web access through vpn client

[mark.seagoe]

Hi;

I am trying to retrieve financial data off website for stock market
analysis. Just hobby not for pay. I actually am impressed that
urllib2 and BeautifulSoup work pretty well to do what I want, and the
first little routine actually gets the data from the web page...
except if my VPN client is turned on.

I've looked around for a solution but can't find... perhaps I'm not
entering the right search words. I don't even know where to start.
Can anyone suggest some good reading, or basic idea how to approach?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[mark.seagoe]

When the VPN client is on, can you actually still browse the 'classical'
way to the website in question?
I ask this because many cooperate VPN clients have a way of shutting
down all other access besides to the VPN server (which is very annoying
but I can see the logic behind it).

If that is the case your VPN network might have a webproxy which needs
to be configured to continue browsing when connected to the VPN. For
python you can automate this by checking for access to the proxy and use
it if it is there.

Yes when Cisco AnyConnect VPN client is connected, I can browse w/
IE. I think the packets get encrypted and possibly go to my company's
server and out from there, because then also Outlook connects to my
company, Communicator works, etc. With VPN off I can browse and
Python can get URL, but no connection through my company's server & no
encryption.

Where can I find out more about how to configure the webproxy, if the
info is handy? Thanks!

Mark

 

[mark.seagoe]

Most likely your IE gets automatically configured for using a proxy when
the VPN is made, just check your IE settings ounce you are connected to
the VPN particular the Connection / LAN-connection settings.
Or query what is set in the registry at :
'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings'

And use the content (if set) as the proxy address in the urllib module.

You might find this module useful for that:http://docs.python.org/library/_winreg.html

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

Usually when something like that happens with a VPN its because the VPN
has been configured to do so. Its the default usually and is a security
precaution. The exact wording of the option varies from VPN client to
VPN client; and its usually hidden deep in 'advanced'. E.g., on the mac
its "Send all traffic over VPN connection", on Windows I /believe/ its
something like "Set as default gateway" but its been awhile since I had
to tweak my windows install. No idea what it looks like on the Cisco
client.

Reading c.l.p. helps even for non-Python questions! A friend of mine had a
problem with a VPN, I vaguely remembered this post and looked for it, and
in a few minutes we fixed the problem. Thanks!