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Barracuda SSL VPN

This Product is End-of-Life and End-Of-Support

End-Of-Life and End-Of-Support on December 1st, 2020: All Barracuda SSL VPN sales will cease; neither new sales nor any renewals will be available. If you currently hold a maintenance and support contract, you will continue to receive our award-winning support and services until your contract expires. Please see the End-Of-Life definition as described in the End of Support and End of Life Information.

How to Configure IPsec or PPTP on Remote Devices

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As soon as the Barracuda SSL VPN is configured to allow remote access, you can setup a connection on a remote device. All you need to do is to make sure that you have the appropriate credentials, and that the system you want to use has the appropriate type of client (L2TP/IPsec) that will already come pre-installed on your device, in most cases.

Configure a Windows 7 client device

The details of the following steps are specific to Windows 7, but can be adapted for other Windows versions such as XP and Vista by navigating to the corresponding feature on the system.

  1. Log into the Barracuda SSL VPN. On your RESOURCES > My Resources page, you will see a Barracuda IPsec resource if the Barracuda SSL VPN has been configured to accept L2TP/IPsec connections.
  2. Click on the Barracuda IPsec configuration tool. The Barracuda SSL VPN Agent will automatically create and configure an L2TP/IPsec VPN connection on your Windows system.

    Configuring the IPsec settings may require administrator privileges on your system.

  3. Once the configuration (and possible reboot) has completed, navigate to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.

  4. Select Connect to a network, click on the Barracuda IPsec entry, and click Connect.
  5. On the connect dialog, select Properties and go to the Security tab.
  6. Click Advanced settings, and from the L2TP tab:
  7. Select Use preshared key for authentication.
  8. In the Key field, enter the PSK for the Barracuda SSL VPN.
  9. Click OK to return to the Security tab.
  10. Click OK to save your settings and return to the connect dialog.
  11. To log in, enter the following information:
    • User name – The account name for the connecting user; for example; psmith
    • Password – The password for the username specified above.
  12. Click Connect.

Configure a Windows 8 client device

For Windows 8 systems, the required configuration changes are automatically made. To verify that your system makes the changes automatically:

Known Issue: It is necessary for users to manually enter the PSK in the IPsec configuration.

  1. Launch the browser on your remote system and log into the Barracuda SSL VPN. 
  2. On your RESOURCES > My Resources page, you will see a Barracuda IPsec resource (an administrator can change the name of this resource).
  3. Click on the Barracuda IPsec icon. This launches the Barracuda SSL VPN Agent and configures the VPN connection on your Windows 8 system.

If these instructions do not work, your Barracuda SSL VPN is probably running an older version. Continue with the rest of this article.

Windows 8 for IPsec
  1. Launch the browser on your remote system and log into the Barracuda SSL VPN. On your RESOURCES > My Resources page, you will see a Barracuda IPsec resource if the Barracuda SSL VPN has been configured to accept L2TP/IPsec connections.
  2. Click on the Barracuda IPsec icon. This launches the Barracuda SSL VPN Agent and asks you to configure the L2TP/IPsec VPN connection on your Windows 8 system.

  3. On the Connect dialog that appears:
  4. Click Properties.
  5. In the General tab, enter the IP address or host name of the Barracuda SSL VPN.
  6. In the Security tab, select Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec (L2TP/IPsec) and click Advanced settings.
  7. On the Advanced Properties dialog, select Use preshared key for authentication and enter the preshared key given to you by your IT administrator.
  8. Click OK two times.
    • If both your remote computer and the Barracuda SSL VPN are behind a router that uses NAT (most likely scenario), you will have to edit the Windows 8 registry to allow access to an L2TP/IPsec server behind NAT-T devices:
      1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
      2. Type regedit and then run the regedit app.
      3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PolicyAgent.
      4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
      1. Type AssumeUDPEncapsulationContextOnSendRule, and then press Enter.
      2. Right-click AssumeUDPEncapsulationContextOnSendRule, and then click Modify.
      3. In the Value Data box, set the value to 2
      4. Click OK and exit regedit.
      5. Restart Windows.
  9. Once the restart has completed, launch your browser and log into the Barracuda SSL VPN again. 
  10. On your RESOURCES > My Resources page, click the Barracuda IPsec icon.
  11. On the connect dialogenter the following information and click Connect:
    • User name – The account name for the connecting user; e.g., psmith
    • Password – The password for the username

You should be able to connect to the Barracuda SSL VPN and access your resources.

Configure a macOS client device

  1. On the remote device, navigate to System Preferences > Network.
  2. Click + to add a new service.
  3. On the dialog that appears, enter the following:
    • Interface – Select VPN from the list.
    • VPN type – Select L2TP over IPSec.
    • Service name – Name of your selection.
  4. Select the service you created. (The status will show as Not Configured.)
  5. Enter the following:
    • Server Address – The external IP address or the URL of your Barracuda SSL VPN.
    • Account Name – Your account name for authentication (for example: LDAP or Active Directory user name).
  6. Click Authentication Settings...
  7. Enter the following:
    • Password – Your account password.
    • Shared secret – Provided to you by your IT administrator.
  8. Click OK.
  9. To connect to the Barracuda SSL VPN, highlight the service and click Connect.