32bit VPN in Windows 7 x64 and XPM

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:04:41 +0000

Introduction

Until a week ago I’ve been using Windows^® XP as the corporate standard prescribes. But having started looking into Microsoft SharePoint 2010, I was allowed to switch to Windows^® 7 x64. (The switch also included a very nice MSDN license, thus giving me access to loads of Microsoft sweetness.) The x64 stands for 64 bit of course.

The change from 32 to 64 bits went quite smooth, except for one minor hiccup. There is no 64bit client for Cisco VPN.
There are free and Open Source based VPN clients that are compatible with Cisco that have 64bit versions, but they could not be used in this case.

Installing Windows^® XP Mode

Windows^® XP Mode (XPM) is an out-of-the-box solution by Microsoft, based on their Virtual PC. It allows for the installation of a licensed Windows XP machine, complete with drive, USB, desktop and Start Menu integration.

Visit the Virtual PC website at Microsoft for more information: Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode

Installing the VPN client

At my work, we use a Cisco VPN client. Mainly because we’ve got a Cisco VPN server, but also because it uses OTP. Our OTP send an SMS to our work phone and no other VPN client seems to support this. (Would be great if Shrew would decide to support this.)

Connecting Windows 7 to the XPM VPN Client

I could explain how to set up your networking in W7 and XPM to get access to the VPN client, but Craig Pringle did that quite good already. One extra step needed for this solution is the use of static IPs. Set the IP address of the loopback device in W7 and XPM, for example 192.168.2.1 in W7 and 192.168.2.2 in XPM. Using dynamic IPs as they are by default might cause the XPM IP to change, causing problems in later steps.

Note

I couldn’t get W7 and XPM to connect through the loopback at first, it seemed the firewall in XPM blocked the traffic. Disabling the firewall for the loopback adapter solved it. A security warning is issued when disabling the firewall, but since it’s used for W7 – XPM communication only, no firewall is needed.

Routing network traffic through the XPM VPN Client

When the VPN Client is active and connected to the VPN, all applications running in XPM will have access to it. Applications in W7 however will not. The network traffic needs to be routed through XPM.

The easiest way is by using 2 tools; a proxy running in XPM, CCProxy and a rerouter running in W7, ProxyCap.
CCProxy is an easy to set up proxy, just choose the type of proxy and you’re done. ProxyCap is a small commercial application that allows you to reroute traffic from any application through a proxy. Just choose the application to reroute and specify the proxy running in XPM. I use Microsoft Visual Studio in W7, so I’ve set up ProxyCap to reroute it to CCProxy in XPM. When working out of office, run CCProxy in XPM and ProxyCap in W7 and you’re done.