Anyone here good with VPN servers?

BigglesPiP · 29 Aug 2010 at 15:52

I need to configure a VPN server so that one machine can connect to it from the same subnet, and from other subnets. The end goal is that the client can appear to have the same IP address (the server's) regardless of what subnet it's on.

I'd rather use pptpd but would consider openvpn, ssh tunnels or other options. The OS of the serve is Ubuntu 10.04 server and the client is Ubuntu 10.04 desktop, both are completely fresh installs, the server only got LAMP and SSHD ticked during install.

So what information do I need to provide, if there's anyone who knows how to do this?

deano · 29 Aug 2010 at 19:03

what application is it to use?

I would have thought ssh tunnels would be the quickest and easyest, depending on the above

BigglesPiP · 31 Aug 2010 at 09:51

It's been suggested, but the application is actually ssh, while it's really easy to make a tunnel with ssh, it's hard to use one with ssh, hence just routing everything via a VPN.

I'm basically sick of having to re-start all my ssh sessions when I go wireless or dock the laptop.

slylittlefox · 3 Sep 2010 at 00:50

Read/follow a tutorial on OpenVPN, it's a piece of ****.

BigglesPiP · 3 Sep 2010 at 09:25

It's not, it's totally not.

"Put your local address here and remote addresses here" wut? "Set up a bridge" ok? "Use tis to choose between a tap and a tun" you're making this up, surely?

I'm very familiar with networking and TCP/IP (more of a SAN guy though), but OpenVPN is just twaddle.

slylittlefox · 3 Sep 2010 at 09:39

BigglesPiP said:
It's not, it's totally not.

"Put your local address here and remote addresses here" wut? "Set up a bridge" ok? "Use tis to choose between a tap and a tun" you're making this up, surely?

I'm very familiar with networking and TCP/IP (more of a SAN guy though), but OpenVPN is just twaddle.

Something is twaddle because you don't understand it? No offence intended, but you can't be that familar with networking if you don't know what "put your local address and remote addresses here" means, what a bridge is, and what a tap/tun device is

OpenVPN is one of the best VPN servers on the market, and is renowned for how easy to setup/configure it is.

What guide are you following? I'll try and dig out the one I've got bookmarked as I remember it being really easy to follow.

BigglesPiP · 3 Sep 2010 at 11:26

I got the local address, obviously, but remote address? I tried a range of 10.8.... addesses for the client to be assigned, but the server never started. My level of understating is enough to know what broadcast is, what can and cannot be a block of IP addresses.

A bridge I get the concept of, but can't see how it applies to the application.

tap and tun are alien to me. But all the "easy" guides I can see tell you to choose which you need an put it in the config file. I don't know what I need, if I knew that I probably wouldn't need a guide.

vidda · 3 Sep 2010 at 12:29

Remote address is your external address which you connect to from external sources. I think this can be both DNS / IP.

The bridge applies to the applications completely, it allows your VPN connection to behave almost as if it was on the physical network. This can usually help fix problems caused by using NAT with VPN connections (no need to port forward etc).

TAP and TUN are virtual adapters which provide the bridging and routing.