If you don't want to have to type those commands in every time that you want to get the tunnel running, I've written a set of bash scripts that keep the tunnel up and running. You can download the package from here. Just download and uncompress it into /usr/local/vpn. Inside you'll find three files:
vpnd: The script that controls the tunnel connection.
check-vpnd: a script to be run by cron to check that vpnd is still up.
pty-redir: a small executable needed to initialize the tunnel.
You'll need to edit the vpnd script to set things like the client's username and the server's names. You may also need to modify the starttunnel section of the script to specify which networks you are using. Below is a copy of the script for your reading enjoyment. You'll note that you could put the script in a different directory, you just need to change the VPN_DIR variable.
#! /bin/bash # # vpnd: Monitor the tunnel, bring it up and down as necessary # USERNAME=vpn-username IDENTITY=/root/.ssh/identity.vpn VPN_DIR=/usr/local/vpn LOCK_DIR=/var/run VPN_EXTERNAL=vpn.mycompany.com VPN_INTERNAL=vpn-internal.mycompany.com PTY_REDIR=${VPN_DIR}/pty-redir SSH=${VPN_DIR}/${VPN_EXTERNAL} PPPD=/usr/sbin/pppd ROUTE=/sbin/route CRYPTO=blowfish PPP_OPTIONS="noipdefault ipcp-accept-local ipcp-accept-remote local noauth nocrtscts lock nodefaultroute" ORIG_SSH=/usr/bin/ssh starttunnel () { $PTY_REDIR $SSH -t -e none -o 'Batchmode yes' -c $CRYPTO -i $IDENTITY -l $USERNAME > /tmp/vpn-device sleep 15 $PPPD `cat /tmp/vpn-device` $PPP_OPTIONS sleep 15 # Add routes (modify these lines as necessary) /sbin/route add -net 10.0.0.0 gw $VPN_INTERNAL netmask 255.0.0.0 /sbin/route add -net 172.16.0.0 gw $VPN_INTERNAL netmask 255.240.0.0 /sbin/route add -net 192.168.0.0 gw $VPN_INTERNAL netmask 255.255.0.0 } stoptunnel () { kill `ps ax | grep $SSH | grep -v grep | awk '{print $1}'` } resettunnel () { echo "reseting tunnel." date >> ${VPN_DIR}/restart.log eval stoptunnel sleep 5 eval starttunnel } checktunnel () { ping -c 4 $VPN_EXTERNAL 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then ping -c 4 $VPN_INTERNAL 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then eval resettunnel fi fi } settraps () { trap "eval stoptunnel; exit 0" INT TERM trap "eval resettunnel" HUP trap "eval checktunnel" USR1 } runchecks () { if [ -f ${LOCK_DIR}/tunnel.pid ]; then OLD_PID=`cat ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid` if [ -d /proc/${OLD_PID} ]; then echo "vpnd is already running on process ${OLD_PID}." exit 1 else echo "removing stale pid file." rm -rf ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid echo $$ > ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid echo "checking tunnel state." eval checktunnel fi else echo $$ > ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid eval starttunnel fi } case $1 in check) if [ -d /proc/`cat ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid` ]; then kill -USR1 `cat ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid` exit 0 else echo "vpnd is not running." exit 1 fi ;; reset) if [ -d /proc/`cat ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid` ]; then kill -HUP `cat ${LOCK_DIR}/vpnd.pid` exit 0 else echo "vpnd is not running." exit 1 fi ;; --help | -h) echo "Usage: vpnd [ check | reset ]" echo "Options:" echo " check Sends running vpnd a USR1 signal, telling it to check" echo " the tunnel state, and restart if neccesary." echo " reset Sends running vpnd a HUP signal, telling it to reset" echo " it's tunnel connection." ;; esac ln -sf $ORIG_SSH $SSH settraps runchecks while true; do i=0 while [ $i -lt 600 ]; do i=((i+1)) sleep 1 done eval checktunnel done |