Learn how to connect L2TP/IPsec VPN on Mac OS X

Estimated reading time: 1 min

Introduction

This article will describe how you can configure L2TP/IPsec VPN on MAC OS X.

Prerequisites

  • Mac OS X
  • Access to your Mac OS X with admin or a user that has administrator permissions

Step 1 – Log in to Mac OS X

Click on the icon in the left top corner and click System Preferences

macos system

Click on Network

macos network

Click on + to add a new interface

macos network settings

Select  VPN via the Interface dropdown list. Select L2TP over IPsec as VPN-type.

Enter the VPN server information

Server IP = 193.33.61.185
Accountname = Administrator

Once everything is entered/selected click Create

macos plus

Select VPN (L2TP)in the left menu and enter your VPN information. In our tutorial, we use as example Server Address 193.33.61.185 and we are using Administrator as Account Name.

macos vpn

Click on  Authentication Settings... and enter Password in the password field of your VPN user. In our article, it’s the password of the administrator user of our VPN server followed by the Shared Secret that you have entered in step 5 of this article as Preshared key and click on OK

macos vpn sharedkey

Click on Advanced...

macos advanced

If your VPN server allows sending your traffic through the server, you can enable this to send all traffic over your VPN connection. You can enable this feature in step 5 which you can find in another article “How to set up a L2TP/IPSec VPN on Windows Server 2016

Select Send all traffic over VPN connection to send all traffic over the secure VPN connection.

macos vpn traffic

Step 2 – Connect with VPN

The Mac OS X VPN client is now configured. Click on  Connect to make a connection with your VPN server.

macos vpn connect

We have made a successful connection to our VPN server via VPN.

macos vpn status

Step 3 – Check IP address

If you are routing all traffic through VPN you see the VPN IP address of your VPN server. You can find your IP address by visiting whatismyip.com. 

macos ip

 

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have configured a VPN client on a Mac OS X. Please view our knowledge base for other articles regarding how to connect with VPN on other Operating Systems.

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Comments

  1. Bisujaksha says

    I have configured VPN, though I am able to connect to remote servers (RDC) through VPN, I am unable to access internet while I am connected to VPN.

  2. Charlie says

    Hi,
    Thanks for your post.
    I have successfully connected to my VPN using MacOS but I am not able to ping anything on that network after, I do not have a problem when using Windows 10 PC its only my Mac.

    I have limited knowledge on networking subnets/VLANS but could this be due to having 192.168.1.x on my home router, 192.168.100.x on my office?

    Not sure whether this is relevant but I am issued a 192.168.5.x address from the VPN server to my client MacOS when connected.

    My thoughts are as all are 192.168.x.x i'm wondering if this is the issue, if so is there a workaround without changing router DHCP IP's or the Subnet at office and all static IP's there?

    Any assistance appreciated.
    Thanks and regards.

  3. Vuyolwethu says

    Hi there, I am using macOS Catalina to access Win Server 2019 via VPN, i followed every instruction according to the article, I able to connect to the VPN when computer are connected on the same network, but when i change connection for make to be on a different wifi network, i get this "The L2TP-VPN server did not respond. Try reconnecting. If the problem continues, verify your settings and contact your Administrator.", any help for this please ?

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