• If you haven't already, you can download VPN Tracker using this link.
• After the download has completed, launch the app and click the "Login" button in the top left-hand corner of the app home page.
• Enter your equinux ID and password in the space provided. Hint: This is the login you first created when purchasing VPN Tracker in our online store.

Are you a World Connect User?

You will need to download VPN tracker World Connect. You can do so using this link. VPN Tracker World Connect must be installed using the App Store. Once you've installed the app on your device, sign in with your equinux ID and password.

There is a known bug in the Watchguard firmware that is causing a lot of trouble. Currently, we still do not know why VPN Tracker is triggering this bug, as the Windows client seems to not trigger it. We talked with Watchguard, but even they could not tell us what we are doing wrong. Basically the tunnel dies internally in the Watchguard (it's still shown as open and established, but traffic arriving over this tunnel is rejected as if the tunnel was closed).

If you are using a Branch Office VPN at the moment, try switching to a MUVPN if possible. MUVPN works with VPN Tracker as well and usually yields for better results.

Please refer to the following description.

To establish a VPN connection to a certain location (such as your office), you will need a VPN gateway at that location. This gateway could be a hardware VPN gateway device (see our compatibility page for compatible devices and setup guides).

The VPN gateway needs to be connected to the Internet (e.g. to a DSL modem or similar), preferably with a static IP address or it should be capable of using a service like DynDNS.org to map its dynamic IP to a hostname. Configuration is easiest if the VPN gateway is also the router (default gateway) of its network. If the VPN gateway is not the router of its network, a suitable routing setup may be necessary for traffic over the VPN to be routed correctly.

Configuration details can be found in the configuration guides for specific devices.

By default, traffic to the remote network cannot be sent through the VPN tunnel if it is using the same network as the local network.

Resolving a Network Conflict using Traffic Control

You can use Traffic Control and VPN Tracker will send non-essential local network traffic over the VPN.

Activate Traffic Control:
> Go to Advanced > Traffic Control
> Check "Force traffic over the VPN if remote networks conflict with local networks"

Note that you will never be able to reach the following addresses over VPN: The IP address of your local router, your DHCP server, and your DNS server(s). If you need to reach those IPs over VPN, you will have to resolve the network conflict instead of using Traffic Control. The same applies for any IPs that you need to reach locally and over VPN.

Resolving a Network Conflict Manually

You have two basic options for resolving a conflict:

1. Change the local network to use a different network address. In most situations, this will entail changing the LAN settings on the local router (including DHCP settings if DHCP is used).
2. Change the remote network to use a different network address. With most setups, this entails changing the LAN on the VPN gateway (including DHCP settings if DHCP is used), and changing the IPs used by devices on the VPN gateway's LAN (or triggering a DHCP refresh, if DHCP is used). If the LAN is used in the VPN settings (such as for policies or firewall rules), these will need to be changed as well. Finally, change the remote network in VPN Tracker to match the new settings

If you decide to change the remote network, it makes sense to choose a private network that less commonly used. According to our informal statistics, conflicts are least likely using these networks:

• Subnets of 172.16.0.0/12
• Subnets of 192.168.0.0/16, excluding 192.168.0.0/24, 192.168.1.0/24 and 192.168.168.0/24

If these are not an option, use a subnet of 10.0.0.0/8, excluding 10.0.0.0/24, 10.0.1.0/24, 10.1.0.0/24, 10.1.1.0/24. However, since wireless network operators sometimes choose to use the entire 10.0.0.0/8 network, the first two options are preferred.

If you have a more sophisticated VPN gateway, in particular a SonicWALL, you may be able to set up an alternative remote network on the VPN gateway that is mapped 1:1 through Network Address Translation (NAT) onto the actual network. Users can then connect to this network instead if they have a conflict of networks. We have a guide available that describes this approach for SonicWALL devices.

If the conflict is caused by virtual network interfaces (e.g. Parallels, VMware), see here for more information.

When connecting via SonicWall SCP or SonicWall IKEv1 with DHCP, VPN Tracker 365 for Mac requests an IP address from the SonicWall gateway using the DHCP protocol. For this request, VPN Tracker 365 modifies the MAC address slightly, making it different from the actual MAC address of your device. This allows administrators to assign a fixed IP address when your Mac is connected via LAN or WiFi and a different IP when it’s connected through VPN.

This modification sets a specific bit in the MAC address, marking it as a self-assigned address rather than a factory-assigned one.

Example:
Original MAC address: 00:1B:63:B7:42:23
VPN Tracker MAC address: 02:1B:63:B7:42:23

Starting with macOS 15 Sequoia, Apple defaults to using a rotating MAC address for WiFi connections, labeled as a “Private Wi-Fi Address” in System Settings. To prevent connectivity issues related to this feature, VPN Tracker 365 reports the actual hardware address (with the minor modification described above) instead of the one used in “Rotating” or “Fixed” modes.

On iOS, VPN Tracker cannot retrieve a MAC address directly. Instead, it generates a random value once and stores it for future use. VPN Tracker for iOS then uses this stored value as the MAC address.

Configuration guides for configuring VPN Tracker with Cisco devices are available here.

Configuration guides for Cisco Small Business (Linksys) devices are available here.

Import of Cisco IPsec VPN Client Configuration Files (.pcf)

Cisco VPN Client configuration files that use group password authentication can be imported into VPN Tracker:

‣ "File" > "Import 3rd Party Configuration" > "Cisco .pcf"
{S_118}

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee this. Secure networking is a complex subject. VPN Tracker is extremely reliable and is used by customers around the world. But there are some rare scenarios in which VPN connections cannot be established (e.g. when a firewall is set up to actively block VPN connections).

We recommend using the free trial version to test VPN Tracker with your particular network and usage scenario.

If you require any assistance setting up your VPN connection with VPN Tracker, you can contact equinux support at any time.

If you purchased your equinux software product in our Online Store, you don't need an activation code in order to activate your application.

During the purchase process the license will be automatically added to your equinux ID, so you can activate your app using just your equinux ID and password.

You entered your equinux ID but still get asked to enter an Activation Code?

‣ You might have purchased your application using another equinux ID. Please open the invoice you received for your purchase. You will find here the equinux ID you used for your order.
‣ The other reason ist that you might have purchased your license via the Mac App Store. In this case, please delete the application version you have downloaded from our website and download your application via the "Purchases" tab of the Mac App Store.

VPN Tracker has three settings that can speed up connecting to Cisco devices and improve compatibility.

• Establish a shared tunnel to 0.0.0.0/0 for split-tunneling
• Send Cisco firewall attribute
• Use ... as the application version during Mode Config

Note: All settings described on this page require VPN Tracker 6.2 or newer.
 

Establish a shared tunnel to 0.0.0.0/0 for split-tunneling

What does this setting do?
In a split-tunneling setup using EasyVPN, VPN Tracker will no longer establish an IPsec Security Association (SA) to each remote network, but establish a single SA to 0.0.0.0/0. Split-tunneling is achieved only through an appropriate routing setup. This can speed up the connection processes significantly for connections with multiple remote networks.

When should I use this setting?
The setting works with most Cisco devices that use EasyVPN and a split-tunneling setup.

How can I try it?

On the Advanced tab, uncheck the box “Establish a separate tunnel for each remote network” (see screenshot)
Make sure the box “Establish a shared tunnel to 0.0.0.0/0 for split tunneling” is checked (see screenshot)

If your connection does not work with this new setting, simply revert back to your previous setup by checking the box “Establish a separate tunnel for each remote network”.

Send Cisco firewall attribute

What does this setting do?
This setting causes VPN Tracker to send a special attribute during EasyVPN indicating the presence of a firewall.

When should I use this setting?
You can try enabling this setting if your current EasyVPN-based connection to a Cisco device gets dropped at phase 2 (“The VPN gateway asked VPN Tracker to disconnect...” error).

Use ... as the application version during Mode Config

What does this setting do?
This setting causes VPN Tracker to send a different application version than the default “VPN Tracker 6” during EasyVPN and Mode Config.

When should I use this setting?
You can try setting a different application version, e.g. “Cisco Systems VPN Client 4.8.0:Linux” if your current EasyVPN-based connection to a Cisco device gets dropped at phase 2 (“The VPN gateway asked VPN Tracker to disconnect...” error).

By itself, the IPsec protocol does not support usernames. If you were given a username from your network administrator for connecting to your corporate VPN solution, there are generally two possibilities:

• Your corporate VPN solution uses the term "username" for "identifiers". Please try to use your username as the "Local Identifier" in VPN Tracker.
• Your corporate VPN solution is using Extended Authentication (XAUTH). You can enable XAUTH in VPN Tracker. The software will then prompt for your username and password when the connection is being established.

This depends on your settings. The most common setup is “Host to Network“, in which case only traffic to the specified remote network(s) will go through the VPN tunnel.

With a “Host to Everywhere” setup, all traffic – except traffic to the local network(s) – goes through the VPN. A Host to Everywhere connection requires a suitable setup on the VPN gateway.

• macOS 15.0 Sequoia
• macOS 14.0 Sonoma
• macOS 13.0 Ventura
• macOS 12.0 Monterey
• macOS 11.0 Big Sur
• macOS 10.15 Catalina
• macOS 10.14 Mojave
• macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Yes, as long as your VPN gateway uses Extended Authentication (XAUTH) to request the passcode, you can use any third party token with VPN Tracker.

Once you have decided which product to purchase, the next step is to proceed to our Online Store and place your order. We accept all major credit cards, PayPal and bank transfers or checks, depending on your country.

After your order has been processed you will receive a confirmation for your purchase. This will confirm the items purchased, and additional payment instructions if you're paying via bank transfer or check (in those cases you will also receive an additonal email confirming your payment when it has been processed.)

In the purchase confirmation email you will also receive additional information like the download links for your purchased apps.

Yes, this is possible. If you set up shared networking for the guest operating system it shares the network connection of your Mac and you can access all network resources that are accessible from OS X.

Note that if you are using remote DNS for your VPN connection, you will need to manually enter the DNS server in your guest operating system in order for it to work – there is no way for VPN Tracker to “transmit” this setting to the guest operating system

For information on how to set up VPN Tracker with Parallels, check out our VPN Tracker with Parallels Configuration Guide.

One of our customers has kindly provided instructions on how to integrate Cisco EasyVPN and VPN Tracker with a DMVPN setup:

EasyVPN Server and DMVPN Hub on 1 Cisco router tutorial

Using VPN Tracker 5 with a Cisco Easy VPN Server

VPN Tracker supports industry standard OpenVPN, IPsec (IKEv1 + IKEv2), L2TP, PPTP, SSL, SSTP, and WireGuard® protocols. This means that it will work with almost all devices supporting these types of VPN connections.

A list of tested devices is available on our website

What if my device is not on this list?

There are hundreds of VPN devices available on the market, and we'd love to offer device profiles for all of them. Unfortunately, it is impossible to test all devices. If your gateway is not in the list, it will probably still work with VPN Tracker.

Tip: Try out one of our custom protocol profiles to test your VPN connection free in VPN Tracker on Mac, iPhone or iPad.