FOFC Tech Support - VPN?

terpkristin · 03-30-2010, 06:15 PM

Anybody out there familiar with Cisco AnyConnect VPN software?

Three weeks ago, I had no problem connecting my home laptop to my work VPN using our system. They provide Cisco AnyConnect software and a key, and I have to do it.

I use McAfee for virus protection, firewall, etc. It was recently updated (it looks prettier now than it used to).

I tried to connect to the VPN last Monday and the first thing it did was update the VPN software. Then it said that there was a problem while establishing the VPN (enabling the VPN adapter?) then popped an error message saying that there was a VPN client driver problem.

I have uninstalled the software and re-installed it from a file provided by my IS. I have disabled the McAfee firewall, and it didn't work. I re-enabled the firewall and ensured that the VPN software had full outgoing and incoming access. No joy.

Anybody have any idea what else I might check? Are certain ports used for VPN specifically, maybe I need to update those?

/tk

terpkristin · 03-30-2010, 06:22 PM

Dola,
I just shut off ALL of McAfee's front-end stuff and got the same error, when it gets to Establishing VPN - Activating VPN adapter, it stops.

/tk

jeff061 · 03-30-2010, 06:25 PM

Client driver problem sounds to me as a problem with the install or a conflict with another installed software. Not a firewall issue. I'm not familiar with AnyConnect though.

If it was my system I'd disable all security products(firewall and AV, etc), uninstall and reinstall AnyConnect. If it was still a problem try the same but uninstall the security apps.

Hard to troubleshoot these things hands off.

Suburban Rhythm · 03-30-2010, 07:49 PM

TK I used to use VPN to work remotely. This probably doesn't help much, but I found more often than not, I found the issue was on the work PC end not accepting the connection-- someone helpful came along and saw I hadn't powered down, and would do so for me

.

I am running AVG, and never had an issue connecting while AVG was running.

What we had a number of people learn was VPN was not supported on some versions of XP. This is too techy for me, but people on 32 bit were OK, people running 64 bit could not connect VPN.

I got a company laptop last year, and do not miss VPN

terpkristin · 03-30-2010, 08:15 PM

Ah well, I give up. I have no idea why this update made it stop working, when it was working fine 2 weeks ago. I did some Googling and came up with nothing useful. I have a company laptop but I'll be the first to say that since our vpn is so slow, it's faster for me to VPN in from home and then remote desktop into my work computer.

Oddly enough, though it seems broken on my Win XP laptop (32 bit for sure), it had no problem installing and working just fine on my 32-bit Win 7 laptop. So, that's my workaround for now...if I want/need to work from home and don't have the company computer with me, I'll just use my "other" (non primary) laptop.

If anybody has any ideas, I'd love to hear 'em. I'm stumped, but at least I have something that I can make work.

/tk

Alan T · 03-31-2010, 07:03 AM

Kristin, I am a network engineer for a living and have at times implemented several different flavors of VPN solutions (nortel, Juniper, cisco, microsoft, checkpoint, etc). It has been a while since I've done much with the Cisco VPn solution however, but your problem does sound to be vpn client related.

Many vpn clients (Cisco used to be the same way) pretty much requires the VPN adapter to exist on top of all other adapters and any changes to the tcp/ip stack on that system or to the networking configuration of that system often required a full uninstall and re-install of the client to get it to function properly.

It sounds like you did that without much luck. Usually the next steps would be to find the cisco debug log from the vpn session attempt. I think I recall cisco having debug mode be something that could be turned on or off, and i don't remember if it is on by default. At that point though your company's tech support really should be able to help troubleshoot this for you. If they can't fix their own IT product, that is bad since I would assume that is their job. Generally if they only use it as a solution and are not familiar in troubleshooting it, they should at least be able to open support cases with Cisco TAC to help troubleshoot further as well.

Sorry I'm not much help, but vpn issues often are frustrating to troubleshoot.

03-30-2010, 06:22 PM	#2
terpkristin Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ashburn, VA	Dola, I just shut off ALL of McAfee's front-end stuff and got the same error, when it gets to Establishing VPN - Activating VPN adapter, it stops. /tk __________________ GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin

03-30-2010, 06:25 PM	#3
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	Client driver problem sounds to me as a problem with the install or a conflict with another installed software. Not a firewall issue. I'm not familiar with AnyConnect though. If it was my system I'd disable all security products(firewall and AV, etc), uninstall and reinstall AnyConnect. If it was still a problem try the same but uninstall the security apps. Hard to troubleshoot these things hands off. __________________

03-30-2010, 07:49 PM	#4
Suburban Rhythm Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pittsburgh	TK I used to use VPN to work remotely. This probably doesn't help much, but I found more often than not, I found the issue was on the work PC end not accepting the connection-- someone helpful came along and saw I hadn't powered down, and would do so for me . I am running AVG, and never had an issue connecting while AVG was running. What we had a number of people learn was VPN was not supported on some versions of XP. This is too techy for me, but people on 32 bit were OK, people running 64 bit could not connect VPN. I got a company laptop last year, and do not miss VPN __________________ "Do you guys play fast tempos with odd time signatures?" "Yeah" "Cool!!"

03-30-2010, 08:15 PM	#5
terpkristin Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ashburn, VA	Ah well, I give up. I have no idea why this update made it stop working, when it was working fine 2 weeks ago. I did some Googling and came up with nothing useful. I have a company laptop but I'll be the first to say that since our vpn is so slow, it's faster for me to VPN in from home and then remote desktop into my work computer. Oddly enough, though it seems broken on my Win XP laptop (32 bit for sure), it had no problem installing and working just fine on my 32-bit Win 7 laptop. So, that's my workaround for now...if I want/need to work from home and don't have the company computer with me, I'll just use my "other" (non primary) laptop. If anybody has any ideas, I'd love to hear 'em. I'm stumped, but at least I have something that I can make work. /tk __________________ GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin

03-31-2010, 07:03 AM	#6
Alan T Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mass.	Kristin, I am a network engineer for a living and have at times implemented several different flavors of VPN solutions (nortel, Juniper, cisco, microsoft, checkpoint, etc). It has been a while since I've done much with the Cisco VPn solution however, but your problem does sound to be vpn client related. Many vpn clients (Cisco used to be the same way) pretty much requires the VPN adapter to exist on top of all other adapters and any changes to the tcp/ip stack on that system or to the networking configuration of that system often required a full uninstall and re-install of the client to get it to function properly. It sounds like you did that without much luck. Usually the next steps would be to find the cisco debug log from the vpn session attempt. I think I recall cisco having debug mode be something that could be turned on or off, and i don't remember if it is on by default. At that point though your company's tech support really should be able to help troubleshoot this for you. If they can't fix their own IT product, that is bad since I would assume that is their job. Generally if they only use it as a solution and are not familiar in troubleshooting it, they should at least be able to open support cases with Cisco TAC to help troubleshoot further as well. Sorry I'm not much help, but vpn issues often are frustrating to troubleshoot. __________________ Couch to ??k - From the couch to a Marathon in roughly 18 months.

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