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The Syswan IPSec VPN Client is fully autonomous
and can start and stop tunnels without user intervention depending on network
traffic to certain destinations. However, it requires that VPN tunnels are
configured prior to connecting to a remote network using the VPN configuration
options.
The Syswan VPN Client configuration is defined
in a VPN configuration file. The software user interface allows creating,
modifying, saving, exporting or importing the VPN configurations together with
security elements (e.g. Preshared key, Certificates, ...).
The user interface is made of several elements:
Configuration Panel
Connection Panel
Main menus
System Tray Icon & Popup
Status bar
Wizards
Preferences
The VPN Client user interface can be launched
via a double click on the application icon (Desktop or Windows Start menu) or
by a single click on the application icon in system tray. Once launched, the
VPN Client software shows an icon in the system tray that indicates whether a
tunnel is opened or not. This is color coded.
VPN Client application system tray icon color
represents the following :
Blue
icon : no VPN tunnel is opened
Green
icon : at least one VPN tunnel is opened
A left-button click on VPN icon opens the
configuration user interface.
A right-button click shows the following menu:
"Quit” will close
established VPN tunnels, then stop the configuration user interface.
"Save & Apply” will
close established VPN tunnels, apply latest VPN configuration modification and
reopen VPN tunnels which are configured to be started automatically.
"Console” shows log window.
"Connection Panel" opens the Connection
Panel which enables to open, close and get information about tunnels.
List of configured tunnels
with current status. Tunnels can be opened or closed from this menu as well.
Tool tips over the VPN Client icon shows the
connection status of the VPN tunnel:
"Tunnel
<tunnelname>” when one or more tunnels are established
"Wait VPN ready...”
when the IKE service is reinitializing
"Syswan VPN Client”
when the VPN Client is up but with no opened tunnel.
A tiny popup coming out from the systray icon
shows up each time a tunnel is opening or closing.
This tiny popup has a simple behavior:
1. The popup shows tunnel opening with different phases and disappears after 6 sec unless the mouse pointer is moved over.
2. The popup also show up when tunnels are closed.
3. In case the tunnel cannot open,
a warning will display with a link to more information on our web site.
This feature improves the most common
manipulations.
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Shortcut |
Action |
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Ctrl + Enter |
Switches between the Configuration Panel and
the Connection Panel. Note: in case, the Configuration Panel is
protected with a password, the user will be asked for this password when he tries
to switch to the Configuration Panel. |
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Ctrl + D |
Opens the VPN Console in 'Debug' mode. |
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Ctrl + S |
'Save & Apply' a VPN Configuration. |
The Connection Panel enables users to open,
close and get clear information about every tunnel that has been configured.
This is all an end-user needs to open and close tunnels.
This feature clearly helps both IT managers
(who configure the VPN connections) and end users (who only open or close VPN
connections) to access options depending on their usage.
The Connection Panel is made of several elements:
An animated network diagram
showing information on the current tunnel (upper half)
A list of all configured
tunnels with an 'open/close' button (lower half)
It is always possible to switch from the
Connection Panel to the Configuration Panel through the system menu (menu
'Configuration Panel') or via the shortcut 'Ctrl + P' (see section
'Shortcuts').
The Configuration Panel enables to create VPN
Configurations and offers several options:
Three buttons 'Console', 'Parameters' and 'Connections' (left column)
A tree list window (left column) that contains
all the IKE and IPSec configurations
A configuration window
(right column) that shows the associated tree level.
A VPN Configuration file (i.e. extension '.tgb') can be draged and dropped onto the Configuration Panel. This feature enables easy application of a new VPN configuration. If a tunnel is configured to be 'opened when the VPN Client starts' (see section 'Phase2 Advanced Settings'), it will be immediately opened when the new VPN Configuration is applied ('Save & Apply').
There are several menus as followed:
'File' menu is used to Import or Export a configuration. It is also used to choose the
location of the VPN Configuration: local, USB, server, Token. It is finally
used to configure miscellaneous preferences such as the way the VPN Client may
start (e.g. before or after logon, ...).
'VPN Configuration' menu contains all actions from tree control right-click menu.
'Configuration' menu also gives access to the 'Configuration Wizard'.
'View' menu contains the 'Configuration' of what the user can access.
'Tools' menu contains 'Console' and 'Connections' choice.
'?' menu gives access to 'check for update', 'online help' and window 'About'. 'The ?' menu also gives access to the 'Activation Wizard'.
The status bar displays several information:
The left side box indicates
the VPN configuration location. For example, if the "USB Mode" is set, the image
will show a USB stick, enabled or not, depending on the presence of a valid VPN
USB stick.
The central box gives some
information about VPN Client software status (e.g. "opening tunnel in
progress", "saving configuration rules in progress", "VPN
Client start up in progress", …)
The light box (right side)
gives some information about tunnels : the green light indicates at least one tunnel
is open and the gray light indicates no tunnels are open.
The 'About' window provides the Syswan VPN
Client software version and software activation information. There is also a
URL to our web site.
This feature is especially designed for IT
managers. It locks the access to the Configuration Panel, and restricts with
password the use of the Syswan VPN Client 'Connection Panel' and/or the systray
menu. Therefore, end users will not be able to modify the VPN Configuration so
any misconfiguration is avoided.
Once configured, the user will be asked for the
password:
1. when clicked (or
double-clicked) on the systray Syswan VPN Client icon
2. when switching from the
"Connection Panel" to the "Configuration Panel".
This password may be configured as an option
during the setup (see section 'Setup options').
The Access Control Window available through the
menu 'View > Configuration' in the Configuration Panel, also allows the configuration
of the systray menu items. The IT manager can restrict software access, for
example from full access rights to a completely hidden interface.
To remove the Access Control, just blank both fields 'Password' and 'Confirm' then click 'OK'.
Note: The
'Quit' item for the systray menu is disabled in the standard version of the
software. It can nevertheless be removed during the software setup, through the
setup option "-menuitem" (see section 'Setup option').
The Access Control with a password only
concerns the 'Configuration Panel'. The access to the 'Connection Panel' is
never controlled by password.
In case Access Control has been set, the
'Configuration Panel' cannot be opened by double-clicking on the desktop icon
or by selecting it from the Start menu. Right-clicking on the icon on taskbar
will be limited to "Console" access, quitting the software, and
opening/closing the configured tunnels:
There are two Wizards available:
VPN Configuration Wizard can be launched from
Menu 'VPN Configuration' > 'Config Wizard'.
Software Activation Wizard can
be launched from Menu '?' > 'Activation Wizard'.
'Preferences' window allows you to define:
Start up mode of the
software. Modes that can be configured in the software setup (see section 'Setup options').
Enable/Disable the detection
of interface disconnection feature.
Preferences are available via Menu 'File' and
click 'Preferences'.
VPN Client start mode
Syswan IPSec VPN Client software has several
start up mode, such as:
Start IPSec VPN Client
software before MS Windows logon: this mode can be used for secure remote login
Start IPSec VPN Client
software after MS Windows logon
Do not start IPSec VPN
Client when starting MS Windows: IPSec VPN Client is launched either by the
user or from within a script ("manual" mode)
Miscellaneous
Disable detection of interface disconnection
allows the Syswan VPN Client to maintain tunnels opened while the network
interface disconnects momentarily but often. This type of behavior occurs when
the interface used to open tunnels is unstable such as WiFi, GPRS and all 3G
interfaces.
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