Home  /  Communication Apps  / strongSwan VPN Client on Windows Pc

strongSwan VPN Client on Windows Pc

Developed By: strongSwan Project

License: Free

Rating: 3,9/5 - 3.249 votes

Last Updated: April 16, 2024

Download on Windows PC

Compatible with Windows 10/11 PC & Laptop

App Details

Version 2.5.2
Size 26.1 MB
Release Date September 11, 24
Category Communication Apps

App Permissions:
Allows applications to open network sockets. [see more (5)]

What's New:
# 2.5.1 #- Fix for existing shortcuts and automation via Intents# 2.5.0 #- Support for managed configurations via enterprise mobility management (EMM) [see more]

Description from Developer:
Official Android port of the popular strongSwan VPN solution.

# FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS #

* Uses the VpnService API featured by Android 4+. Devices by some manufacturers seem t... [read more]

App preview ([see all 7 screenshots])

App preview

About this app

On this page you can download strongSwan VPN Client and install on Windows PC. strongSwan VPN Client is free Communication app, developed by strongSwan Project. Latest version of strongSwan VPN Client is 2.5.2, was released on 2024-09-11 (updated on 2024-04-16). Estimated number of the downloads is more than 500,000. Overall rating of strongSwan VPN Client is 3,9. Generally most of the top apps on Android Store have rating of 4+. This app had been rated by 3,249 users, 711 users had rated it 5*, 2,045 users had rated it 1*.

How to install strongSwan VPN Client on Windows?

Instruction on how to install strongSwan VPN Client on Windows 10 Windows 11 PC & Laptop

In this post, I am going to show you how to install strongSwan VPN Client on Windows PC by using Android App Player such as BlueStacks, LDPlayer, Nox, KOPlayer, ...

Before you start, you will need to download the APK/XAPK installer file, you can find download button on top of this page. Save it to easy-to-find location.

[Note] You can also download older versions of this app on bottom of this page.

Below you will find a detailed step-by-step guide, but I want to give you a fast overview of how it works. All you need is an emulator that will emulate an Android device on your Windows PC and then you can install applications and use it - you see you're playing it on Android, but this runs not on a smartphone or tablet, it runs on a PC.

If this doesn't work on your PC, or you cannot install, comment here and we will help you!

Step By Step Guide To Install strongSwan VPN Client using BlueStacks

  1. Download and Install BlueStacks at: https://www.bluestacks.com. The installation procedure is quite simple. After successful installation, open the Bluestacks emulator. It may take some time to load the Bluestacks app initially. Once it is opened, you should be able to see the Home screen of Bluestacks.
  2. Open the APK/XAPK file: Double-click the APK/XAPK file to launch BlueStacks and install the application. If your APK/XAPK file doesn't automatically open BlueStacks, right-click on it and select Open with... Browse to the BlueStacks. You can also drag-and-drop the APK/XAPK file onto the BlueStacks home screen
  3. Once installed, click "strongSwan VPN Client" icon on the home screen to start using, it'll work like a charm :D

[Note 1] For better performance and compatibility, choose BlueStacks 5 Nougat 64-bit read more

[Note 2] about Bluetooth: At the moment, support for Bluetooth is not available on BlueStacks. Hence, apps that require control of Bluetooth may not work on BlueStacks.

How to install strongSwan VPN Client on Windows PC using NoxPlayer

  1. Download & Install NoxPlayer at: https://www.bignox.com. The installation is easy to carry out.
  2. Drag the APK/XAPK file to the NoxPlayer interface and drop it to install
  3. The installation process will take place quickly. After successful installation, you can find "strongSwan VPN Client" on the home screen of NoxPlayer, just click to open it.

Discussion

(*) is required

Official Android port of the popular strongSwan VPN solution.

# FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS #

* Uses the VpnService API featured by Android 4+. Devices by some manufacturers seem to lack support for this - strongSwan VPN Client won't work on these devices!
* Uses the IKEv2 key exchange protocol (IKEv1 is *not* supported)
* Uses IPsec for data traffic (L2TP is *not* supported)
* Full support for changed connectivity and mobility through MOBIKE (or reauthentication)
* Supports username/password EAP authentication (namely EAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-MD5 and EAP-GTC) as well as RSA/ECDSA private key/certificate authentication to authenticate users, EAP-TLS with client certificates is also supported
* Combined RSA/ECDSA and EAP authentication is supported by using two authentication rounds as defined in RFC 4739
* VPN server certificates are verified against the CA certificates pre-installed or installed by the user on the system. The CA or server certificates used to authenticate the server can also be imported directly into the app.
* IKEv2 fragmentation is supported if the VPN server supports it (strongSwan does so since 5.2.1)
* Split-tunneling allows sending only certain traffic through the VPN and/or excluding specific traffic from it
* Per-app VPN allows limiting the VPN connection to specific apps, or exclude them from using it
* The IPsec implementation currently supports the AES-CBC, AES-GCM, ChaCha20/Poly1305 and SHA1/SHA2 algorithms
* Passwords are currently stored as cleartext in the database (only if stored with a profile)
* VPN profiles may be imported from files
* Supports managed configurations via enterprise mobility management (EMM)

Details and a changelog can be found on our docs: https://docs.strongswan.org/docs/5.9/os/androidVpnClient.html

# PERMISSIONS #

* READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Allows importing VPN profiles and CA certificates from external storage on some Android versions
* QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES: Required on Android 11+ to select apps to ex-/include in VPN profiles and the optional EAP-TNC use case

# EXAMPLE SERVER CONFIGURATION #

Example server configurations may be found in our docs: https://docs.strongswan.org/docs/5.9/os/androidVpnClient.html#_server_configuration

Please note that the host name (or IP address) configured with a VPN profile in the app *must be* contained in the server certificate as subjectAltName extension.

# FEEDBACK #

Please post bug reports and feature requests via GitHub: https://github.com/strongswan/strongswan/issues/new/choose
If you do so, please include information about your device (manufacturer, model, OS version etc.).

The log file written by the key exchange service can be sent directly from within the application.
# 2.5.1 #

- Fix for existing shortcuts and automation via Intents

# 2.5.0 #

- Support for managed configurations via enterprise mobility management (EMM)
Allows applications to open network sockets.
Allows applications to access information about networks.
Allows an application to read from external storage.
Permission an application must hold in order to use ACTION_REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS.
Allows an app to create windows using the type TYPE_APPLICATION_OVERLAY, shown on top of all other apps.