Use Sonicwall NetExtener with Systemd

SonicWall's SSL VPN client can now be connected and disconnected via Systemd.

Create a Unit file

File: $HOME/.config/systemd/user/netextender.service

[Unit]
Description=SonicWall NetExtender VPN Client
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=%h/bin/netext
PIDFile=%h/.netext.pid

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Create a start script

File: $HOME/bin/netext

#!/bin/bash
PID=$HOME/.netext.pid
CONF=$HOME/.vpn

# Start netExtender
/usr/sbin/netExtender <$CONF &
echo $! > $PID
exit 0

Connection information

Write the following connection information in a text file.

1. VPN server: port
2. Username
3. Password
4. Domain

Describe the connection information in $ HOME / .vpn.

$ cat <<EOF > ~/vpn
vpn.example.com:4433
takeume2
hogehoge
LocalDomain
EOF

Set permissions.

$ chmod 0600 ~/vpn

Reload Systemd to reflect.

$ systemctl --user daemon-reload

How to use

• systemctl --user status netextender: Status check
• systemctl --user stop netextender: Disconnect
• systemctl --user start netextender: Connect

Connecting

$ systemctl --user stop netextender
$ systemctl --user status netextender
● netextender.service - SonicWall NetExtender VPN Client
   Loaded: loaded (/home/takeume2/.config/systemd/user/netextender.service; indirect; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2020-10-30 23:28:11 JST; 46min ago
  Process: 9393 ExecStart=/home/takeume2/bin/netext  (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 9394 (netExtender)
   CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/[email protected]/netextender.slice/netextender.service
           ├─9394 /usr/sbin/netExtender
           ├─9399 pppd call sslvpn mtu 1280 mru 1280
           └─9466 /usr/sbin/nxMonitor

October 30 23:28:10 lemur6 systemd[3608]: Client IP Address: 10.254.128.12
October 30 23:28:10 lemur6 systemd[3608]: You now have access to the following 1 remote networks:
October 30 23:28:10 lemur6 systemd[3608]:     10.0.0.0/255.0.0.0
October 30 23:28:10 lemur6 systemd[3608]: NetExtender connected successfully. Type "Ctrl-c" to disconnect...
October 30 23:28:11 lemur6 systemd[3608]: Started netExtender VPN Client

Disconnect

$ systemctl --user stop netextender
$ systemctl --user status netextender
● netextender.service - SonicWall NetExtender VPN Client
   Loaded: loaded (/home/takeume2/.config/systemd/user/netextender.service; indirect; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) since Sat 2020-10-31 00:19:30 JST; 16s ago
  Process: 9393 ExecStart=/home/takeume2/bin/netext (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 9394 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

October 31 00:19:24 lemur6 pppd[9399]: Terminating on signal 15
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 pppd[9399]: Connection terminated.
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 pppd[9399]: Modem hangup
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 pppd[9399]: Exit.
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 nete[9393]: SSL VPN logging out...
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 nete[9393]: SSL VPN connection is terminated.
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 nete[9393]: Exiting NetExtender client
October 31 00:19:30 lemur6 systemd[3608]: Stopped netExtender VPN Client