synology

Most modern operating systems, for mobile devices and for workstations, offer VPN clients which support proper IPsec IKEv2 MSCHAPv2. However, there are still some stubborn vendors that in 2024, still offer only L2TP behind IPsec (or PPP if we are unlucky) plus OpenVPN. As stated in many places like Gentoo Wiki IPsec/L2TP is considered a legacy VPN protocol. OpenVPN is not suited for any form of refined connectivity other than simple client-server, plus it’s not supported out-of-the-box in modern OSes.

In this article, I’ll describe how to add this legacy option for use with Synology DSM in strongSwan, that simultaneously hosts IPsec IKEv2 MSCHAPv2 VPN.