CISCO VPN configuration steps
You need the Gnome package as well. So the magical incantation is this:
sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc-gnome
Then you can simply add a VPN connection by launching the configuration of Network Manager and importing a .pcf file with the settings. Or by using a drop-down dialog in the settings of Network Manager and adding the required information. Easy as pie...
On Ubuntu, you don't need to install the Cisco VPN Client: NetworkManager includes support for Cisco IPSec VPNs. The following steps will walk you through a successful installation and configuration of your VPN client.
1) Ubuntu ships by default with the plugin for the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), but we need the plugin for the Cisco Compatible VPN (vpnc), that provides easy access to Cisco Concentrator based VPNs. To install the vpnc plugin, open your terminal and run:
sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc
2) Find Network Connections in your Dash, and in the VPN tab select Import to choose your .pcf file, or Add if you want to manually enter your authentication details.
3) In the configurations, make sure to go to the IPv4 Settings tab, click on Routes and activate the option to use the VPN connection only for resources on its network, unless you want all your traffic to be significantly slowed down.
Hope it could help.
You will first need to get the vpnc package and install it. Fire up a terminal and enter this command:
sudo apt-get install vpnc
You will then need to make a text file with the following information:
IPSec gateway *gateway.to.use*
IPSec ID *groupname*
IPSec secret *passwordforgroup*
Xauth username *myusername*
Xauth password *mypassword*
Domain ""
This file should have a .conf extension and should be placed under the /etc/vpnc directory e.g. /etc/vpnc/default.conf.
To connect if you have default file then no need to provide configuration file name as asked in 1st command, you will need to enter:
sudo vpnc <conf file name (without extension)>
sudo vpnc-connect (will automatically use /etc/vpnc/default.conf)
To disconnect, you will need to enter:
sudo vpnc-disconnect
You can find more details under this How-To
I have tested and found below code active in ubuntu 16.x in terminals with command line. Admin can get pcf file which are already connected with Windows systems in Cisco VPN clients from Cisco Box administrators. Self creating files may waste your time due to typo errors etc.
pcf2vpnc utility in Linux will automatically convert file in Linux conf format. Yu replace it with /etc/vpnc/default.conf
and just enter below command without config files
like so:
sudo vpnc --enable-1des
Or without des if your Cisco system supports it:
sudo vpnc
This command will get default file from /etc/vpnc folder as described above.
sudo apt-get install vpnc
Installing VPN PCF files on Ubuntu
This will convert a pcf to a vpnc configuration:
pcf2vpnc original.pcf new.conf
Access Cisco VPN
Instructions for VPN connection or How to Connect VPN from linux box:
sudo vpnc --enable-1des /etc/vpnc/new.conf
sudo vpnc /path/to/new.conf
How to disconnect:
sudo vpnc--disconnect
All commands are tested and verified from system.