Mac – L2TP Connection

To connect your VPN using L2TP you will need three (3) things. Your Username Password and Shared Secret to the server. Be sure you have this information before proceeding.

1. Go to your System Preferences by clicking on the Apple in the upper left then on System Preferences (Apple>System Preferences).


2. In Systems Preferences click on the Network icon.

3. Click on the Plus in the bottom left corner.

4. In the drop down menu make the selections as seen below and give the connection a name of your choosing then click Create. (for PPTP see the next section for step 4)


5. Here you will fill in the server’s Domain Name (mydomain.com) or IP address and your User Name. Also select the check box to put a shortcut to the VPN in your menu bar. Now click on Authentication Settings…

6. Enter you Password in the password field and your Shared Secrete in the shared secrete field then click OK. (for PPTP see the next section for step 6)


7. Finally click on Apply in the bottom right corner and close the window with the red dot in the upper left.

8. Now on your Tool Bar you will see the icon for the VPN (Pictured below) click on this and select the name of your VPN. The menu will close and you will see a status of "Connecting….Authenticating…." and finally a time clock for a successful connection. To disconnect select your VPN name again and it will disconnect.

9. Once you have your VPN running you can connect to your shared volumes through your shortcuts or via Go > Connect to Server and enter your servers IP address.



Mac – PPTP Connection


For a PPTP connection follow the steps above for an L2TP connection. Replace the steps above where indicated with the ones below.

4. In the drop down menu make the selections as seen below and give the connection a name of your choosing then click Create. (replaces #4 above for PPTP) Continue to #5 above.

6. Enter you Password in the password field then click OK. (replaces #6 above for PPTP) Continue to #7 above.

Windows 7 – PPTP Connection

1. Start menu then control panel and choose Network and Internet:


2. Choose and enter the Network and Sharing Center:


3. Choose Set up a new connection or network:


4. On the pop up we want to choose connect to a workplace.


5. If prompted to use existing connection choose “No create a new connection.”
6. Then choose “Use my internet connection (VPN).”


7. Enter the
[your domain name] for the Internet address modify the Destination Name to [company name] and select the option “Don’t connect now just set it up…” As seen below in example:


8. Enter your username and password. Domain is not needed. Choose Create.
Note: Do not connect to VPN it will fail instead close the setup wizard.
10. From the Network and Sharing Center or choose Connect or Disconnect or you can choose Connect to a network:



11. Once the pop up comes up right click on [company] and choose properties:


12. Under the options tab in properties deselect the option to Include Windows logon domain as shown below:

13. Next under the security tab disable all but MS-CHAPv2 as shown below and choose PPTP as type of VPN.


14. Go ahead and try connecting to VPN once settings are set correctly. Still not working? Please contact Macworks.

Windows XP – PPTP Connection

1. In Windows XP click on the Start menu > Control Panel > Network Connections.

2. On the left side under Network Tasks click on Create a New Connection

3. In the Wizard that pops up click Next then select “connect to the network at my work place.” then click Next.

4. Select "Virtual Private Network connection" click Next.


5. Name the connection you can use the name “Mac Server VPN” click Next.


6. Select "Do not dial the initial connection" then click Next.


7. Fill in the server address “server.domain.com or IP” click Next.



8. Select to Add Shortcut to your desktop this will make it easy to turn the VPN on/off.



9. In the next window type your username and password that you use to connect to your server with. You could check the box to "share this username and password with the following users" on the computer but it is highly recommended the you don’t do this as it will allow other access to your server with your credentials. Next click Connect.



10. Your Network Connection window should still be open check that you have a new connection under Virtual Private Network and that it is connected. If you closed this window its: Start > Control Panel > Network Connections.


11. To disconnect from the VPN click the shortcut on your dock. It looks like the image below.


12.You will use this window to Disconnect and Reconnect. (remember to save any documents you were working on!)