Split tunneling mac os

Question: Q: MAC — Built In VPN — Cisco IPSec — Split Tunneling

I set up my built in MAC VPN (Cisco IPSec) client, but it does not appear the client is getting my split tunnel details, it routes all traffic over VPN in the split tunnel list and any traffic that is not configured to go down the VPN tunnel appears to just get droped an it just does not pass that traffic out the local internet connection. On the MAC built in VPN (L2TP) configuration in advanced options, you see a check box for «Send all traffic over VPN connection», but that option is not available in the MAC built in VPN (Cisco IPSec), would this check box be similar to the Cisco client, «allow local lan access», that particular feature allows for split tunneling in the Cisco client. Is there a way for the built in VPN (Cisco IPSec) client to get the split tunnel rules? Thanks

Posted on Aug 31, 2011 5:49 AM

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I set up my built in MAC VPN (Cisco IPSec) client, but it does not appear the client is getting my split tunnel details, it routes all traffic over VPN in the split tunnel list and any traffic that is not configured to go down the VPN tunnel appears to just get droped an it just does not pass that traffic out the local internet connection. On the MAC built in VPN (L2TP) configuration in advanced options, you see a check box for «Send all traffic over VPN connection», but that option is not available in the MAC built in VPN (Cisco IPSec), would this check box be similar to the Cisco client, «allow local lan access», that particular feature allows for split tunneling in the Cisco client. Is there a way for the built in VPN (Cisco IPSec) client to get the split tunnel rules? Thanks

I have not set up the Cisco VPN server end, but I have used a Cisco system from the Client end. I can therefore tell you often the IT department will have set policies in the Cisco VPN server to force all traffic to go via their system whether you as a user would prefer or not. This allows them to monitor and filter all the traffic.

Apple’s own VPN server can be configured in a similar way, although I chose to allow non-work traffic to go via the users own connection.

Sep 1, 2011 2:58 AM

Thanks John, I manage the back end VPN appliance and have a split-tunnel rule for 1 particular site, it works fine with the vendors client on the MAC, but with the MAC built in Cisco IPSec client/configuration, the traffic does not go anywhere. All other traffic goes down the tunnel fine, but he 1 site/I.P. we split tunnel goes nowhere.

The MAC built in VPN (L2TP) has the opiotn to «Send all traffic over VPN connection» but the MAC Cisco IPSec configuraton does not have that option/checkbox.

I am just wondering if there is somewhere else I can be setting that on the client.

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Split tunneling mac os

Split Tunnel VPN Routing for Mac

This is a simple script that makes it super easy for you to manage one or more VPN connections with split tunneling.

In particular this makes it very easy to connect to multiple VPNs simultaneously, and all traffic is kept going to the right place at the right time.

You only need a file in your home directory that contains the routes. In the install instructions, we symlink’d the routes.json config file to your home directory, a file named $HOME/.routes.json

Example $HOME/.routes.json file

The above example will route all the traffic for the class C block 9.8.7.* to your VPN server whose IP is 1.2.3.4

Configuring your VPN

You must configure your VPN such that the «Send all traffic over VPN connection» checkbox is not checked in the Advanced settings screen.

See below for an example of a correctly configured VPN.

Advanced Example $HOME/.routes.json file

The above file configures 2 VPNs, 1.2.3.4 and 2.3.4.5

There are 3 networks routed through the 1.2.3.4 VPN: 9.8.7.* , 8.7.6.* and 7.6.5.*

There are 2 networks routed through the 2.3.4.5 VPN: 4.5.6.* and 5.6.7.*

Reconnect to VPN for changes to take effect

After editing your $HOME/.routes.json file, you must disconnect from and reconnect to your VPN for the changes to take effect.

This allows you to set up your VPN links such that the ONLY traffic that goes over the VPN is traffic that really NEEDS to be on the VPN link. All other traffic will go over your default internet connection, which means you will have the fastest possible Internet speed at all times.

This routing manager uses a JSON file to keep track of which routes you really need to go to your VPN so then you can just edit that file if/when there are updates to it. No need to think about system utilities etc. Edit a file, reconnect to VPN, voila!

Log for troubleshooting purposees

Each time you connect to a VPN, a log message is written in /tmp/ppp.ip-up.log so you can see exactly what is happening.

In the above log dump, the remote VPN IP is 1.2.3.4 which you can see in the System arguments dump near [5] Remote IP: ‘1.2.3.4’

If you are unsure what your actual VPN IP address is, connect to your VPN and then look at this log file to see what the Remote IP is. The Remote IP is what you need to list in your $HOME/.routes.json file as the VPN identifier.

About

Simple app to make it easy to set up and maintain Split Tunneling over VPN on Mac OS X.

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Question: Q: How to get VPN split tunneling with built in VPN Client and Cisco IPsec protocol?

I recently tried to connect to my business local network using Cisco IPsec VPN.

Connection established and everything worked like it should be.

What i needed and couldn’t find is a solution to split tunnel my connection. That means

i want to be connected to my business network but use my own internet connection for

all every other connection.

Assume my companies IP address range is 192.168.188/24 and the network i am currently in (local home) is 192.168.178/24.

I want to reach 192.168.188/24 via VPN — wich works.

I want to reach the outside world via my local home connection — does not work.

Remember earlier versions of OS X had these options built in when you click on «Advanced. » you could chose to split tunnel the connection. These options seem to be gone.

Any solution to this problem?

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Jan 23, 2019 1:40 AM

After looking doing some research i figured out to solve this problem. It needs some hard-coding though and might not ne suitable for everyone!

MacOS Mojave uses the standard unix networking services. That means you can manipulate the route table of your network to achieve split tunneling. Therefor it is necessary run two commands:

The first command adds a new entry to the route table that does the following:

«Hey Network, if you want to reach any address in the range 192.168.188.0 to 192.168.188.255 then you have to use the configured interface utun1.»

Here utun1 is my VPN Tunnel to the business network. To figure out what your interface is named you can use the command: ‘ifconfig’ via terminal.

The second command changes a entry in the route table:

«Hey Network, if you want to reach any address you DO NOT have a special entry in your table, then use 192.168.178.1 to go there.»

Here default stands for ‘any address not in your list’ and 192.168.178.1 is my local home router who has his own DNS addresses configured and will be able to resolve any address i am looking for expect the ones directly specified in my route table.

I tried to keep this as understandable as possible. Feel free to ask, but i am not sure if i ll be around that often. All in all this is working for me. I am not using the connection to often so i can easily use these two commands when it comes to my need. If you have another easier solution i am happy to hear about it!

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How to set up VPN split tunneling on Mac – 3 options explained

This short tutorial explains how to set up and use VPN split tunneling on Mac. It also explains why to use split tunneling on macOS, presents the available options, and lists VPN client apps that offer access to this feature.

How to set up split tunneling on macOS [Summary]

Setting up VPN split tunneling on Mac may be either very simple (if you install an app capable of turning split tunneling on and off), or a little bit complicated as it requires some command-line skills, and patience.

• Option 1: Use a VPN client app that implements split tunneling.
  • Step 1: Open the VPN app.
  • Step 2: Define split tunneling rules.
  • Step 3: Turn on the VPN connection.
• Option 2: Use the command line to define split tunneling rules.
  • Step 1: Find the IP address of the website you want to access the VPN tunnel.
  • Step 2: Run the route command.
  • Step 3: Check the setup.
• Option 3: Modify an OpenVPN configuration file and use the route command.

As your goal is to set up an advanced VPN connection on macOS (Mac OS X), I suggest that you first read our article on how to install a VPN on Mac. `You will learn what the available VPN options on macOS are.

What You’ll Learn

Why use split tunneling on Mac?

Simply put, split tunneling allows you to control VPN traffic . Thus, you may let specific applications connect to the Internet using the VPN tunnel while allowing other apps to directly access the Internet.

Split tunneling is very convenient on Apple Mac (as well as on other operating systems, Windows, Android, Linux, iOS) for unblocking streaming channels or downloading torrents securely. You may obtain the perfect balance between security/privacy/anonymity and speed, and use VPN only for precise apps or websites.

If you are interested solely in unblocking geo-restricted websites, an alternative to split tunneling is to set up Smart DNS on your Mac.

How to set up VPN split tunneling on Mac

Depending on the way you installed the VPN on your Mac you have the following options.

Option 1: Use VPN software that implements split tunneling

Several (not many) VPN services implement VPN split tunneling in their apps. Thus, if you subscribe to such a service, the only thing that you have to do is to establish the rules (which apps use the VPN and which are not) and turn the VPN on.

Split tunneling on Mac with ExpressVPN, PIA, or Hide.me

We have identified several VPN providers that offer split tunneling within their macOS apps (tested on macOS Catalina, not yet on Big Sur): ExpressVPN, PrivateInternetAccess (thank you, Jorge), and Hide.me.

The user interfaces of the ExpressVPN and Hide.me apps are similar and allows you to choose between three types of behavior: (1) use the VPN tunnel for all apps, (2) exclude apps from using the VPN, and (3) choose apps that will use the VPN exclusively.

The PrivateInternetAccess app is somehow similar with the difference that you need to define a rule for every selected app.

Important: If you use Safari as your day-to-day browser, you may want to avoid ExpressVPN. There is no way to add/remove Safari to the split tunneling rules in the ExpressVPN Mac app.

To set up split tunneling using ExpressVPN, you need to:

1. Install the ExpressVPN macOS app.
2. Next, open the settings menu and click on Preferences.

In the General tab, check the Split tunneling option.

Click on the Settings button.

Choose the split type:

• All apps use the VPN.
• Do not allow selected apps to use the VPN – inverse split tunneling.
• Only allow selected apps to use the VPN.

If you choose Do not allow selected apps to use the VPN or Only allow selected apps to use the VPN, select the apps (e.g., Chrome, Safari, a torrent client app).

Test the split tunnel VPN:

• If you have selected Safari with Only allow selected apps to use the VPN, turn ON ExpressVPN, open Safari, and load an IP locator website. You should see the IP address of the VPN server.
• If you have selected Safari with Do not allow selected apps to use the VPN, turn ON ExpressVPN, open Safari, and load an IP locator website. You should see your public IP address. If you open another browser, you should see the VPN server’s IP address you are connected to.

Important! You need to turn ON the ExpressVPN app to activate the split tunneling.

Split tunneling on Mac with Shimo

Shimo is a VPN client application for Mac that can be easily set up for split tunneling. Shimo supports various VPN protocols: OpenVPN, IPSec, PPTP (not on macOS Catalina and later), SSL, AnyConnect, SSH.

To use Shimo you need to have access to a VPN server (from a VPN provider, from a network administrator, or set up by you). After setting up the VPN connection you may proceed with splitting the tunnel:

1. Click on the Shimo icon from the menu bar.
2. Click Preferences…
3. Choose the VPN connection to configure and double click on it.

Go to the Advanced tab.

Disable Send all traffic over VPN.

Add route(s) to Network Traffic Control by clicking the + button. The Target network is the IP address of the remote network that you want to access (e.g. 67.227.194.148). You may define it also as a network range, by appending /XX (e.g., 67.227.194.0/24).

Select VPN as the Gateway.

Set mode to Overwrite (do not use transmitted routes from VPN gateway).

Option 2: Use the command line to define split tunneling rules

For manually created VPN connections with the L2TP protocol (L2TP over IPSec), you may set up a manual split tunneling mechanism to direct the Internet traffic to a certain target (IP) through the VPN.

This is useful when you want to use the VPN tunnel only for loading a particular website or a specific web resource. You will need the IP address (or IP range) of the target/destination website. A simple way to find it is to use the nslookup command or to load a site like this one and enter the domain name or URL.

For the next steps, you will need superuser administrative privileges, an existing L2TP connection, and the destination subnet (target IP address):

1. Go to System Preferences >Network.
2. In the left panel, click on the VPN connection and click on the Advanced button.

Next, click on the Options tab.

Disable the Send all traffic over VPN connection option.

Click OK and, next, Apply.

Connect to the VPN.

Once connected, open the Terminal app (Launchpad > type Terminal).

Type ifconfig and hit Enter. Identify the network interface used by the L2TP connection (most probably it is ppp0).

Log in as root to be able to run the necessary command. Type sudo su into the terminal and authenticate with your Mac password.

Enter the following command, replacing [DESTINATION] with the subnet you want to be routed through the VPN, and [VPN INTERFACE] with the interface listed in the previous step (probably ppp0).

route add -net [DESTINATION] -interface [VPN INTERFACE]

You may add the “-p” if you want your route to remain active after reboot (persistent).

Load the desired website. It is now accessed through the VPN tunnel.

To remove the split tunneling rule, turn off the VPN, and type the following command: route delete [DESTINATION]

To better understand how this works, you may first test with a IP locator website:

1. Load, for example, xmyip.com. Notice your IP address.
2. Find the IP address of the server where xmyip is located. It is 67.227.194.148.
3. Turn on the VPN and follow the steps described above.
4. Enter the following command:
   route add -net 67.227.194.148 -interface ppp0
5. Re-load xmyip. You should notice that your IP address is no longer shown. It is replaced by the IP of the VPN server.
6. Don’t forget to remove the route after the test:
   route delete 67.227.194.148

Option 3: Modify an OpenVPN configuration file

You may use OpenVPN on Mac and modify the config files to split the traffic data. More precisely you may instruct OpenVPN to use the VPN tunnel only for specific websites:

1. Find the IP of the website you want to access via VPN (either use a website for this or the nslookup command).
2. Edit the OpenVPN (or Tunnelblick) config file.
3. Add the following commands:
   route-nopull
   route [IP address of the website] 255.255.255.255
4. Save changes.
5. Restart the OpenVPN connection.
6. To remove the split tunnel, delete the two rows, and restart the OpenVPN connection.

How to test split tunneling on Mac

It is always advisable to test your split tunneling setup. My recommendation is to firstly use a IP locator website, set the split, load the IP locator website, and check the IP address:

1. With no VPN connection, load, for example, xmyip.com (IP: 67.227.194.148). Notice your public IP address.
2. Set the VPN split for xmyip.
3. Re-load xmyip. Observe that your IP address is no longer shown and it was replaced by the IP of the VPN server.
4. If the test was successful, you may proceed with the website or websites you want to access through the VPN.

Summary

You have learned how to set up split tunneling on Mac and get your VPN internet connection to the next level of efficiency. However, make sure you know the current setup; otherwise, you may leak your IP address.

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About the Author

Adrian Roman

Long-time VPN, proxy, and Smart DNS user, ibVPN co-founder, ex-ibVPN Product Manager, data security researcher.

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