Ubuntu – How to start setting up a VPN server for smart phone clients

androidiphoneUbuntuvpn

I have a Ubuntu Lucid Lynx VM which I've been tinkering with. I want to set up a VPN and I am happy to learn how to do it on my own but the vastness of options makes my head spin, so I'm just looking for pointers.

Factors I want considered for my setup

  • Each user needs personal authentication (not one password for all)
  • I want know what OS the client is using (android / iphone other)
  • I want to track how much bandwidth is being used by each individual
  • Although security is important, it's mainly for bypassing China's great firewall (reach facebook / twitter) so I'm not trying to protect pentagon files. Security is good, as long as it doesn't involve hours of complicated configurations.
  • Prevent the same user from using multiple devices to access vpn at the same time
  • Any sugggestions?

So my questions are:

  • What protocol should i use to be compatible with Android (say 1.6+) and iPhones?
  • What administrative software should I use (free preferably but willing to invest a little)?
  • What guides / tutorials can you recommend that are a little bit less confusing than this?

Android:

16 IPSec VPN Tunnels
8 L2TP VPN Tunnels (Dial-in: 4, Dial-out: 4)
8 PPTP VPN Tunnels (Dial-in: 4, Dial-out: 4)

  • Embedded IPSec & PPTP client/server
  • IKE key management
  • DES, 3DES and AES encryption for IPSec
  • Embedded powerful 3DES accelerator
  • MPPE Encryption for PPTP
  • L2TP within IPSec
  • L2TP/PPTP/IPSec pass-through

iPhone

  • L2TP / IPSec
  • MSChapV2 Password
  • RSA SecurID
  • CRYPTOCard
  • PPTP
  • MSChapV2 Password
  • RSA SecurID
  • CRYPTOCard
  • Cisco IPSec VPN
  • Password
  • RSA SecurID
  • CRYPTOCard
  • Certificate

NOTES

  • I'll be sure to add a bounty after the 2 day period, hope this question can help other people who would like to create a similar setup.
  • The title of this question is not that great, feel free to edit
  • I don't need all answers answered any pointers would help 🙂

Best Answer

Here's a fairly straight forward L2TP/IPSEC tutorial, but I don't think iphone can use certs, so you will have to go PSK. It also gets into domain authentication, so your users only have to remember one set of credentials. That is, if you have a domain...

http://rootmanager.com/ubuntu-ipsec-l2tp-windows-domain-auth/setting-up-openswan-xl2tpd-with-native-windows-clients.html

Unfortunately I don't have an answer for the client OS detection or bandwidth monitoring.

Related Topic