Does any one know of a good VPN tutorial?

[mynewromantica]

I would like to be able to access some files on my home network when I am at school or work. I was told setting up a VPN would take care of this. Does anyone know of a good VPN tutorial?

I am running 10.6 on both machines and I would like to access files on a hard drive attached to an airport extreme.

Thanks in advance

 

[wilsonhaven]

If you have a spare computer around you might try UnTangle. The VPN worked well for me.

 

[mynewromantica]

Thanks but not exactly what I am looking for.

Any one else?

 

[bishopazrael]

Ok some things you need to know.

1. You need to have a static IP address. This means whomever you get your internet service from, Comcast, Time Warner, etc.... you probably have a dynamic (always changing) ip address. You will need to call them and have them add it on. Sometimes they don't have the ability to do it and you'll need to upgrade from home to business class.

2. If you can't get a static IP there are some software solutions like Logmein and such that will help.

3. Setting up the VPN on a mac vs pc is much simpler. Most people when setting it up over think it. Don't.

4. Make sure your router will support VPN or if you need to turn something on.

Start with that and come back and tell us where you're at.

 

[ocbo41]

I don't think OSX has a built in VPN server you can just configure (unless you have OSX Server). Your going to need to run a VPN server application to do what you need (Unless your router has a VPN server built in).

It seems the best free (OSX) VPN server is iVPN 2.4b.

A couple of guides:
http://tinyapps.org/docs/os_x_vpn_server.html
http://the.0gravity.co.uk/universe/apple/osx/leopard/vpnserver/

You may be better off setting up an FTP server on your mac if your just concerned about transferring files. Keep in mind FTP transfers in clear text.
FTP setup guide

Hope this helps