How to setup VPN between MAC PRO and SBS 2008

Couple users are using Apple MacPro laptops and they have needs to connect with VPN from home or during business trip to access resources on the MS Small Business Server 2008. This process has 2 parts as the user has to be setup on SBS 2008 server and setup the VPN on MacPro laptop.
1. on MS SBS 2008 the user must be setup with the proper permissions to access the network over VPN

User setup on SBS

2. the rest of the process is completed on MacPro machine

  • Open system preferences and click onto NETWORK
  • click the “+” button on the network connection panel
  • From the drop down menu select “VPN” followed by “PPTP” and click “CREATE”
  • Now enter the VPN Server address IP or DNS alias and enter your “USER NAME” on SBS 2008
  • Click ”AUTHENTICATION SETTINGS” and select “PASSWORD” enter your password (SBS 2008)
  • Once you have entered the user name/password and VPN server IP click OK
  • Click APPLY
  • and you are ready to click “CONNECT” if everything is correct you should be able to connect with VPN over PPTP to your Small Business Server 2008

Note: this has been tested under OS X 10.6 Leopard on MacPro machine, also the User name/password used in the wizard setup are same as your Windows credentials to access SBS 2008 in the office

Selecting VPN and PPTP

Additional part of this connection you will need also Microsoft Remote Desktop Client for Mac. You can download it if you do not have it from Microsoft website here. Current version is 2.0.1 and you will need it if you need to connect to Windows machine on the network.

Leave a Reply