Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install openconnect with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, pacman, scoop, zypper

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN. Version 9.21 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install openconnect

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install openconnect

MacPorts ports tree · net/openconnect/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add openconnect

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · openconnect · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libopenconnect-dev

Debian stable package indexes · libopenconnect-dev · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install openconnect

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · openconnect · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S openconnect

Arch Linux sync databases · openconnect · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libopenconnect5

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libopenconnect5 · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%
scoop install main/openconnect

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/openconnect.json · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN

Commands and aliases

  • openconnect

history

Project history and usage

OpenConnect is a free, LGPL-licensed SSL VPN client that began as an open replacement for Cisco AnyConnect on Linux and grew into a multi-protocol VPN client. It supports Cisco AnyConnect, Juniper/Network Connect, Pulse/Ivanti, Palo Alto GlobalProtect, F5 BIG-IP, Fortinet FortiGate, and Array Networks SSL VPN protocols through one command-line tool and library.

Project history

The official project page says OpenConnect development started after testing Cisco's AnyConnect Linux client exposed practical gaps: smartcard and certificate handling limitations, i386-only Linux support, poor NetworkManager integration, and weak Linux distribution packaging. The project therefore began as a compatibility client but with Unix packaging and desktop integration as first-class concerns.

OpenConnect's changelog shows the project expanding from a Cisco-focused client into a compatibility layer for several enterprise VPN products. Juniper support appeared experimentally in the 7.x era, the `--protocol` option was added in 7.07, and later 8.x releases added GlobalProtect, F5, Fortinet, and Array protocol work alongside Windows, Android, SSO, token, and TPM improvements.

Adoption history

OpenConnect was adopted by package managers and front ends because it solved a common enterprise access problem without requiring Cisco's proprietary client on every platform. Its documentation links to Linux, BSD, macOS, Windows, and Android paths, and it is packaged by Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, openSUSE, Alpine, MacPorts, Scoop, and other systems.

The companion `ocserv` server implements an improved version of the AnyConnect protocol, which made the OpenConnect ecosystem useful for both client compatibility and open deployments. NetworkManager integration and libopenconnect API work made it easier for desktop tools and distribution front ends to use the same underlying client.

How it is used

Users run `openconnect` against a VPN gateway, optionally selecting a protocol with `--protocol`. Authentication is handled through forms, certificates, smartcards, token modes, external browser/SSO flows, or protocol-specific mechanisms; after authentication, the client configures a tunnel and routes traffic through TLS, DTLS, ESP, or protocol-specific transports where supported.

Administrators and package maintainers care about OpenConnect because VPN servers are often controlled by employers or institutions, while clients must be installable and automatable on developer laptops, servers, routers, and CI-like environments. The command-line client plus `libopenconnect` gives both scriptable and GUI front ends a shared implementation.

Why package nerds care

OpenConnect is significant because it sits at the intersection of cryptography libraries, OS tunnel interfaces, corporate authentication flows, and distro packaging. Formula and package updates can affect TLS behavior, SSO compatibility, token handling, platform tunnel drivers, and interoperability with appliance firmware that changes outside the open-source project.

Timeline

  • 2009: Public histories identify the first OpenConnect release era and its original Cisco AnyConnect replacement role.
  • 2015: Version 7.05 added preliminary Juniper SSL VPN support.
  • 2016: Version 7.07 added the `--protocol` option, formalizing multi-protocol selection.
  • 2022: Version 8.20 added F5, Fortinet, and Array protocol work and broadened Windows/tunnel-driver support.
  • 2026: Version 9.20 and 9.21 changelog entries show continuing maintenance for Pulse, GlobalProtect, Cisco TLS 1.3 behavior, token handling, TPM auth, and safety fixes.

Related projects

  • OpenConnect is related to Cisco AnyConnect/Secure Client, NetworkManager-openconnect, vpnc-scripts, ocserv, GnuTLS, OpenSSL, Wintun, and the VPN appliances whose protocols it interoperates with.

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for openconnect. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 6 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 2 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
openconnectcliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version9.21
manager updated2026-06-18
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:openconnect
Version9.21
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/openconnect
Homepagehttps://www.infradead.org/openconnect/
Repositoryhttps://git.infradead.org/users/dwmw2/openconnect.git
Upstream docshttps://www.infradead.org/openconnect
LicenseLGPL-2.1-only
Source archivehttps://www.infradead.org/openconnect/download/openconnect-9.21.tar.gz
Last updated2026-06-18T14:09:02Z
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesgettext, gmp, gnutls, nettle, p11-kit, stoken
Build dependenciesgettext, pkgconf
Uses from macOSlibxml2
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared
CaveatsA `vpnc-script` has been installed at $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/etc/vpnc/vpnc-script. If you applied any local changes then newer versions will be available at $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/etc/vpnc/vpnc-script.default

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Nameopenconnect
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libopenconnect-dev 9.12-3+deb13u2

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs - development files

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install libopenconnect-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 10 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libopenconnect-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libopenconnect5 9.12-3+deb13u2

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs - shared library

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install libopenconnect5
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 17 dependencies
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libopenconnect5 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

openconnect 9.12-3+deb13u2

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install openconnect
  • Section: net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 6 dependencies
  • 6 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: openconnect from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Ubuntu apt95%

libopenconnect-dev 9.12-1build5

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs - development files

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install libopenconnect-dev
  • Section: universe/libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 10 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libopenconnect-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libopenconnect5 9.12-1build5

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs - shared library

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install libopenconnect5
  • Section: universe/libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 17 dependencies
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libopenconnect5 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

openconnect 9.12-1build5

open client for various network vendors SSL VPNs

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apt install openconnect
  • Section: universe/net
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 6 dependencies
  • 6 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: openconnect from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
apk95%

openconnect 9.12-r2

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apk add openconnect
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openconnect from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

openconnect-bash-completion 9.12-r2

Bash completions for openconnect

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apk add openconnect-bash-completion
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openconnect-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

openconnect-dev 9.12-r2

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN (development files)

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apk add openconnect-dev
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openconnect-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

openconnect-doc 9.12-r2

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN (documentation)

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apk add openconnect-doc
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openconnect-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

openconnect-openrc 9.12-r2

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN (OpenRC init scripts)

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo apk add openconnect-openrc
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openconnect-openrc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
dnf95%

openconnect 9.12-11.fc45

Open multi-protocol SSL VPN client

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo dnf install openconnect
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: i686
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 27 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openconnect from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

openconnect-devel 9.12-11.fc45

Development package for OpenConnect VPN authentication tools

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo dnf install openconnect-devel
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: i686
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 4 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: openconnect-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
pacman95%

openconnect 1:9.12-5

Open client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN

https://www.infradead.org/openconnect/

sudo pacman -S openconnect
  • License: LGPL2.1
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • 23 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: openconnect from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
zypper95%

libopenconnect5 9.12-3.6

Libraries for openconnect

http://www.infradead.org/openconnect.html

sudo zypper install libopenconnect5
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Category: System/Libraries
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 15 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libopenconnect5 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

openconnect 9.12-3.6

Client for Cisco AnyConnect VPN

http://www.infradead.org/openconnect.html

sudo zypper install openconnect
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Category: Productivity/Networking/Security
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openconnect
  • 8 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openconnect
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: openconnect from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • gettextRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • gnutlsRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • nettleRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • p11-kitRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • stokenRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • pkgconfBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • dsvpnShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.
  • edgevpnShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.
  • geph4Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.
  • macosvpnShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.
  • sing-boxShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.
  • sstp-clientShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, vpn.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment