---
title: "Connecting to Cisco VPN with Ubuntu"
date: 2009-06-03
categories: ["Linux","Networking","Ubuntu"]
source: https://andrew-jones.com/blog/connecting-to-cisco-vpn-with-ubuntu/
---

# Connecting to Cisco VPN with Ubuntu


I recently wanted to connect to my works Cisco VPN network from my home Ubuntu PC. As it turned out this is very straightforward.

Firstly you need to install support for the VPN protocol, which for a Cisco network meant using the following command:

    $ sudo apt-get install network-manager-vpnc

Once this is installed, right click on the network icon in the system try and choose _Edit Connections_.

![Cursor pointing at the "Edit Connections..." option in a network settings menu.](https://andrew-jones.com/images/posts/edit-connections.png)



Select the VPN tab. You are then able create a new connection by choosing _Add_, or if you have a profile file then you can choose _Import_ and select the file.

![A network connections window showing tabs for Wired, Wireless, Mobile Broadband, VPN, and DSL; the VPN tab is active with a VPN named "My VPN," last accessed three hours ago. Buttons for Add, Edit, Delete, Import, Export, and Close are visible on the right side.](https://andrew-jones.com/images/posts/network-connections.png)



At this point you may need to restart the network manager, or restart your machine. Do this if you get any "no valid secrets" errors.

You should now be able connect to the VPN network by left clicking on the network icon, hovering over the _VPN Connections_ option and choosing the profile from the list.

For more information on and instructions for other protocols look at the VPN topic on the [Ubuntu Wiki](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VPN).

**Update 2010-11-08** - I can confirm that this still works fine with Ubuntu 10.10. It's just the screen shots that are out of date :-) 

**Update 2011-06-27** - Works fine with Ubuntu 11.04 too!