ncepvpn

Introduction

ncepvpn is a Bash shell script wrapper for OpenConnect for the purposes of connecting to NOAA/NCEP's VPN. The script provides an easy-to-use interface rather then using OpenConnect directly. Since OpenConnect requires sudo access, this package also includes sudo rules that allow user's to run openconnect without directly invoking sudo.

IMPORTANT: NCEP VPN hostname information is purposely excluded from this package as it is not for public knowledge.

Supported Operating Systems

The following Linux operating systems have been tested:

• CentOS/RHEL/Rocky 8.x, 9.x
• Fedora 35+
• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS+

The following macOS versions have been tested on Intel and Apple Silicon:

• macOS 11 (Big Sur)
• macOS 12 (Monterey)
• macOS 13 (Ventura)

Software Dependencies

• openconnect
• vpnc

Installation

Clone or download ncepvpn package. NOTE: Installation requires sudo access. The script will install the sudo rules to the appropriate directory and ncepvpn to $PREFIX.

Instructions

cd ncepvpn-X.Y.Z/
export PREFIX=/path/to/install # This is optional.  Default install path is /usr/local/bin/.
sudo ./install.sh

Usage

On first connection attempt, ncepvpn will ask for primary and backup NCEP VPN URLs and your NCEP VPN username. This information will be stored in $HOME/.ncepvpn and have the following format:

primary_url=...
backup_url=...
user=...

Usage:

$ ncepvpn
ncepvpn version X.Y.Z

Usage: ncepvpn ACTION [CHOICE]

   ACTION - To connect enter "c|on|nect"; to disconnect enter "d|is|connect"
   CHOICE - Connect to primary VPN URL enter "p|ri|mary" [DEFAULT] or backup enter "b|ac|kup"

Config Files:
   ncepvpn: /Users/ericengle/.ncepvpn
   openconnect: /Users/ericengle/.openconnect

State: Disconnected

To connect to the primary VPN:

$ ncepvpn c [p]

To connect to the backup VPN:

$ ncepvpn c b

To disconnect:

$ ncepvpn d

OpenConnect Configuration

ncepvpn uses an OpenConnect configuration file, $HOME/.openconnect. This gives the user the flexibility to modify the OpenConnect connection behavior without the need to modify the ncepvpn script. The following OpenConnect flags will remain hardcoded in the ncepvpn script to maintain its intended behavior and interaction with the ncepvpn script.

• -u: Username
• --background: Tells OpenConnect to run in the background
• --pid-file=: Place the process ID of openconnect in the file

Recommended OpenConnect configuration options for connecting to NCEP VPNs (IMPORTANT: Do not include "-" or "--" in the OpenConnect configuration file):

• no-dtls
• token-mode=rsa: If you have your RSA token configured on your workstation using stoken

Please consult the OpenConnect manual for proper syntax.