Howto: Ubuntu 10.10 + Juniper Network VPN

So work has me using Network Connect from Juniper to VPN into the internal network. I got it to work on almost every platform except my Ubuntu 10.10 Sony Ultralight. After hours and hours of banging my head I finally figured it out.

1) Network Connect does not like to use openjdk-6-jre which comes default on Ubuntu. I had to install sun-java.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sun-java-community-team/sun-java6
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts

Select Sun Java as your default Java. (don't know if this is necessary)

sudo update-alternatives --config java

2) There seems to be some sort of bug with Firefox and Network Connect which never initializes the Java applet. And I couldn't get the Official Java to work with Firefox. So I had to use Chromium, which is fine with me. I like Chromium.

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

3) If you're anything like me, you tried to install Network Connect a billion times. Delete the ~/.juniper_networks/ in your home directory. Content and all. Just in case some sort of funkiness happened with your settings.

cd ~/.juniper_networks
rm -rf *
cd ..
rmdir .juniper_networks

4) Juniper's install script requires su. So put a password on the root user.

sudo passwd

5) Open Chromium. Type "about:plugins" in the url bar. Click on disable for "IcedTea NPR Web Browser Plugin" and make sure "Java(TM) Plug-in" is enabled.

6) Go to your company's VPN page, start up VPN, type in the root password of your system, and wa-la! It works. Well, it worked for me. I might be missing a step or two because I typed all this from memory. So let me know if you find any errors or can't get it to work.

Take care,

Ubuntu 10.10 on my old Sony Vaio ultra light...

At work, I have a bunch of Ubuntu Servers with over 300 TB of space. But I don't have anything small and portable I can just hack Ubuntu on. So I decided to resurrect my boss's old laptop and give Ubuntu a whirl. Here are some of the system and usability issues I had with Ubuntu Desktop 10.10 on an Ultra Light Sony Vaio (vgn-txn15p) that bug the heck out of me.

The problems I had and their fixes.

1) Stupid thing won't sleep.

fix - add "blacklist tpm_tis" to the end of "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf"

2) Can't find that stupid program, and I don't want to drill down the stupid menus to find things. Why can't I just type something in some search text box and find what I need like in Macosx and Windows 7?

fix - install deskbar-applet "sudo apt-get install deskbar-applet"

right click on a gnome panel and put it on the bar. Open up deskbar preference and select your Loaded Extensions of choice. I like Calculator and Programs, to me everything else on that list just confuses me.

I love this little applet because I've found so many programs on Ubuntu that I didn't even know was there. Like Login Screen. I always thought Ubuntu was insecure in the way it handles usernames, why is there a list of people I can easily see on the login screen (gdm)? So in Login Screen, I can turn it off. Yeah!

3) Terminal is painful to use in it's current form. Why can't I hit a button and have a terminal window, then hit the button and it's gone?

fix - guake "sudo apt-get install guake"

Now, I feel like a true Linux hacker. Terminal power at a touch of a button. Sweet!

4) How do I sync all my files with all my other computers?

fix - dropbox (referral - Please use this link so I get goodies. Not money, just extra space.) Just follow the Ubuntu installation process with .deb. Easy as pie.

Watch the video, I love dropbox. I have it on the 20+ computers I use regularly... You can get 2gb free just for signing up!

5) Battery is dead.

fix - Buy a big ass extended battery. You'll be happy. I get 7-10 hours on a full charge.

6) Tuning.

fix - install powertop to optimize my power consumption. "sudo apt-get install powertop"

Ever want to know what's eating all your juice? Follow the directions and you'll be hacking longer...

Conclusion...

Well there you have it. After doing the stuff above to help me through the pain of using Ubuntu on an Ultra Light. This current setup almost makes me want to use my Sony Vaio over my Black Macbook. If Ubuntu was rock solid like my mac, I would definitely make the switch...

I'll probably post something about the different distro I used on this little ultra light, later. But this is a good start. Let me know if you have other little tricks to make life easy on Ubuntu.

Take care!

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