ISR C1161 vpn setup and what client to use

[markagregory]

We've purchased a C1161 and found the GUI is very light in capability, so it is back to the CLI. I would appreciate help. The device has IOS Gibraltar 12.1

1. a starter - what VPN client software is available for windows 10? We don't want to pay more for the Cisco VPN client

2. a guide - I've been looking at the latest Cisco configuration guides and found nothing that provides a simple step by step list of instructions to get a basic vpn server going on the device. I've loaded an SSL certificate to use but stopped at that point, and started to go around in circles.

3. The device has a security license so the VPN server should be ok.

thank you in advance

[Rob Ingram]

@markagregory 

The support Remote Access VPN on a Cisco IOS-XE router is FlexVPN, configuration guides here.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/security/flexvpn/products-configuration-examples-list.html

There are a couple of Remote Access VPN examples, using either RADIUS or local authentication.

I've not used it myself, but you could potentially use OpenConnect VPN client. If that doesn't work then you've not really an alternative other than to use the AnyConnect VPN client.

[markagregory]

thank you @robingram

I used the guide https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/security/flexvpn/200555-FlexVPN-AnyConnect-IKEv2-Remote-Access.html

but of course it is very out of date. Like walking through a desert in search of water, I've tried to follow the guide, but of course there are steps that require the purchase of additional items - why didn't the sales team tell me this?

I do not have a license to the AnyConnect Profile Editor nor the full AnyConnect client. I'm not a fan of this approach and do not appreciate a poor GUI and lack of free tools that are needed to implement a secure VPN.

I downloaded the AnyConnect app from the Windows store - thank you for that pointer.

I tried to create a VPN, but I was confronted by the app preventing me from entering the username and password. I'm stumped by this.

Also, I tried to manually install the profile xml, but it appears that the windows store app put the profiles into a different location to that mentioned in the guide, I would appreciate a pointer on where to put the profile xml that I created using notepad++.

thank you