OpenVPN is a full-featured SSL VPN (virtual private network). It implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the SSL/TLS protocol. It is an open source software and distributed under the GNU GPL. A VPN allows you to connect securely to an insecure public network such as wifi network at the airport or hotel. VPN is also required to access your corporate or enterprise or home server resources. You can bypass geo-blocked site and increase your privacy or safety online.
This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions for configuring an OpenVPN “road warrior” server on Ubuntu Linux v14.04/16.04 LTS version including ufw/iptables firewall configuration. The steps are as follows:
- Find and note down your public IP address
- Download openvpn-install.sh script
- Run openvpn-install.sh to install OpenVPN server
- Connect an OpenVPN server using IOS/Android/Linux/Windows client
- Verify your connectivity
Find your public IP address
Use any one of the following command to find out your IPv4 public address. If your internface name is eth0 or eth1, enter:
$ ip addr show eth0
OR
$ ip addr show eth1
Or use the host command or dig command as follows:
$ host myip.opendns.com resolver1.opendns.com
OR
$ dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.com
Sample outputs:
Note down the public IP address 139.59.1.155 i.e. public ip address of your OpenVPN server.
Download openvpn-install.sh script
Type the following command:
$ wget https://git.io/vpn -O openvpn-install.sh
Sample outputs:
--2016-06-27 07:30:25-- https://git.io/vpn Resolving git.io (git.io)... 23.23.173.104, 54.243.161.116, 23.23.111.66 Connecting to git.io (git.io)|23.23.173.104|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found Location: https://raw.github.com/Nyr/openvpn-install/master/openvpn-install.sh [following] --2016-06-27 07:30:26-- https://raw.github.com/Nyr/openvpn-install/master/openvpn-install.sh Resolving raw.github.com (raw.github.com)... 151.101.100.133 Connecting to raw.github.com (raw.github.com)|151.101.100.133|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 301 Moved Permanently Location: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nyr/openvpn-install/master/openvpn-install.sh [following] --2016-06-27 07:30:27-- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nyr/openvpn-install/master/openvpn-install.sh Resolving raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)... 151.101.100.133 Connecting to raw.githubusercontent.com (raw.githubusercontent.com)|151.101.100.133|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 13340 (13K) [text/plain] Saving to: ‘openvpn-install.sh’ openvpn-install.sh 100%[==============================================>] 13.03K 80.9KB/s in 0.2s 2016-06-27 07:30:28 (80.9 KB/s) - ‘openvpn-install.sh’ saved [13340/13340] |
Run openvpn-install.sh to install OpenVPN server
Type the following command:
$ sudo bash openvpn-install.sh
When prompted set IP address to 139.59.1.155 and Port to 1194. Use Google or OpenDNS DNS servers with the vpn. Next, type client name (such as iPhone, Nexus6, LinuxRouter etc). Finally, press [Enter] key to install and setup OpenVPN on your system:
The script will now generate keys, DH parameters and more as follows:
Okay, that was all I needed. We are ready to setup your OpenVPN server now Press any key to continue... Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com ...... ... .. --2016-06-27 17:10:38-- https://github.com/OpenVPN/easy-rsa/releases/download/3.0.1/EasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz Resolving github.com (github.com)... 192.30.252.120 Connecting to github.com (github.com)|192.30.252.120|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found Location: https://github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com/releases/4519663/9dab10e8-7b6a-11e5-91af-0660987e9192.tgz?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAISTNZFOVBIJMK3TQ%2F20160627%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20160627T114040Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=717ae4f606d1999b4c7c164ae06d163c494197f04aafffa9f760a8e0bf136136&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&actor_id=0&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3DEasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz&response-content-type=application%2Foctet-stream [following] --2016-06-27 17:10:40-- https://github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com/releases/4519663/9dab10e8-7b6a-11e5-91af-0660987e9192.tgz?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAISTNZFOVBIJMK3TQ%2F20160627%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20160627T114040Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=717ae4f606d1999b4c7c164ae06d163c494197f04aafffa9f760a8e0bf136136&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&actor_id=0&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3DEasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz&response-content-type=application%2Foctet-stream Resolving github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com (github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com)... 54.231.72.3 Connecting to github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com (github-cloud.s3.amazonaws.com)|54.231.72.3|:443... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 40960 (40K) [application/octet-stream] Saving to: ‘/root/EasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz’ /root/EasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz 100%[================================================>] 40.00K 38.8KB/s in 1.0s 2016-06-27 17:10:43 (38.8 KB/s) - ‘/root/EasyRSA-3.0.1.tgz’ saved [40960/40960] init-pki complete; you may now create a CA or requests. Your newly created PKI dir is: /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key ........+++ ...............................................................................................+++ writing new private key to '/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/private/ca.key.BjRh5frdDd' ----- Generating DH parameters, 2048 bit long safe prime, generator 2 This is going to take a long time ....+.....+................................................................................+..................................................................................................................................................................+...................................... ... .. .................................................................................................................+........................................................................................................................................+.................................+......................................................+...++*++* DH parameters of size 2048 created at /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/dh.pem Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key .......................................................................+++ ..................................................+++ writing new private key to '/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/private/server.key.9ieuluTC2R' ----- Using configuration from /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/openssl-1.0.cnf Check that the request matches the signature Signature ok The Subject's Distinguished Name is as follows commonName :ASN.1 12:'server' Certificate is to be certified until Jun 25 11:55:48 2026 GMT (3650 days) Write out database with 1 new entries Data Base Updated Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key .........+++ .........+++ writing new private key to '/etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/private/iphone.key.lokNfOiobc' ----- Using configuration from /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/openssl-1.0.cnf Check that the request matches the signature Signature ok The Subject's Distinguished Name is as follows commonName :ASN.1 12:'iphone' Certificate is to be certified until Jun 25 11:55:48 2026 GMT (3650 days) Write out database with 1 new entries Data Base Updated Using configuration from /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/openssl-1.0.cnf An updated CRL has been created. CRL file: /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/pki/crl.pem 244 Looks like your server is behind a NAT! If your server is NATed (e.g. LowEndSpirit), I need to know the external IP If that's not the case, just ignore this and leave the next field blank External IP: |
That is all. Your OpenVPN server has been configured and ready to use. You can see added firewall rules /etc/rc.local file:
$ cat /etc/rc.local
Sample outputs:
iptables -I FORWARD -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT iptables -I FORWARD -s 10.8.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 1194 -j ACCEPT iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 10.8.0.0/24 -j SNAT --to 139.59.1.155
You can view your openvpn server config file generated by the script as follows (do not edit this file by hand):
$ sudo more /etc/openvpn/server.conf
$ sudo vi /etc/openvpn/server.conf
Sample outputs:
port 1194 proto udp dev tun sndbuf 0 rcvbuf 0 ca ca.crt cert server.crt key server.key dh dh.pem tls-auth ta.key 0 topology subnet server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0 ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp" push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.8.8" push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.4.4" keepalive 10 120 cipher AES-128-CBC comp-lzo user nobody group nogroup persist-key persist-tun status openvpn-status.log verb 3 crl-verify crl.pem
How do I start/stop/restart OpenVPN server on Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS?
Type the following command stop the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo systemctl stop [email protected]
Type the following command start the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo systemctl start [email protected]
Type the following command restart the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo systemctl restart [email protected]
How do I start/stop/restart OpenVPN server on Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS?
Type the following command stop the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/openvpn stop
Type the following command start the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/openvpn start
Type the following command restart the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/openvpn restart
{Optional} How to configure and use the ufw firewall rules for the OpenVPN server
The default rules added to the /etc/rc.local file should work out of the box. However, if you have complicated firewall settings or prefer ufw to control all firewall settings on Ubuntu Linux server, try the following. First, edit the /etc/rc.local file using a text editor and comment out all firewall rules added by the script. Type the following ufw command to open port 1194 and 22 (ssh):
$ sudo ufw allow 1194/udp
$ sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
Edit the file /etc/ufw/before.rules, enter:
$ sudo vi /etc/ufw/before.rules
At top of the file add the following rules:
# START OPENVPN RULES by vg # NAT table rules *nat :POSTROUTING ACCEPT [0:0] #****************************************[README]*****************************************************# # Allow traffic from OpenVPN client to 139.59.1.155. Replace 139.59.1.155 with your actual IP address*# #****************************************[README]*****************************************************# -A POSTROUTING -s 10.8.0.0/24 -j SNAT --to-source 139.59.1.155 COMMIT # END OPENVPN RULES by vg
Next scroll down and find the comment that read s follows
# ok icmp code for FORWARD
Append the following rules:
#OpenVPN Forward by vg -A ufw-before-forward -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A ufw-before-forward -s 10.8.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT -A ufw-before-forward -i tun+ -j ACCEPT -A ufw-before-forward -i tap+ -j ACCEPT #OpenVPN END by vg
Save and close the file. Next edit the /etc/ufw/sysctl.conf file, enter:
$ sudo vi /etc/ufw/sysctl.conf
Find and uncomment the following line to allow this host to route packets between interfaces
net/ipv4/ip_forward=1
Save and close the file. Enable ufw or reload if already running:
$ sudo ufw enable
OR
$ sudo ufw reload
Verify new firewall rules:
$ sudo ufw status
$ sudo iptables -t nat -L -n -v
$ sudo iptables -L FORWARD -n -v
$ sudo iptables -L ufw-before-forward -n -v
Client configuration
On server your will find a client configuration file called ~/iphone.ovpn. All you have to do is copy this file to your local desktop using the scp and provide this file to your OpenVPN client to connect:
$ scp [email protected]:~/iphone.ovpn .
Next, you need to download OpenVPN client as per your operating system:
- Download OpenVPN client for Apple IOS version 6.x or above and install it.
- Download OpenVPN client for Android and install it.
- Download OpenVPN client for Apple MacOS (OS X) and install it.
- Download OpenVPN client for Windows 8/10 and install it.
MacOS/OS X OpenVPN client configuration
Just double click on iphone.ovpn file and it will open in your tunnelblick client > Click on the “Only me” to install it.
Once installed click on Connect button and you will be online. Use the following command on MacOS client to verify that your public IP changed to the VPN server IP:
$ dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.com
You can ping to OpenVPN server private IP:
$ ping 10.8.0.1
Linux OpenVPN client configuration
First, install the openvpn client, enter:
$ sudo yum install openvpn
OR
$ sudo apt install openvpn
Next, copy iphone.ovpn as follows:
$ sudo cp iphone.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client.conf
Test connectivity from the CLI:
$ sudo openvpn --client --config /etc/openvpn/client.conf
Your Linux system will automatically connect when computer restart using /etc/init.d/openvpn script:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/openvpn start
For systemd based system, use the following command:
$ sudo systemctl start [email protected]
Test the connectivity:
$ ping 10.8.0.1 #Ping to OpenVPN server gateway
$ ip route #Make sure routing setup
$ dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.com #Make sure your public IP set to OpenVPN server
FreeBSD OpenVPN client configuration
First, install the openvpn client, enter:
$ sudo pkg install openvpn
Next, copy iphone.ovpn as follows:
$ mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/openvpn/
$ sudo cp iphone.ovpn /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client.conf
Edit /etc/rc.conf and add the following:
openvpn_enable="YES" openvpn_configfile="/usr/local/etc/openvpn/client.conf"
Start the OpenVPN service:
$ sudo /usr/local/etc/rc.d/openvpn start
Verify it:
$ ping 10.8.0.1 #Ping to OpenVPN server gateway
$
$ netstat -nr #Make sure routing setup
$
$ drill myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com #Make sure your public IP set to OpenVPN server
References
And there you have it, OpenVPN server installed in five minutes to increase your privacy.
- How To Setup OpenVPN Server In 5 Minutes on Ubuntu Server
- Install Pi-hole with an OpenVPN to block ads
- How to update/upgrade Pi-hole with an OpenVPN
- How to install an OpenVPN server on Debian 9/8
45 comment
5 minutes? It takes more time for sure. Where are keys.
Doesn’t look like 5 minutes to me and in fact it’s much, much simpler. Here is my cheat sheet (in Russian) http://eax.me/openvpn/ – this way it actually takes 5 minutes, I’ve checked many times.
Can we see a CentOS 7 version of this tutorial?
Cheers.
And… how to temporarily suspend a client?
no easy guide outsider there.
thx
Hey, what a great article you’ve written, has long sought something like this, I have many articles and information gathered on the subject of Open VPN for when it is their time to implement exactly what you suggest in this article, that just what I need, nothing more.
The option to download the article in pdf format of this blog is superior and much needed, although I use Pocket to store many items is very comfortable to save it to disk in a nicely formatted pdf.
Can you make the option “Download to PDF” print the comments and related posts? your blog provides highly valuable information and deserves this option.
A fan, Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback. It required too much programming or changes to include the comments and related post in pdf file. I can’t promise anything but I will look into it when I’ve some free time.
Nice guide, how about adding users as this only shows the one user during setup
I will add it soon. Thanks for the feedback.
First a brief note:
sudo openvpn-install.sh I not work for me
Openvpn-install.sh bash had to do to make it work.
Hi, I’m trying to do this in a Lubuntu 14.04 LTS 2007 MacBook Laptop connected to a WiFi network, is this possible? I know you specify that is a Ubuntu Server.
The script ran successfully, but the first step in where he had to enter the IP address, showed the local network address 192.168.0.25 and change it to the public IP address that showed me the command: dig + short myip \. opendns.com @ resolver1.opendns.com
When I try to connect another Asus Linux Client Lubuntu 14.04, I note that your public IP address Unchanging remains in
Here is some of the output produced by my client:
Mon 4 July 2016 3:10:25 SIGUSR1 [soft, tls-error] received, process restarting
Mon 4 July 2016 3:10:25 Restart pause, 2 second (s)
Mon 4 July 2016 3:10:27 Socket Buffers: R = [212992-> 212992] S = [212992-> 212992]
3:10:27 Mon 4 July 2016 Local UDPv4 link: [undef]
Mon 4 July 2016 3:10:27 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET] 82.250.240.108:1194
3:11:27 Mon 4 July 2016 TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to Occur Within 60 seconds (check your network connectivity)
3:11:27 Mon 4 July 2016 TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
Mon 4 July 2016 3:11:27 SIGUSR1 [soft, tls-error] received, process restarting
Mon 4 July 2016 3:11:27 Restart pause, 2 second (s)
Mon 4 July 2016 3:11:29 Socket Buffers: R = [212992-> 212992] S = [212992-> 212992]
3:11:29 Mon 4 July 2016 Local UDPv4 link: [undef]
Mon 4 July 2016 3:11:29 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET] 82.250.240.108:1194
3:12:29 Mon 4 July 2016 TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to Occur Within 60 seconds (check your network connectivity)
3:12:29 Mon 4 July 2016 TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
Mon 4 July 2016 3:12:29 SIGUSR1 [soft, tls-error] received, process restarting
Mon 4 July 2016 3:12:29 Restart pause, 2 second (s)
Mon 4 July 2016 3:12:31 Socket Buffers: R = [212992-> 212992] S = [212992-> 212992]
3:12:31 Mon 4 July 2016 Local UDPv4 link: [undef]
Mon 4 July 2016 3:12:31 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET] 82.250.240.108:1194
My goal is to assemble an experimental home domestic vpn, web traffic to route and connect via ssh as if it were a LAN network to Backups or systems management work.
Thanks greetings.
Sorry for the hasty and mistranslation, at the beginning I meant:
First a brief note:
$ sudo openvpn-install.sh I not work for me
$ bash openvpn-install.sh had to do to make it work
+----------------+ (public IP) | | {INTERNET}={ Router | | | | | +------+---------+ | (192.168.0.1) | | +------------------+ | | | | | OpenVPN | wlan0: 192.168.0.10/24 +--{wlan0 server | tun0: 10.8.0.1/24 I | | | | {tun0} | I +--------+---------+ | +------------+-----------+ | | | Other LAN clients | | | | 192.168.0.0/24 | | (internal net) | +---------------------------+ASCII Diagram Fail
See Using routing and OpenVPN not running on the default gateway
https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/wiki/BridgingAndRouting
AES-128? Replace that with AES-256.
hi. amazing tutorial. it took me less than 5 minutes in my server (192.168.1.1/24). now all remote clients(10.8.0.0/24) can easily access the server. i would like to have all the remote clients to be able to see the rest of the LAN where the server is (192.168.1.0/24). The server is ubuntu
I’m working on trying to configure that same setup now. From what I understand is you need to bridge the two networks under one subnet. Still not sure how to do that.
can you please also help me to resolve this issue? my scenario is like:
Public IP of VPN server: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
LAN IP of VPN server: 10.0.0.XXX
Clients are getting IP: 10.8.0.XXX
I want my client to connect all LAN network.
all help is appreciated in advance
has anyone resolved this problem yet?
Excellent Tutorial – Thanks !!!
this tutorial does not worked for me: the following is the log of my openvpn client:
could you assist me to resolve the problem?
I use ubuntu16.04
I failed start openvpen
This is error detail:
daemon() failed or unsupported: Resource temporarily unavailable (errno=11)
Thank you for the tutorial. That script it pretty awesome.
I’m running into an issue though. Under the client configuration part I don’t seem to have the .ovpn file that I am supposed to copy to the client machine. Where did I go wrong? Any tips or assistance would be greatly appreciate.
Wouldn’t use this script or guide guys. Sets up a hidden account on your server that you install openvpn on. Right after i set it up I got three logins from india. Even the IP he lists in the tutorial is India based. Just a heads up I wouldn’t use this.
The script is open source. There is no hidden account created on your server. You are just making claim out of /dev/null.
The script worked great.
Before that I tried it manually, but did not get the IPTABLES to work.
Thank you very much!
how to add user autentication
It works perfectly, thank you!!!!
Wow, not a tutorial (I like to understand what’s happening) but I was up and running in 5 minutes on my testserver. Thanks a lot!
Hah. Yes. You can read the script to understand what’s happening. Just use a text editor.
of course, I know and i did, to learn something and to see if there are no malicious parts (trust no one ;))
Excellent tutorial, really useful everything working perfectly fine for me.
Only one question, now I have access to my entire LAN with OpenVPN also to my router, which I would like to block for the client that will connect to my home server.
How can I block internal LAN static IP Addresses?
Thanks a lot again!
Hi @all,
you wan it in 5 min with routing and a good gui.
Look at http://pritunl.com/
you can use your standard openvpn client.
Moep
Thanks for this script!
Can anyone help me out
Hey, I just setup this with my DigitalOcean VPS server. As Vivek said, it took me exactly five minutes. Thanks boss.
Hi, how to add password for client?
Thanks, it works!
…But my client can’t see the samba shares on the openvpn server.
And yes, samba is set as a wins server.
Need help please.
Everything is up and running, all of your sample outputs match mine… Up to the point where I’ve moved the ovpn file to my desktop and opened it in Tunnelblick (mac osx), but it’s not connecting. It looks like I’m having the same error message as someone above that never got a response. Do you have any advice as to why the .ovpn file isn’t working to connect Tunnelblick?
2017-05-11 12:06:18 OpenVPN 2.3.14 x86_64-apple-darwin [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [PKCS11] [MH] [IPv6] built on Jan 28 2017
2017-05-11 12:06:18 library versions: OpenSSL 1.0.2k 26 Jan 2017, LZO 2.09
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: TCP Socket listening on [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:1337
2017-05-11 12:06:18 Need hold release from management interface, waiting…
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: Client connected from [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:1337
2017-05-11 12:06:18 *Tunnelblick: openvpnstart starting OpenVPN
2017-05-11 12:06:18 *Tunnelblick: Established communication with OpenVPN
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: CMD ‘pid’
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: CMD ‘state on’
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: CMD ‘state’
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: CMD ‘bytecount 1’
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: CMD ‘hold release’
2017-05-11 12:06:18 NOTE: the current –script-security setting may allow this configuration to call user-defined scripts
2017-05-11 12:06:18 Control Channel Authentication: tls-auth using INLINE static key file
2017-05-11 12:06:18 Outgoing Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash ‘SHA1’ for HMAC authentication
2017-05-11 12:06:18 Incoming Control Channel Authentication: Using 160 bit message hash ‘SHA1’ for HMAC authentication
2017-05-11 12:06:18 Socket Buffers: R=[196724->196724] S=[9216->9216]
2017-05-11 12:06:18 UDPv4 link local: [undef]
2017-05-11 12:06:18 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]75.174.28.41:1194
2017-05-11 12:06:18 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1494525978,WAIT,,,
2017-05-11 12:07:18 TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to occur within 60 seconds (check your network connectivity)
2017-05-11 12:07:18 TLS Error: TLS handshake failed
How many total clients are allowed with this script setup? Thanks in advance.
There is no limit
Script works great. Thanks for your hard work
?
[email protected]:/etc/openvpn$ dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.com
“104.3.156.194”
[email protected]:/etc/openvpn$ sudo openvpn –client –config /etc/openvpn/client.conf
Options error: In [CMD-LINE]:1: Error opening configuration file: /etc/openvpn/client.conf
Server is set up, nicely. Love It !!!
I spent the past “month” trying to get any/all the online examples of “How to” to work, but always had problems. this is so very nobrainer on the “Server Side”, it’s GREAT !!!
However,
Client shows “Active (exited)” when I $ sudo /etc/init.d/openvpn status
I can PING 10.8.0.1 from my client, though
$ dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.comjust hangs, then times out.
I open Firefox, and goto “GOOGLE.com”, it times out,
“Server not found”.
I’ve played with “proxy” and “no proxy” in Firefox. No change.
How do I tell ALL my traffic is going via the “tunnel”?
Existed means something is wrong on your client.
That’s very true.
So after rebuilding my laptop (client, due to ALL the changes I had previously made to it over the past months following other “How To’s”, so I had a “clean slate” so to speak), I came up with the same behavior (Hey, at least I’m consistent !!!). So with the help of “other How To’s”, I noted I could get to google.com by IP address, but not by name (On the Server, I did a “PING GOOGLE.COM, got the IP address and entered it in a “PING” on the client). Ah Ha !!! DNS problem. So SEARCHing online, I found a solution that “worked”.
On the Client,
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2352821&page=2
Edit ” /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head ” and enter
nameserver 8.8.8.8
or whatever OpenDNS address you wish. I used
nameserver 208.67.222.123
nameserver 208.67.220.123
which is all throughout the OpenVPN code I set up for myself on the Server and my home gateways. Then I REBOOTed, to enable it all. I then did a ” PING GOOGLE.COM ” and it worked. So I brought up my browser and “Voala”, Google came up on the browser. It worked !!! Now, There’s a warning in the file you edited about it being overwritten. By what, I’d like to know, so it can be permanent and not overwritten. More SEARCHing …
Check this “How To: Make Sure /etc/resolv.conf Never Get Updated By DHCP Client“. HTH