How to quickly deploy an OpenVPN server

VPN

Don't let a VPN server deployment bog you down. See how to get one up and running quickly with a TurnKey Linux solution.

By Jack Wallen | November 14, 2016, 12:20 PM PST
If your business has grown to the point where you need to offer a VPN to your employees, the thought of spending either the money or the time deploying such a solution might send you into apoplectic fits. It doesn't have to—there are so many incredible solutions available, some of which are free and even easy to unleash.


One such solution is OpenVPN. With this server software, you can either install it onto an existing platform, or you can opt to go the virtual route with a virtual appliance. I find that the easiest path to success is to use the TurnKey Linux OpenVPN virtual appliance. With this solution, you can spin up a VPN in a few minutes.

Let's walk through the process of launching the OpenVPN VM with the help of VirtualBox.

Importing the virtual appliance

The first thing you must do is download the appliance file. Once you have that file on your host machine, unzip it. Now you must import the .ova file into VirtualBox. To do this, open VirtualBox and click File | Import Appliance. When prompted, click the File icon and, from your file manager, navigate to and select the turnkey-openvpn-XXX-jessie-amd64.ova file (XXX is the release number). Click Next in the import wizard and then go through the default settings (Figure A).


Figure A


The default settings for the OpenVPN virtual appliance.

The one setting you'll probably want to change is the default allocated RAM (the default is only 512MB). Double-click that entry and bump it up to what you feel is adequate for your needs. Once you've done that, click Import, and the process will complete.
Starting the VM

Select the TURNKEY OPENVPN from the left navigation and click Start. During the startup process, you'll be asked to enter a password for the root user (Figure B). Type in a password (make it challenging) and hit Enter on your keyboard.


Figure B


Setting a password for the root user account.

Next you'll be required to select a profile for the server (Figure C). You can select from:
Server: This profile accepts VPN connections from clients and optionally configures a private subnet behind the OpenVPN enabling client access.
Gateway: This profile accepts VPN connections from clients and automatically configures connecting clients to route all their traffic through the VPN.
Client: This profile initiates VPN connections to an OpenVPN server.

Figure C


Select your choice of Server, Gateway, or Client.

Your selection will depend upon the needs of your network and your clients, but more than likely the Server option will suffice.

Now follow these steps.
Enter an email address for the OpenVPN server key.
Configure an IP address or FQDN that will enable clients to reach the VPN.
Enter a Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) subnet address pool to be used by your VPN. (This will be in the form of 192.168.1.0/24. Make sure that entry is specific to your networking needs.)
Supply the CIDR subnet that will exist behind the server that the clients will reach (this address will be in the same form as the previous CIDR address).

Once you hit Enter after setting the second CIDR address, walk away from the machine, as it will take awhile to complete the final phase of the process. When you're presented with the TurnKey Backup and Migration page, tab down to Skip and hit Enter. The last thing to do is enter an email address that will receive all local system notifications; type the address and hit Enter (you can skip this step).

Before you can log into your OpenVPN server, you'll be prompted to either install or skip any available updates to the system. I highly recommend you install these updates. This process can take quite awhile, so step away again and allow the updates to complete. When the updates finish, reboot the machine. Once the machine reboots, you'll be presented with all the information you need to connect to your VPN (Figure D). Your OpenVPN server is up and running and ready for configuration.

Figure D


Your connection information for your OpenVPN server.
Final steps

I highly recommend you log into the Webmin address (with username root and the password you set during installation), so you can further configure the virtual appliance. You will not find a GUI frontend for configuring the OpenVPN server here—for this, check out the /etc/openvpn/server.conf file. To do that, you'll need to secure shell into the server (information on connecting is presented to you once boot up has finished). Once logged in, you can edit the config file and add users with the openvpn-addclient USER EMAIL_ADDRESScommand (USER is a username and EMAIL_ADDRESS is the client's email address)

How to run VirtualBox virtual machines from the command line

By Jack Wallen | October 5, 2016, 8:15 AM PST

VirtualBox virtual machines can be run without working with the GUI. See how to take advantage of the VBoxManage command to start, pause, and power down your VMs.

If you're using VirtualBox as a virtual machine (VM) server in your data center, chances are you're going to want to know how to run those VMs without having to rely on the VirtualBox GUI. This makes it much easier to run your VMs without having to be at the host machine (you can ssh into the host and then manage the VMs) or without having a number of GUI windows open to clutter your server desktops (or be readily available for prying eyes).

To make this happen, you'll use a very powerful command that comes with VirtualBox called VBoxManage; it allows you to manage a number of aspects of your VMs. I'll show how to use VBoxManage to start, stop, and pause your VMs. I assume you have VirtualBox installed, and your VMs are ready to run on the host machine.

SEE: Building the Software Defined Data Center (ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature)
Before you fire up a VM



If you go directly to the VBoxManage command and fire up a VM, you'll probably find that VM isn't reachable via network—this renders the VM worthless, especially if it is a server.

In order to get the networking of your headless VM up and running, you have to install the VirtualBox extension pack. Here's how.
Download the extension pack that matches your VirtualBox release.
Open the VirtualBox GUI.
Click File | Preferences.
Go to the Extensions section.
Click the downward-pointing arrow (Figure A).
Navigate to where you saved the Extension Pack and select the .vbox-extpack file.
Click Open.
When prompted, type your admin password for the host machine.
Click OK.

Figure A
Image: Jack Wallen
Installing the VirtualBox Extension Pack

You're ready to run your VMs, which will include the ability to

How to use BestCrypt to encrypt files and folders

By Jack Wallen | October 5, 2016, 9:59 AM PST

Jack Wallen walks you through the steps of creating and moving a container to illustrate how amazingly easy BestCrypt Container Encryption is.

The needs for secure document/data storage are at an all-time high. This means more and more people are turning to encryption. To many, however, the idea of using some cumbersome, complex command line tool is beyond their scope of abilities. That's why having well thought out GUI tools for the task of encryption is important.

Recently, the BestCrypt Container Encryptiontool crossed my desk and immediately looked like just the tool for the job. BestCrypt is a cross-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows) that includes features like:
Store and Access Encrypted Files
Create and Manage Multiple encrypted Containers
Mount Encrypted Drive(s) as a Subfolder
Define permissions in a Multi-user Environment
Dynamic Containers
Move Containers across platforms

Although BestCrypt isn't open source, it works splendidly on Linux. What's most impressive about BestCrypt is that all of these features are rolled into a very easy to use GUI, that any level of user could immediately get up to speed on.

Let's install BestCrypt and use it to encrypt our first Container.
Installation

Before continuing on, know that BestCrypt is not a free software. You can use