Snow Leopard: Cisco IPSec VPN Client

Snow Leopard or OS X 10.6, which was recently unleashed by Apple,  has the built in ability to connect to a Cisco based IPSec VPN.   The process is quite simple and thus I have detailed the steps below along with screen shots to help you get connected to your corporate VPN.

I was able to setup the connection and gain connectivity to a corporate VPN with in seconds.  However, I was not able to do much more then that and thus I decided to post the steps to getting connected.  My thought here is that some will setup the connection and eventually come back here to share their experiences with the rest of us.  Once connected I tried to access various file servers and even remote desktop sessions; I was unable to do so.  The product is built in and it does connect, I am able to get an IP address from our Cisco VPN solution, it also sees the DNS servers and domain that it should see…but there seems to be no connectivity past this point.  I was not able to ping and or run a traceroute to servers.

The entire process is completed in the Network Preferences Pane within System Preferences:

Steps:

1. Click the plus sign to add a new interface. (Screen Shot 1)
2. In the Interface Type drop down select VPN. (Screen Shot 2)
   1. In the VPN Type drop down select Cisco IPSec.
   2. In the Service Name text box give your Connection a Name.
   3. Click Create.
3. Now in Network you will see the VPN listed on the left hand side.  Select it and Enter the following information:
   1. Server Address:
   2. Account Name:
   3. Password:
4. Click on Authentication Settings and add the following:
   1. Shared Secret and Group Name or
   2. Simply select a certificate that has been provide to you by your network admin.
   3. Hit Apply
5. You can check the box ‘Show VPN status in menu bar’ to get a connectivity status in the menu bar.
6. When ready, hit connect.  Provided the settings are correct it will connect and ask you for your VPN password, even though you have specified it in the preference pane.
7. Once connected the preference pane shows you the amount of time connected and the IP address issued to you.
8. Click the Advanced Button and you are given a screen with DNS Servers and Search Domains.

Screen Shots are in the order by steps.  (Note: No screen shot for step 6)  Please click on first thumbnail to get the full gallery view.