Ubuntu 11.04 UVic VPN Setup

I needed to setup a VPN connection to my school today so I could read the full text of some academic papers. speifically Generalized Daubechies Wavelet Families) (see here for a less technical explanation of Daubechies Wavelets)

The UVic helpdesk explains how to use the VPN, but only on Windows and MacOSX. What is this, the 90s? They really could have made this easier. It's not like there's a shortage of linux users on campus. Heck, UVic has about 100 linux computers available to students, and that's just the ones in labs I know about.

These instructions work fine if you are willing to connect and disconnect from the VPN manually each time, using the command line. You'll also need the .pcf file provided by the helpdesk. Scroll down to find the right link for cisco-decrypt.c.

I am running Ubuntu Linux 11.04, but these instructions should work for most Linux distributions with minimal modification. These instructions use the command line, and there's gotta be a more user friendly way to do this, let me know if you think of one.

Update: 
dmg (2) sent me this helpful note on how to use VPNC instead of the command line:

thanks for the info on how to get VPN working. 

It still works (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS)  

After following your instructions, all that is needed is to install the VPN software (vpnc) and have a valid configuration file (see attached). This file can be distributed since the user/password section is not filled.

thanks again,
--dmg 

The VPNC network manager has ubuntu packages named "vpnc" or "network-manager-vpnc".

He also attached his config file, uvic.conf, contents:

## generated by pcf2vpncIPSec ID EveryoneIPSec gateway vpn1.uvic.caIPSec secret Anything
IKE Authmode psk
## To add your username and password,## use the following lines:# Xauth username <your username># Xauth password <your password>

Thanks dmg! You make the internet a better place!