Apple killed off its support for PPTP VPNs when it released OS X in September of 2016. There was one application we had to maintain where the only way to connect and update it was via this out-of-favor protocol. Here’s how to get in and get the job done over PPTP one last time.
VPN connections using PPTP are insecure and no longer supported in macOS 10.12. A list of secure VPN protocols and authentication methods are available at: HT206152. Get the best price for Vpn Pptp On Mac Os Sierra And Ars Technica Vpn Review Doc. This tutorial shows how to set up a PPTP VPN connection on Mac OS in 5 easy steps. Open System Preferences and click onto Network. Click the + button on the network connections pane. From the drop-down menu, select VPN followed by PPTP then click Create.
The Problem
Screenshot for mac computers. First, credit for this solution should go to the following post: https://smallhacks.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/pptp-on-osx-sierra/
We only had to make a couple of tweaks to the ppp configuration provided on that page in order to get the job done and they’re likely specific to our circumstances.
Second, you should really get off of PPTP VPNs as soon as practicable. The most common authentication protocol used on them, MS-CHAPv2, has been known to be vulnerable to attacks since 1999 and in 2012 Moxie Marlinspike released a tool that could be used in combination with a brute force attack to decrypt traffic over the VPN tunnel.
So, make plans to retire that VPN now and move to an IPSec or SSL VPN. Dante virtual soundcard for mac.
Write the following file to /etc/ppp/peers/pptpvpn:
The Modifications
We had to add the following lines to the configuration to help connect to our client’s network:
We encountered errors related to Extensible Authentication Protocol, turning it off allowed us to move on.
It was useful to turn on debugging to trace down the cause of one particular issue. At one site, the configuration requests being sent were not being acknowledged. After 10 unacknowledged requests, the connection was dropped. So turn on debugging and you should see requests and acknowledgements as well as messages detailing the authentication process.
The likely cause of the unacknowledged requests was that the router we were communicating through didn’t support Generic Router Encapsulation (GRE). Since we did not control that router, there was nothing to do but move to a site that we could communicate from.
Connect to the VPN by running:
After Connecting
When you connect successfully you should get a response like this in your terminal:
What you will need to do next, in order to make sure you’re not just sending requests out of the wrong interface, is to add a route to the host you need to contact on the other network:
Then you should be able to browse, ssh, ping, or do whatever you need to with the host on the other side.
Well I could just buy a VPN client…
Fair enough. There are two vendors for VPN clients for OS X supporting PPTP. One client costs $50 and the other vendor offers their software as an annual subscription. Unfortunately, buying new software doesn’t deal with the fact that PPTP should be phased out. Save your money, use the underlying ppp client in OS X to get connected, and then plan on replacing that old protocol.
Pptp Mac Os Free
How to restore PPTP VPN Access back to Mac OS Sierra
If you’ve recently upgraded to Mac OS Sierra you may have noticed that your VPN settings have been deleted during the upgrade process. Upon trying to enter the VPN settings again you may notice that there is NO PPTP option. Unfortunately Apple has removed the PPTP client from Mac OS Sierra due to PPTP lacking the security features of other VPN protocols.
As stated by Apple:
If you’ve set up a PPTP VPN server, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra users won’t be able to connect to it. iOS 10 and macOS Sierra will remove PPTP connections from any VPN profile when a user upgrades their device.
Even though PPTP protocol is still available on iOS 9 and earlier or OS X El Capitan and earlier, we don’t recommend that you use it for secure, private communication.
Mac Pptp Vpn Client
For those who this has come as a surprise and need to regain PPTP VPN access on Mac OS Sierra you’ll need to use a third party VPN Client to regain access to your PPTP servers. Below is a list of PPTP VPN Clients for Mac OS Sierra which will restore PPTP VPN access back to your Mac:
- Shimo VPN – Free Trial Available
As we find more PPTP VPN Clients we’ll update this list
Update: 7/10/16. We are still looking for other PPTP VPN Client alternatives for macOS Sierra but we haven’t been able to find any either paid or free. At this point Shimo VPN is the only one we can find available. If you know of any others please let us know in the comments.
Applies to: MacOS Sierra
Please Note: This is a “QUICK SUPPORT” article. The information contained herein is provided as is. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice.