Let me start off by saying that, in general, I like SonicWALL products. They were the first firewalls I ever sold and, as such, they are still the ones I feel most familiar with, and know best. It’s also no secret that their GlobalVPN Client makes it ludicrously easy to create and connect to a VPN. Unfortunately, though, SonicWALL’s focus is very Windows-centric. This means that, now I have a need to connect my Ubuntu laptop to a SonicWALL VPN, I have to leave the warm and fuzzy comfort of the GlobalVPN client and get to know Openswan a bit better.

According to what I have read and researched, many people have difficulties connecting Openswan to a SonicWALL appliance. I was no different. At one stage I had decided that it would be easier for me to gnaw a tunnel to my client’s office through solid granite, rather than persevere trying to get the VPN tunnel running. In the end, though, I got it working – here’s how. Read more…