Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work PC

Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work PC

Postby ArDrakho » May 16th, '21, 08:24

Howdy!

Is there a handy guide or checklist that I use to help me to setup connections via Cisco AnyConnect (mandated by work to access the network) on Mageia 7 & 8 that would connect to my Windows 10 work PC? I cannot seem to find something anywhere.

Cisco is no longer supporting Windows 7 and I refuse to upgrade to the next level on my personal laptop that I have been using to work from home for the entire period since Covod-19 made a mess of the world.

I would love to use my personal PC to work from but I need to setup AnyConnect and then figure out how to connect to the work PC once I can connect to the work network.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby sturmvogel » May 16th, '21, 11:16

Did you search the Cisco support page? Did you try the installation?
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/smb/routers/cisco-rv-series-small-business-routers/Kmgmt-785-AnyConnect-Linux-Ubuntu.html

If the use of AnyConnect is mandated by your company, did you ask at your company helpdesk for help (most companys don't even allow to use private equipment aka BYOD)? They should also provide you the needed licence (and server, and certificate chains, and so on and on...):
AnyConnect 4.10 is available to customers with active AnyConnect Apex, Plus or VPN Only term/contracts. See the AnyConnect Ordering Guide for options.

Source:
https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286281283/type/282364313/release/4.10.00093
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby ArDrakho » May 17th, '21, 06:30

Good questions all.

1. I did look at the Cisco web site--they only support Red Hat and Ubuntu. So I would not try the Ubuntu version since that is a Debian-based OS. If anything I would try the Red Hat version since Mageia is closer to that OS--but odds would against being successful. Hence, my question to this forum was to see if anyone has any experience with AnyConnect here.

2. My company only supports Windows and Apple products. So no help there...in addition, Covid-19 changed everything about alternate work locations back in 2020 and providing resources (or the lack of it in my situation due to shortages) to support AWLs. I just need the client software to work in Mageia so I can connect to my work PC--I have no other concerns beyond that due licenses etc. I already have all that.

I'm a maverick of sorts since I love different OSes. My primary Linux is Mageia (or OpenSuse), which is my daily driver. My other daily driver is ZetaOS--always loved BeOS!

I stood up a laptop last year to enable working from home since resources were strained but my AWL is very productive all this time under the current circumstances. I would like to retire the Windows laptop and work from my Mageia box instead (if possible).

As a database engineer by trade, I am used to working remotely connecting to various Windows Server, Linux (Red Hat or Suse), and AIX platforms supporting a variety of database servers.

I guess I can go back to Fedora's KDE Spin OS (since it's Red Hat-based OS) and that would solve my problem with Cisco AnyConnect.

I was just curious if anyone using Mageia ever encountered this situation.
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby sturmvogel » May 17th, '21, 09:41

Actually Cisco is providing a *.tar.gz archive. So it is not Ubuntu or Red Hat related. Did you read the installation instructions? Nobody can test this for you unless they have the needed license for download.
https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286281283/type/282364313/release/4.10.00093?i=!pp
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/smb/routers/cisco-rv-series-small-business-routers/Kmgmt-785-AnyConnect-Linux-Ubuntu.html
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby doktor5000 » May 17th, '21, 16:18

FWIW, the initial description doesn't make much sense, anyconnect would not enable you to connect to your Windows 10 work PC, it would only enable you to connect to a VPN.
And usually you can use the openconnect plugin for networkmanager for such AnyConnect VPN connections, the proprietary client is not necessarily required.
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby ArDrakho » May 18th, '21, 08:28

@sturmvogel

I briefly looked at that page, but that page looked like SysAdmin stuff...APIs, deployment packages, etc. Nothing on that page meant anything to me nor did I see anything that would trigger --oh that's what I'm looking for.

Do you think this is what I am looking for: "AnyConnect Pre-Deployment Package (Linux 64-bit)"?

I do not mind trying out archives as long as they stay self-contained. I had bad experiences before where the installer or archive changed system settings, spilled out into other directories, and created a library mess to clean up.

@doktor5000

You are spot on--I am using AnyConnect to connect to my work environment network thence into my work PC. AnyConnect has a two-factor feature that pings my personal telephone via an loaded app for me to verify my connection into the VPN. If 'openconnect' has that feature to do two-factor as well--that would be great; though configuring openconnect would be challenge since I'm not familiar with the back-ends of such utilities.

That is why I am focused on using AnyConnect--I pass the network connection URL into the connection window and it does the rest. I do not have any other configuration knowledge--just the URL. So I am expecting the same behaviour in Linux when I find and use AnyConnect.

I have to make more time to look and read into using openconnect to see if it is viable for me to try.

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate it. You guys are awesome!!
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Re: Cisco AnyConnect on Mageia to connect to Windows 10 work

Postby doktor5000 » May 18th, '21, 17:47

ArDrakho wrote:I briefly looked at that page, but that page looked like SysAdmin stuff...APIs, deployment packages, etc.

Well, AnyConnect and VPN connections are "SysAdmin stuff".

Usually you ask your IT department, as they should provide the AnyConnect installer to you and help you set it up.
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