---
name: "vpnd"
section: "8"
platform: "macos"
package: "ppp"
version: "1027.121.1"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/vpnd"
---

# vpnd(8)

Mac OS X VPN service daemon

## NAME

**vpnd** – Mac OS X VPN service daemon

## SYNOPSIS

**vpnd** \[**-d** \| **-n** \| **-x**\] \[**-i** *server\_id*\]

**vpnd** \[**-h**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**vpnd** allows external hosts to tunnel via L2TP over IPSec or via PPTP from an insecure external network (such as the Internet) into a "secure" internal network, such as a corporate network.  All traffic through the tunnel is encrypted to provide secure communications, with L2TP/IPSec providing a higher level of security than PPTP.

**vpnd** listens for incoming connections, pairs each one with an available internal IP address, and passes the connection to [pppd(8)](/pppd/8.md) with appropriate parameters.  Parameters for **vpnd** are specified in a system configuration (plist) file in XML format.  This file contains a dictionary of configurations each identified by a key referred to as a server\_id.  Parameters include the tunneling protocol, IP addresses to be assigned to clients, PPP parameters etc.

**vpnd** is launched for a particular configuration by using the -i option which takes the server\_id to be run as an argument. **vpnd** can also be run without the -i option.  In this case it will check the configuration file for a special array which contains a list of configurations to be run and will fork and exec a copy of **vpnd** for each server\_id to be run.  Running multiple **vpnd** processes simultaneously for a particular protocol is not allowed.

**vpnd** will be launched during the boot process by a startup item if the field **VPNSERVER** is defined in */etc/hostconfig* with the value  **-YES-**. Typically, in this case it will be launched without the -i option and will check the configuration file to determine which configuration(s) are to be run.

**vpnd** logs items of interest to the system log.  A different log path can be specified in the configuration file.

## OPTIONS

The following options are available:

- **-d**

  Do not move to background and print log strings to the terminal.

- **-h**

  Print usage summary and exit.

- **-i**

  Server\_id in the plist file that defines the configuration to be run.

- **-n**

  Do not move to background, print log information to the terminal, and quit after validating the argument list.

- **-x**

  Do not move to background.

## EXAMPLES

The default invocation,

**vpnd**

will read the list of configurations to run from the configuration file and launch them.  This default configuration may be enabled at startup by defining **VPNSERVER** to **-YES-**.

To specify a particular configuration to run use

**vpnd** -i server\_id

## FILES & FOLDERS

```
/usr/sbin/vpnd
/etc/hostconfig
/System/Library/StartupItems/NetworkExtensions
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist
```

## SEE ALSO

[pppd(8)](/pppd/8.md) [vpnd(5)](/vpnd/5.md)