believe that if I used _bridged network_ (I physically have another wire through eth1 on my macpro to my router) and had an acceptable Vista VPN client under Vista I'd be OK - but I have yet to find a Vista VPN client either! The company's intranet I'm accessing doesn't support Vista yet so they don't provide one.

But all-in-all I'd rather just use the Contivity client if possible..

Thanks much!
Bobski

 

It will not work in Bridged Network mode due to IPsec protocol.
You should use a Shared Network instead. Have you already try it?

 

Right - sorry. I'm trying to put too much into each post. I'm quite sure I can make things work if I get a VPN Client for Vista and run it bridged. So forget that for now.

What I'm REALLY trying to do (original post) is run the VPN Client on the mac and use shared networking to get to the intranet under Vista under Parallels. No VPN client on Vista, just using the virtual connection on the mac.

And yes, I've tried that.

Thanks
Bob

 

I mean the same. Does it work OK?

 

OK, now we're getting somewhere, thanks! No, it doesn't work. However, _shared networking_ doesn't even work (even when the VPN client is not active on my mac). I hadn't tried this, since I always enabled shared, then fired up the VPN, then booted Vista. So I assume the first step is to get that working! Here's all I can tell you at the moment:

Under Networking on the Mac, there are 2 Parallels networks: Parallels Host-Guest and Parallels NAT. Both right now have self-assigned IP addresses (169..)

In the Parallels Configuration editor I have Network set as Shared, and both "Enabled" and "Connect cable at startup" are selected. Under "Advanced" the adapter setting is "Realtek 8029(AS)"

In Parallels preferences, network, both "Enable DHCP ..for shared" and "Enable DHCP ..for host-only" are checked, and both are filled with (I assume) default 10. addresses.

Thanks much for your patience
Bobski

FOLLOW UP:
I've successfully got Shared networking running (with a 10. IP address). Still can't access the Intranet through the VPN client though.

 

Have you correct IP address on guest Vista's virtual network adapter? It must be from the same IP network as Mac's Parallels NAT is.

 

Oh boy - remember you're talking with a Mac guy here. I'm windows-VPN-networking challenged. So do I need to set up another network connection (via Network and Sharing Center "set up a connection" wizard), and make it "connect to a workplace?" If so, what's the Internet address (the 10. of my mac host, or the IP address I'm trying to reach?)

If you're asking about the IP address of the *normal* network, then yes, it has the same subdomain - in fact, on the mac it's 10.211.55.4, and on the PC it's 10.211.55.5

I was hoping that if MacOS was connected to the VPN, then the guest Vista system would just access the intranet without having to know all this.. thanks for your patience!
Bob

 

I asked so many questions because we have not any problems with connecting Guest to Intranet throught the Mac's VPN clients. This works with help of Shared Networking mode perfectly. It is something wrong within your environment so I'd like to know what exactly is.

As I understand the Parallels NAT (that is really Shared Networking engine) was broken firstly. It is reasonable to reinstall the Parallels Desktop. If this will not help, please, tell your build number and Mac OS X version.

 

MaximS - well, it's encouraging that this is *supposed* to work. Sounds like perhaps it's my Vista configuration that's the issue(?). Is there any documentation that I should be reading to properly configure Vista?
Versions: Mac OS 10.5.1; Parallels 3.0 Build 5582 (I reinstalled yesterday when upgrading to 5582).

Thanks again
Bob

 

Bobski has brought up some good points.

 

MaximS - I still don't have a resolution to this. If I understand things, I should be able to enable my VPN Client under Mac OS, then using Shared Networking, any "normal" network access under Parallels would be through the VPN to my Intranet.

Unfortunately (after a bit of a break) this has become much more important.

When I bring up Parallels *without* the VPN Client enabled things work fine - I get a 10.211.55.x IP address (Parallels is set up with 10.211.55.1 as the DHCP host), and NETSTAT shows 3 connections through that address, and I have access to my ISP.

When I enable the VPN client, NETSTAT shows *nothing*, and the Vista Network & Sharing center shows an X to the Internet. The IP address is still a 10.211.55.x address. And I've got no Internet access.

I've tried this on 2 systems - one is a brand-new load of OS 10.5.1 and new load of Parallels 3 Build 5582.

Any ideas? I *am* trying to do something that's possible, right?

Thanks
Bob

 

Yes, I think this is possible. For now I cannot tell you exactly what the problem is due to lack of resources and impossibility to reproduce your situation as is. We have successfully done this use case with Mac OS X 10.4.11 and another VPN client (VPN Tracker 5). We have not still tested it with Nortel's client, again, due to lack of appropriate server-side.

So, I suppose the problem can be in Leopard networking and this task is still pending.
We apologise for so long investigation, this issue is important for us and we will do this as soon as possible.
Thank you.

 

Can't access Mac Contivity VPN from Parallels WinXP

Bobski's not alone... I can't access my Mac side VPN (Apani Nortel Contivity: www.apani.com) from Parallels (3 build 5582). Using shared networking, all works well unless I'm connected to the VPN, then it breaks. I can access the corp network when hardwired to the network via ethernet (no VPN), and I can access the internet when not on the corp network (no VPN). The only problem is when I use the VPN, so it looks like a VPN-vs-Parallels issue. I really need to get this to work, so any help would be appreciated. Let me know if I can troubleshoot, etc. (using 10.5.1). Thanks....

 

One more thing... I can ping servers while using the VPN, so I am apparently "connected", but no web access.

 

Please, check this workaround.

 

Thanks, but there doesn't appear to be an article: entry/39/587. I only see three entries under 39 (Connecting to the Internet/Network): 123, 215, 394. Article 394 is close, but I can connect to the internet/network with my virtual machine, except when using my Mac's VPN - then I can ping the network, but no web access.

 

Try this AFTER, VPN connection establishing

Description:

No network connection in Virtual Machine (under Tiger or Leopard as Host OS).

Symptoms:

NAT and/or Host-Guest adapters indicators in Mac System Preferences are red or yellow.

Cause:

Power management for Network adapters does not work properly. Connection gets lost when going to Sleep mode or Shutting down the computer.

Workarounds:

1. Open Mac OS System Preferences and choose Network.
2. Choose Parallels NAT from the Show menu. In Configure IP field set Off and press Apply button. Then set Using DHCP in Configure IP field and press Apply button again.
3. Choose Parallels Host-Guest from the Show menu. In Configure IP field set Off and press Apply button. Then set Using DHCP in Configure IP field and press Apply button again.

You should repeat this procedure every time you get red or yellow NAT and/or HOST-Guest indicators.

You can also run sudo killall hup pvsnatd command in Terminal (Applications -> Utilities) to restore network connection in your VM.

 

Both the NAT and Host-Guest adapters are and stay connected (green) with and without the VPN connection established on the Mac side. Again, I can ping the network using IP addresses (numbers), but not names (www.example.com). So, maybe there's something wrong with accessing the DNS servers? I'd think that, I can't plug in an IP address (number) as a URL either... That would narrow the issue down to the VM not detecting or using the proxy server settings in the Mac's network preferences, right? That's set to auto proxy configuration using a proxy configuration .pac file. How can we get that to work?