How to Setup L2TP VPN on Mac OS X Manually

Welcome in setup-vpn.com, here is a tutorial explains how to setup a manual VPN connection on Mac OS X without any third party app, if you’d prefer not to use any VPN client. You can choose to establish a manual VPN connection using the L2TP protocol, so follow the instructions below.
L2TP/IPsec VPN Client is built-in on all Mac OS devices. It is easier to configure than using OpenVPN. L2TP/IPsec VPN is recommended before you try to use OpenVPN or PPTP. However, some networks or firewalls block L2TP over IPsec packets. So, let create a new L2TP/IPsec VPN connection on Mac OS X.
Required parameters to connect to L2TP/IPsec VPN:

You can quickly connect to VPN on your MAC OS X using L2TP/IPsec. but first you need the following parameters from your VPN provider:
IP Address/Hostname Username
Username/Account Name
Password
Pre-shared Key (Secret)
Setup VPN on MacOS Using L2TP/IPsec

Setting up VPN access under Mac OS X. The following instructions go step-by-step through the setup process.

On this instruction, every screenshots are taken on MacOS Catalina. Other versions of Mac OS X are similar to be configured, however there might be minor different on UIs.

Step 1.
Click on the Apple symbol at the top left of the screen and Choose System System Preferences…


Step 2.
In the opened window find Network icon (If you can not find it, type “Network” in the Search bar at the top right of the window)


Step 3.
When the network center appears, do not change anything. just click on the “+” at the bottom left of this window to make a new VPN connection using L2TP.


Step 4.
When you click the ‘+’ icon, a new service sheet appears. Choose next settings then Click on the Create button:
Interface: VPN
VPN Type: L2TP
Service Name: setup-vpn.com (you can use any name)


Step 5.
Now that you have a VPN connection (L2TP), you’ll need to make a Configuration for it. Click on the Configuration popup menu and Choose Add Configuration…


Step 6.
In the opened window Type Configuration Name: United State VPN – could be any name, it’s up to you and click on Create button.


Step 7.
In the Network window Fill in next fields:
Server Address: The server name or IP address you want to connect to.
Account Name: Your VPN Account name/username

Step 8.
Click on the Authentication Settings… button. a new sheet drops down. Type the following infos and Click OK:
Password: Your VPN account Password.
Shared key: The pre-shared key for your VPN provider.

Step 9.
Click the Apply button in the bottom right of the window to actually save the configuration.


Step 10.
Now, you can connect to VPN on your Mac OS easily by pressing the Connect button when you want to connect to the VPN, you can either choose the VPN configuration from the VPN menu or select your VPN connection in the Network connection list.