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Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 6:48 PM

A while back I detailed how to get Hamachi VPN running on Mac OS X, but times have changed, so here’s how to go about it on Leopard. Again, it’s a bit tricky, involving some Terminal work, but it’s pretty straightforward as far as command-line software goes.

Download and Install Tun/Tap
Hamachi for Mac OS X depends on some other tunneling software, a Tun/Tap kernel extension which does the low-level work. Download the latest Tun/Tap package and install it.

Download and Install Hamachi
Next, download the latest Hamachi for Mac OS X. Installation is a bit more complicated than the Tun/Tap drivers. Unzip the archive, and open up a Terminal window, and type “cd”, followed by a space. Don’t press Return just yet… Instead, drop the Hamachi folder right into the Terminal window, which will insert the path to that folder after the prefix you just typed:
cd /Users/you/Downloads/hamachi-0.9.9.9-20-osxNow hit Return, and the Terminal’s new working directory will be the Hamachi folder — this is just a quick drag-and-drop shortcut to avoid typing out the path to a folder you already have available.

Once in the Hamachi folder, type:
sudo ./installEnter your administrator password to perform the install.

Hamachi should now be installed, and you can initialize it for the first time by typing:
hamachi-initThis will generate public and private encryption keys in your Home folder, under “.hamachi/” (the inital . character makes the folder hidden from regular Finder views).

With both set-ups out of the way, it’s time to start using Hamachi!

Run Hamachi
Configure Tun/Tap by typing:
sudo ./usr/sbin/tuncfg

Start up Hamachi by typing:
hamachi startFollowed by:
hamachi login

At this point, you should be connected to the Hamachi service, but without a VPN for your computers to join. If you already have a network, or plan to join a trusted friend’s network, you can easily join it by typing:
hamachi join SomeNetworkReplacing “SomeNetwork” with the destination network name.

Most likely, though, you’ll need to create your own network:
hamachi create MyNetworkReplacing “MyNetwork” with a unique network name. If your desired network name does not already exist, you’ll be prompted to create a password for it — type carefully!

Now you should have a virtual network in place and can go online:
hamachi go-online MyNetworkAgain, replace MyNetwork with the network name you’ve joined or created.

To see other parties on the network, run:
hamachi list

If other computers are online, you’re ready to connect to them with any higher-level software like iChat via Bonjour, the Finder’s “Connect to Server” command, Safari, etc.

To log out of Hamachi and shut down VPN connections, type:
hamachi stop

For more information about how to use Hamachi, you can view its manual by typing:
hamachi -h

This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Mac, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, trackback from your own site, or Stumble it!.