Mac Sierra Client For Pptp Vpn

11-05-2021 admin

Active1 year, 10 months ago

Apple has removed PPTP VPN support in Sierra due to security concerns. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206844

Unfortunately Apple has removed the PPTP client from Mac OS Sierra due to PPTP lacking the security features of other VPN protocols. As stated by Apple: If you’ve set up a PPTP VPN server, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra users won’t be able to connect to it. IOS 10 and macOS Sierra will remove PPTP connections from any VPN profile when a user.

Unfortunately, I need to connect to an organisation that only supports PPTP (not my decision).

I know about Shimo, but it's $50 and has a lot of features I don't need.

I was hoping to find a free or open source solution? A command-line-only option would be fine for macOS.

I'm even open to more esoteric solutions (e.g. a lightweight linux VM that connects to the VPN, and then shares the connection with host OS, but not sure how feasible this would be or how to do it).

Edit: I see the command-line tool pppd is still present in macOS Sierra, so perhaps it's possible to call this directly?

Edit 2: I tried following this tutorial with an options file from the ArchWiki, and a custom route in /etc/ppp/ip-up, but it gives an error (publish_entry SCDSet() failed: Success!) when I try to run the pppd command, the pppd daemon doesn't seem to be running, and the ppp0 interface isn't showing up in ifconfig. I don't know much about networks and network interfaces, so I'm finding this very confusing! Any help would be much appreciated.

Mark

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MatthewMatthew

4 Answers

The FlowVPN client is free (and works with any provider).

It supports PPTP and OpenVPN on macOS Sierra and High Sierra:

Just overwrite the FlowVPN server address with any server and it connects.

A.BadgerA.Badger

Just paid $55 for Shimo 4. It works. A google search for Shimo 4 VPN will guide your to the correct link. It supports PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, SSH, and a few more. I even found I can connect to some L2TP server with Shimo while I cannot connect with the built-in OS X VPN client. The price is a bit expensive, but it works pretty well for me, so I paid for it. I guess they might have some sales boost as the new OS X rolled out.

Qian ChenQian Chen

I found this when searching for how to fix a error I was getting in Shimo when trying to connect to PPTP VPN. I didn't get many helpful search results so even though this doesn't answer the original question, others might land here looking for help for this error:

LCP: timeout sending Config-Requests

I'm running a trial of Shimo on OS X 10.12 (Sierra) and the VPN server is on Windows 2012 R2.

I also posted this answer on another question because it helped me work out the solution. A recommendation posted by @wgui was to use the 'silent' option which didn't work but the description given for 'silent' lead me to figuring it out.

The fix for me was to use the 'passive' option. In Shimo, it can be enabled in the 'Expert' section. You should see it as one of the choices given when you add a parameter key (just leave the value blank). Once it was set my connection worked fine.

Community♦

UndeadponyUndeadpony

VPN Tracker also supports PPTP it's not free but presumed to be the most professional VPN Software for the Mac. PPTP connections are automatically imported into VPN Tracker if launched on El Capitan prior to the upgrade and if the connection fails, there is a professional support team. Yes it's a paid product.

Mark D.Mark D.

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protected by Community♦Oct 27 '16 at 6:15

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Mac OS X has built-in support for connecting to most common types of VPNs. If you want to ensure your Mac automatically reconnected to your VPN or connect to an OpenVPN VPN, you’ll need a third-party app.

This process is similar whether you’re using Windows, Android, iOS, or another operating system. OS X provides a menu bar icon for controlling the VPN connection.

Use a VPN Client (The Easiest Thing)

Note that some VPN providers offer their own desktop clients, which means you won’t need this setup process. All of our favorite VPNs–StrongVPN for advanced users, and ExpressVPN and TunnelBear for basic users–offer their own desktop application for connecting to their VPNs and selecting VPN server locations.

Connect to L2TP over IPSec, PPTP, and Cisco IPSec VPNs

RELATED:Which is the Best VPN Protocol? PPTP vs. OpenVPN vs. L2TP/IPsec vs. SSTP

Use the Network control panel to connect to most types of VPNs. To open it, click the Apple menu, select System Preferences, and click Network or click the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar and select Open Network Preferences.

Click the plus sign button at the bottom left corner of the window and select “VPN” in the Interface box. Choose the type of VPN server you need to connect to in the “VPN Type” box and enter a name that will help you identify it.

Like other operating systems, Mac OS X doesn’t include built-in support for OpenVPN networks. Scroll down for instructions for connecting to OpenVPN networks.

Enter the VPN server’s address, your username, and other settings. The “Authentication Settings” button allows you to provide the authentication you’ll need to connect — anything from a password or certificate file to RSA SecurID, Kerberos, or CryptoCard authentication.

The “Advanced” button allows you to configure the VPN connection in other ways. For example, the default settings automatically disconnect from the VPN when you log out or switch users. You could uncheck these boxes to prevent the Mac from automatically disconnecting.

Click Apply to save your settings. Before you do, you can enable the “Show VPN status in menu bar” option to get a menu bar icon for managing your VPN connection. Use this menu to connect to your VPN and disconnect from it as necessary.

Automatically Reconnect to a VPN When The Connection Drops

RELATED:How to Rearrange and Remove Your Mac’s Menu Bar Icons

By default, your Mac won’t automatically reconnect to the VPN if the connection dies. To save yourself some time and hassle, use the VPN AutoConnect application. It’s available for $1 on the Mac App Store.

This is a simple application that basically replaces the built-in VPN menu bar icon on Mac OS X. If the VPN connection drops, it will automatically reconnect. This applicaiton uses the built-in VPN support in Mac OS X, so it’ll only work with connections you can configure in the Network Settings panel. If you use a third-party VPN client — for example, to connect to an OpenVPN VPN — it won’t help you. But third-party VPN clients may have this feature integrated.

If you want to save a dollar or just prefer DIY solutions, you could rig up your own auto-VPN-reconnect solution using AppleScript.

Connect to OpenVPN Networks

You’ll need a third-party application for connecting to OpenVPN VPNs. The official OpenVPN website recommends the open-source Tunnelblick application for this.

Install Tunnelblick, launch it, and it will ask for the configuration files provided by your OpenVPN server. These often have the .ovpn file extension and are required for connecting from any OpenVPN client. Your OpenVPN server provider should provide them to you.

Tunnelblick provides its own menu bar icon for managing your OpenVPN connections. Select “VPN Details” and you’ll see Tunnelblick’s connection window, where you can configure how it works.

For example, you can have Tunnelblick automatically connect to OpenVPN networks when this application launches. It can automatically keep you connected to the VPN network, so you won’t need a tool like VPN AutoConnect.

If you need to connect to another type of VPN network, you’ll need a different third-party VPN client with support for that type of network.

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