Trouble connecting OS X 10.4.1 client to FreeBSD -current (on sparc64) mpd server for pptp tunneling

[Tillman Hodgson]

Howdy,

I've been googling for information about getting a Mac OS X client (a
powerbook running 10.4.1) to work with a VPN server of some sort on
FreeBSD (-current as of April 25 running on sparc64). The VPN server has
a static IP and acts as a firewall and BGP/OSPF router as well (over
tunnels to other internal networks, not to the outside world).

I've tried sl2tps but rapidly gave up on it -- no real documentation and
it appears to be an abandoned project. I've also tried OpenVPN (which is
my preferred solution, detailed at http://metanetwork.seekingfire.com
if you're curious) but OS X support appears to be weak. While I can get
the tunnel up and running manually, my normal OpenVPN practice of
running OSPF on the client isn't an option for the OS X road-warrior
case that I have. The GUI doesn't like the Spotlight position on the
menu bar and appears to be a semi-abandoned project (I had to dig
through an archived older version of the web page to get it).

So I tried mpd to implement PPTP. In theory, with native OS X support
and proxy-arp replacing OSPF (no dynamic routing needed if I think I'm
local) this looked like the ticket. I ran into what appears to be the
same issue that Robert Watson posted to freebsd-questions@ about May 5 2004:
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2004-May/045705.html

I get 10 attempts to SendConfigReq and then negotiation fails.

***snip***
[pptp1] IPCP: SendConfigReq #10
 IPADDR 192.168.23.30
 COMPPROTO VJCOMP, 16 comp. channels, no comp-cid
[pptp1] CCP: SendConfigReq #10
[pptp1] CCP: Checking whether 40 bits are enabled -> yes
[pptp1] CCP: Checking whether 56 bits are enabled -> no
[pptp1] CCP: Checking whether 128 bits are enabled -> yes
 MPPC
   0x00000000:
[pptp1] IPCP: state change Req-Sent --> Stopped
[pptp1] IPCP: LayerFinish
[pptp1] IPCP: parameter negotiation failed
[pptp1] IPCP: LayerFinish
***snip***

Has anyone gotten mpd working with OS X and could share their config
files and setup with me? Alternatively, has anyone gotten any other
sort of decent tunneling for OS X -> FreeBSD infrastructure in place
that could share what they're running and their experiences with setting
it up?

Thanks muchly,

-T


-- 
We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.
	- Bene Gesserit Coda