My observations

Suggestions/comments/criticisms are welcome here

arion


Post by arion » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:40 am
Nice work on the OpenVPN client... Adds a lot of features that were possible with Tunnelblick but didn't have GUI options or required mucking with the command line... I especially like the "send all traffic over VPN function" option (when you don't want to use split tunnels in a crunch) -- its really nice to have a simple option to do that rather than messing with routing tables via the command line.

I've got a couple observations/suggestions though:

- Tunnelblick / standard OpenVPN configuration files may omit "proto" keyword -- Viscosity doesn't seem to handle this and fails silently (but adds a Console log error entry)
- Wasn't able to import all of my Tunnelblick configurations. Tried clicking on the "Import Tunnelblick Connections" and nothing happened. I was able to import my primary configuration file through the one-at-a-time import option after I added a "proto" entry though (see above)
- The "Details" window should remember the last connection that was selected. Right now, it always shows the first connection entry, even when a different (active) connection was selected last time the window was opened
- It would be nice if the details window automatically popped up when I hover over the taskbar icon (like the LittleSnitch traffic window) and then faded away after it loses mouse focus for a little while...
- My OpenVPN server listens on several different TCP and UDP ports (to I can try to get to it from various networks that might be filtering some traffic). It would be nice if I could have one configuration entry that tried multiple ports, i.e., just try them in order and use the first one that works...

-Arion

James

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Post by James » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:34 pm
Hi Arion,

Thanks for the detailed and constructive feedback.
Viscosity doesn't seem to handle this and fails silently (but adds a Console log error entry)
Unfortunately this is due to a small bug that has snuck into the 1.0 release (it can also affect the "Import Tunnelblick Connections" option as well). It has already been fixed up in the latest build - there should be an updated version of Viscosity available in a week or so that resolves this issue.
The "Details" window should remember the last connection that was selected.
Yep, this one is on the cards. Hopefully it should make it into the next update as well.
It would be nice if the details window automatically popped up when I hover over the taskbar icon
It would be nice if I could have one configuration entry that tried multiple ports
Very interesting suggestions - I'll see what we can do.

Thanks
James
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geoff


Post by geoff » Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:58 am
Hi There!

Nice job on Viscosity. I find it to be a significant improvement to my WiTopia experience :)
James wrote:
Viscosity doesn't seem to handle this and fails silently (but adds a Console log error entry)
Unfortunately this is due to a small bug that has snuck into the 1.0 release (it can also affect the "Import Tunnelblick Connections" option as well). It has already been fixed up in the latest build - there should be an updated version of Viscosity available in a week or so that resolves this issue.
The "Details" window should remember the last connection that was selected.
Yep, this one is on the cards. Hopefully it should make it into the next update as well.
Did this update ever emerge? Both of these warts have been annoying me a little as well, but checking for updates shows no newer version for me. The about panel shows Version 1.0.0.

While I'm here, I'd like to make a couple feature requests as well... Can you offer a way to reorder connections in the menu? Somehow my lesser used connection wound up on top. Also, is there a help file? Some of the options are a bit cryptic (like "Use alternate DNS support" or values of "0" and "1" for "Direction") with no obvious path for finding out more.

Regards,

Geoff

James

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Post by James » Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:18 pm
Thanks for the feedback Geoff.
Did this update ever emerge
It hasn't been officially released as the 1.0.1 update yet, however you're welcome to download the latest beta build and give that a try. We ended up going a slightly different way - instead of remembering the last connection selected, the Details window will automatically select the first active connection when opened. So if you have multiple connections, the Details window will jump to the first currently connecting/connected connection from the list.
Can you offer a way to reorder connections in the menu?
Yep, this feature has been added in the latest build. You can drag and drop connections around to reorder them in the Preferences window.
Also, is there a help file?
We have the quick-start documentation in the DMG file, however it doesn't cover every connection option. We are working on a in-depth user guide, however it is still a little way off. In most cases you can find information about a connection option by referring to the corresponding command in the OpenVPN Manual Page.

Cheers
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
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geoff


Post by geoff » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:25 am
James wrote:
Also, is there a help file?
We have the quick-start documentation in the DMG file, however it doesn't cover every connection option. We are working on a in-depth user guide, however it is still a little way off. In most cases you can find information about a connection option by referring to the corresponding command in the OpenVPN Manual Page.
There you go. That should show you how well things "just worked" for me. I drug to applications, launched, Viscosity imported my tunnelblick connections, and away I went. It wasn't until several days later, when I needed one of my TCP-based connections and it didn't work (it had been imported as UDP because of the issue mentioned in the post I replied to) that I really started poking around the options and looking at the forum :). I never thought to reopen the disk image, which I had ejected as soon as everything worked.

Thanks

Geoff

innocent bystander


Post by innocent bystander » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:57 pm
so.. the "enable dns support"-setting equals the --redirect-gateway flag bypass-dns in the openvpn-manual - meaning that checking this will make my computer look up dns direclty instead of doing it through the vpn-connection?

this kind of has a lot to say for the security... many ISPs run their own DNSservers and record your activity.

James

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Post by James » Fri Jan 02, 2009 7:46 pm
the "enable dns support"-setting
This option turns on Viscosity's DNS support for the connection (so it will accept DNS servers pushed out by the VPN server, or locally, and tell your Mac to use these instead). If this option isn't turned on, your Mac will just use your normal DNS server/s for lookups while connected.

This option doesn't actually correlate to any OpenVPN config commands (same goes for the "Enable DHCP" option). Rather they refer to features Viscosity offers. Further info can be found in the Quick Start guide.

Cheers
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
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