Todd Boss

Skip the Cisco VPN part and hop down to “Installing VPNC.”  This is easy stuff, at least for a techie.  It got me hooked up to my Cisco VPN from Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy.  The process looks something like this:

1. sudo apt-get install vpnc

2. Edit a short config file.
3. If necessary, de-encrypt your stored password here and add to the config.
4. To connect (see update at bottom of post):

   sudo vpnc --dpd-idle 0 [your-config-file-name]

5. When you’re done:

   sudo vpnc-disconnect

Thanks, Arun!

UPDATE 2009.2.18: I was having some trouble getting the vpn connection to stay alive.  I found here that adding the —dpd-idle 0 takes care of the problem, at least for me.  You may not need it.