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We have a Cisco ASA 5510 router and are trying to get a couple users setup for VPN access. They are running Windows 7 x64 at home and cannot install the VPN client we have for our router (it only works on 32bit windows).

I know there is Cisco AnyConnect, but I am curious if the built in VPN in Windows 7 can work with a Cisco ASA 5510. If so, can anyone point me to a nice walkthrough on what settings I need to set in the Windows 7 VPN in order for it to work.

Thanks.

Adam
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It's been a pretty common practice in my experience to use the Shrew Soft VPN Client in lieu of the old "Cisco VPN Client" to connect 64-bit Windows machines to Cisco IPSEC VPNs. I've been very happy with the software.

You can probably get the built-in IPSEC stack in Windows to talk to the ASA but it's going to be tedious and difficult to setup.

Alternatively you can configure the ASA to host PPTP or L2TP-over-IPSEC tunnels, too. Both of those will work with the built-in VPN client in Windows.

Evan Anderson
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Windows 7 native VPN will not work with Cisco IPSec VPNs.

Cisco does have 64bit support for it's older IPSec VPNs:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client5007/release/notes/vpnclient5007.html#wp102738

84104
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    Boy did Cisco take their time releasing 64-bit IPSec support... – xeon Jul 06 '11 at 16:07
  • Yes, and they swore they wouldn't do it right until they did. However, that's just the latest one. The support has been there for at least half a year now. – 84104 Jul 06 '11 at 16:09
  • @user84104 Do you know why the native VPN client won't work with the ASA 5510? – Adam Jul 06 '11 at 16:10
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    @Adam Native clients are PPTP or L2TP. These are different from Cisco IPSec. – 84104 Jul 06 '11 at 16:19
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You can, but it takes some config prowess on the Asa side. also the 8.4(2) firmware has ikev2 which is supported in win7. I prefer to use the native os VPN client when possible. It's easier to support.

James
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  • Any links to where I might find out what would need to be done on the ASA? – Adam Sep 07 '11 at 20:39
  • There's [this one](http://networkgirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/cisco-asa-ios-84-and-art-of-native.html). – alx9r Mar 19 '14 at 01:12