For this reason, this guide assumes that your CA is on a separate Ubuntu 18.04 server that also has a non- root user with sudo privileges and a basic firewall. Per OpenVPN’s Getting started How-To tutorial, you should place your CA on a standalone machine that’s dedicated to importing and signing certificate requests. While it’s technically possible to use your OpenVPN server or your local machine as your CA, this is not recommended as it opens up your VPN to some security vulnerabilities.

The linked tutorial will also set up a firewall, which is assumed to be in place throughout this guide.Īdditionally, you will need a separate machine to serve as your certificate authority (CA). You can follow our Ubuntu 18.04 initial server setup guide to set up a user with appropriate permissions. You will need to configure a non- root user with sudo privileges before you start this guide. To complete this tutorial, you will need access to an Ubuntu 18.04 server to host your OpenVPN service. For this reason, please be mindful of how much traffic your server is handling. Note: If you plan to set up an OpenVPN server on a DigitalOcean Droplet, be aware that we, like many hosting providers, charge for bandwidth overages.

This tutorial will keep the installation and configuration steps as simple as possible for each of these setups. In this tutorial, you will set up an OpenVPN server on an Ubuntu 18.04 server and then configure access to it from Windows, macOS, iOS and/or Android. OpenVPN is a full-featured, open-source Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPN solution that accommodates a wide range of configurations. You can circumvent geographical restrictions and censorship, and shield your location and any unencrypted HTTP traffic from the untrusted network. When combined with HTTPS connections, this setup allows you to secure your wireless logins and transactions. The traffic emerges from the VPN server and continues its journey to the destination. Want to access the Internet safely and securely from your smartphone or laptop when connected to an untrusted network such as the WiFi of a hotel or coffee shop? A Virtual Private Network (VPN) allows you to traverse untrusted networks securely as if you were on a private network.

A previous version of this tutorial was written by Justin Ellingwood Introduction

Setting up a vpn