Mac Server Series: Setting Up A VPN On A Mac With Hamachix
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A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used for security and convenience. Sometimes it can be difficult to get a VPN working but we’ve found a great free tool called HamachiX to make set up quite simple. And it’s ability to go thru firewalls and routers is amazing.
I apologize if I used any VPN terms wrong. I’m new to the use of VPN’s, but this video is complete in the set up and should have your new VPN up and running in no time.
Movie Link: Setting Up A VPN On A Mac with HamachiX
Shownotes:
- HamachiX - a free tool to set up a VPN on a Mac
- Macminicolo.net - Mac mini colocation service
- More on Virtual Private Networks - Wikipedia entry on VPN’s
November 30th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Digg this article: http://www.digg.com/apple/HowTo_Set_Up_A_VPN_On_Your_Mac_Video
November 30th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Just curious. What are the first two icons on your menubar in the video?
November 30th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
thanks for the Info, Hey are you running Hamachix on a mac Intel system?
November 30th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Major, the icons were Timbutku and iShowU
rob, All three of the machines I used in the tutorial were Intel ones.
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:40 pm
i’ve set up my mac according to the first two tutorials. I’ve created a dyndns account. I’ve downloaded the dyndns updater. i’ve set my router to forward port 80 to my Mac. i type in the url for my site and i get this box that says, “To view this page, you need to log in to area “” on berokey.dyndns.org.” this box has data fields for a “Name & Password,” but as many things as i can think of to type in these fields, i can not get it to accept them. what have i done wrong?
December 23rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Brilliant tutorials - thanks!
re: the Intel macs. The HamachiX website says it doesn’t work correctly on the Intel platform yet. Did you need to do anything special to get it to work? There’s a thread on the Hamachi forums (http://forums.hamachi.cc/viewtopic.php?t=7338) on the subject, but I’m afraid the detail is beyond me…
January 10th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I noticed that HamachiX is associated with Log Me In. We use Log Me In on our office Windows XP machines. Is there a way to access those machines from my Macbook Pro laptop? It would help my wife and I manage our business or fix minor things while we are out of the office. Or Perhaps there is a version of Log Me In for Macs?? Your advice is most appreciated. I love the website and check it everyday using my widget.
January 15th, 2007 at 9:51 am
To shed some light on how Hamachi is able to punch through firewalls:
The client connects to a central server and any intermediate NAT hardware (A router) automatically sets up a route through the firewall to the server since it’s an internal client setting up the connection. When a client requests a connection to another client (Client B having done the same when logging on to the Hamachi servers), the Hamachi client requests client B’s connection information and attempts to connect. The server provides this information and also tells client B to connect to Client A, including A’s details as well. For a moment, Client a is attempting to connect through a firewall but once computer B tries to make it’s own connection, that port is opened and traffic flows freely through both firewalls.
I found a better description (With pictures) that describes how Skype does it here (Different app, same principle): http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/82481
This is the basic means by which Hamachi makes it’s connections, however since you get a HamachiID (”Fake IP”) and another network interface, it is safe to say there is a little more going on than this.
February 10th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Hey B I followed your tutorial and successfully had a friend control my macbook pro desktop from his windows machine all the way round the globe!I am so happy with it! thanks a million!