openvpn on mac (CLI)

If you've used Tunnelblick, you know it has issues - multiple openvpn processes, or not starting up on boot etc.

So here's how to install openvpn the CLI way that just works!



(You need macports installed)

Quit and remove Tunnelblick from startup (system preferences -> accounts -> login items)

sudo port install openvpn2 tuntaposx

sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.tuntaposx.plist

Create /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.openvpn.plist as follows
(Note: edit the working directory and config file name to suit your needs)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">;
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
     <key>Label</key>
     <string>org.openvpn</string>
     <key>OnDemand</key>
     <false/>
     <key>Program</key>
     <string>/opt/local/sbin/openvpn2</string>
     <key>ProgramArguments</key>
     <array>
          <string>/opt/local/sbin/openvpn2</string>
          <string>--config</string>
          <string>client.conf</string>
     </array>
     <key>RunAtLoad</key>
     <true/>
     <key>TimeOut</key>
     <integer>90</integer>
     <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
     <string>/Users/shastry/Library/openvpn</string>
</dict>
</plist>

sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.openvpn.plist


reboot!

What they do to lure the common man

The government reduced petrol prices by around 5 bucks before the election. And now, just after they got elected again, price is up!

The Place Where Things Happen(ed?)

Basaveshwara Nagar Coffee Day brings back some memories.

Sub, gecko, sid and I gathered around the coffee table sipping on some nice beverages.

While it was fun, I couldn't help think - in a couple of months, sub and gecko will be heading off to different countries to fulfill their academic dreams, and sid will be busy brooding over medical books (so thick that they can be used as murder weapons, or as bullet proofing material, chopping board etc,) and cutting open people, operating on penises and what not...
while yours truly will be hopelessly lonely for at least the next couple of years!
*shudder*

The Parallal

Last week, on a seemingly ordinary monday, GK and I noticed this sign board (the one with a P inscribed in a circle inscribed in a rectangle) while returning from a 2nd hand book store in Church Street. Nothing out of the ordinary. At first, we laughed at it, GK blogged it. I thought some people simply cannot spell, and Bangaloreans cannot parallel park, but only perpendicular park. But something didn't seem right with the above reasoning. After spending countless sleepless nights over this issue, I came up with a theory - a very plausible one!

The painters of the parking sign board came from a parallel univese where parallel is spelt with an 'a' instead of 'e'. OK, so they are from a PARALLAL universe.

Next, the car owners from another parallel (PARALLAL for the above mentioned painters) universe where parallel (PARALLAL) is Perpendicular.

Wait I'm confused.... err... so... they come from a perpendicular universe? ... and our universe is the point of intersection of a set of orthogonal universes? But they are parallel, right?

Brain short circuit. Time to sleep!

The Devil's Desktop?

A friend asked, "if kde 4.2 was supposed to be the second coming of the christ, why don't we see rave reviews of it everywhere?"

I have an explanation:



It's the beast!!! ;-)

Start Pedaling

With all these oil company employees and truckers on strike, it's the perfect time to blow the cobwebs off your first two wheelers.

Yes, that's right, get that good old cycle out of the attic and start cycling! Now!

My First Long!

Date ~ 30/12/2008
home - itpl ~ 30
itpl - channapattana ~ 117
channapattana - home ~ 77
TOTAL - 224Km

Four days ago my body suddenly decided to mend its sleep cycle and I've been sleeping at "night" and waking up at around 4 am (cool, eh?).

It was a boring early morning. Had to do fix that. Subba had just returned from a spiritual conf and wasn't having any fun at the office. What do two bored buggers do? They decide meet up for lunch and go half way to mysore to meet another bored bugger arriving from the other side.

subba & i (b'lore) >>> Coffee Day (c'pattana/maddur) <<< gk (mysore)


Subba showed me the NICE road. My flying machine touched 112Kmph (personal best). I never ever dreamt that such an empty road existed in bangalore. It was a bikers dream road except for the toll gates were we had to lighten our wallets for burning rubber on their tarmac and a small unfinished stretch which made us lose our way and go round and round and round, but eventually rejoin the smooth tarmac.

This road eventually joined mysore road and we were off to beat time as we had promised gk that we'll be there by 5 pm, but ended up 30 minutes late in the end. Sorry Gecko!

Apart from the NICE road, nothing was significant on the way to maddur.

Because of gk's confusion about which coffee day, we had to head back around 5km!
Fed ourselves some delicious cake and samosa with hot coffee.

Then, all of a sudden gecko changed colours (pale whitish) - he had scared himself to death for misplacing his bike key! Time flew by, things cooled down, gecko regained his colours, the sun set, and stars took over the night sky. It was time to part. There was a slight problem. Unlike gecko, we didn't have sweaters or jacket to shield ourselves from the biting cold weather! Still, subba and i set out undaunted into the night to return home 70km from this town.

On the way back, we were up for a surprise. Our orange flying machine needed some fuel, but the greedy fuel pump had cleared out their stock and closed down as there were rumours of price drops. Fear slowly started to grip us as we zoomed past empty fuel pumps one after the other. We were scared about having to walk and push the unicorn half way. Fortunately, luck was on our side and we found a friendly fuel pump who hadn't run out of petrol! Eventually we realised that the "out-of-stock-fuel-pumps phenomenon" was restricted to channapattana.

The rest of the journey was not so eventful apart from the usual clueless buggers crossing the roads almost missing getting hit by a speeding vehicle. This made us wonder about the purpose of their life - was it to just squished to death in the middle of the road like bugs on windshield? - how did they survive this long? - does god really exist and care for them? Big questions, no answers! :-o
We drove at a decent speeds (60-70kmph) even with the biting cold. Every time we passed a truck or lorry, we thanked it for the warmth instead of cursing it for the dirty smoke. Eventually i kinda became numb to the cold. It bothered me no more (Prolly subba was not that comfortable).
There was one more exception to the uneventful journey. We slightly lost track of the road at NICE road - mysore road intersection because of all the construction work and the darkness. They change roads almost every other month! Weird city i live in.

The rest of the rest of the journey was the usual inner roads of bangalore - so many potholes, dried up lakes and ponds in the middle of the road. (Suddenly made me remember why our city cannot afford to have a batman - it's the roads and traffic! No chance in hell he can drive his batmobile here without squishing a lot of bystanders to a bloody death, or batman falling into a ditch. ;) )

Finally made it back home after dropping subba at his place. I was expecting to feel like a battered soldier with back pain and sore muscles, cough and cold and all that crazy stuff, wondering if the drive was a complete waste of time, fuel and energy. Nah, I surprised myself! It was simply a splendid biking experience, one that i enjoyed thoroughly.

I WANT MORE!


PS: Happy New Year!