VPN client connect/disconnect via command line in XP

Question

In an XP Pro workstation, is there a way to start the native Windows VPN client and open/close a connection from the command line so it can be scripted in a batch file?

Answer 1

Yes, if the VPN connection is called "My VPN" then:

rasdial "My VPN"

will dial the connection. Helpfully it sets errorlevel to the RAS error code if it fails to connect, so your script can detect a connection failure. If you need to supply a username and password instead of using the saved credentials use:

rasdial "My VPN" username password

JR

Answer 2

I have not seen a command line scheme for the client yet. But, that does not mean it cannot be automated in scripts. Here is a two step approach,

• Create the shortcut link for the VPN as is done normally for your VPN users
  • Keep it configured with username and password
• Use AutoIt to script only,
  • launching the shortcut, and
  • pressing ENTER on the VPN login window (which is what a user does when everything is configured)

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If I recollect correctly, the code for pressing enter on a window is simply,

Send ("{ENTER}")

Look at the Send command.

You can setup AutoIt on one of your administration machines, get the script working, make and executable for it, and give it to the users. It can then be launched from command line as an executable.