Installing and Configuring OpenVPN (Ubuntu)

To access vSphere/NSX-T, you must install the OpenVPN client software on your local computer and establish a VPN connection.

This article explains how to install and configure the OpenVPN client software on a local computer running the Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 distributions to establish a VPN connection to your Private Cloud.

Installing OpenVPN

Prerequisites:

• You have administrator rights.
• You have logged in on your local PC.

Important:

To use OpenVPN, you must enable the following ports in your router and firewall:

Alternatively, OpenVPN can be used with port 1194 TCP. In this case, this port should also be opened.

Port	Protocol
1194	UDP
443	TCP

1. Open the terminal.
2. To install OpenVPN, enter the following command:

root@localhost ~# apt-get update && apt-get install openvpn

1. You will then see the following message:

Is this ok [y/N]:

1. Type y and press the Enter key.

The OpenVPN client software is installed.

Downloading the Configuration File

To configure the OpenVPN client software, you need a specific *.ovpn file. To download it, proceed as follows:

1. Log in to your IONOS CLOUD account.
2. In the Data Center Designer (DCD), go to Menu > Private Cloud > Login.
3. Log in to the Cloud Panel with your credentials.
4. Click on the Server & Cloud tile. If necessary, select the appropriate Server & Cloud contract.
5. The Cloud Panel opens.
6. To download the configuration file, click on VPN in the Private Cloud section.
7. The configuration file is downloaded.

Configuring OpenVPN

Prerequisites: You have installed the unzip program on your computer. You can install the unzip program by entering the following command:

root@localhost ~# apt-get install unzip

Configuration Steps

1. Copy the OpenVPN configuration file (for example, vpn1234B_1.ovpn) to the installation directory. Example:

root@localhost ~# cp -i /home/vpn123456789.zip /etc/openvpn/

1. Change to the destination directory:

root@localhost ~# cd /etc/openvpn/

1. Verify that the file has been copied to the destination directory:

root@localhost:~# etc/openvpn/ ls

1. Extract the zip file. Example:

root@localhost ~# unzip vpn123456789.zip