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Basic Openvpn Client-Server Configuration

This document provides a basic configuration example for an OpenVPN client-server VPN setup. It describes configuring one central router as the OpenVPN server and two branch office routers as clients. The server is configured to authenticate clients using certificates and push a route to its private LAN subnet. Each client is configured with its certificate and key to connect to the server and given its own subnet on the VPN.

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90 views

Basic Openvpn Client-Server Configuration

This document provides a basic configuration example for an OpenVPN client-server VPN setup. It describes configuring one central router as the OpenVPN server and two branch office routers as clients. The server is configured to authenticate clients using certificates and push a route to its private LAN subnet. Each client is configured with its certificate and key to connect to the server and given its own subnet on the VPN.

Uploaded by

masterlinh2008
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Portal > Knowledgebase > VPN > OpenVPN > Basic OpenVPN Client-Server Configuration

Basic OpenVPN Client-Server Configuration


Yuriy Andamasov - 2020-08-21 - 0 Comments - in OpenVPN

Introduction
In addition to site-to-site configuration, OpenVPN also supports a client-server model for
VPNs. This mode is more popular than using it in site-to-site mode, and allows for multiple
remote client connections to a single centralized server.

In this mode, you might have multiple configured sites connecting to a single centralized
router. For instance, you may have several branch offices, as well as a central headquarter
office with your central router. The central router can serve as the OpenVPN server, with the
branch office routers acting as OpenVPN clients.

The use of server-client VPNs in OpenVPN requires X.509 certificates to be setup. If you do
not have an existing PKI (Public Key Infrastructure), you may set up a simple one using this
guide.

Configuration Example
Network Specifications
In our example configuration, we will be using the following layout and goals for our
network:

Routers:

Three VyOS routers; one OpenVPN server, and two OpenVPN clients.
Server router: central-rtr, located at the central office.
First client router: branch1-rtr, located at the first branch.
Second client router: branch2-rtr, located at the second branch.

Networks and Addresses:

central-rtr has a public IP address of 203.0.113.2.


central-rtr has a private physical LAN that needs to be accessible through the
client VPNs. The LAN's subnet is 192.168.0.0/24.
Both branch routers have dynamic public IP addresses.
The address range for the tunnel endpoints for clients will be in 10.23.1.0/24.
Each client will have a /24-size subnet assigned to it in the 10.23.0.0/16 range.
branch1-rtr will have the tunnel endpoint address of 10.23.1.10 and the subnet
of 10.23.10.0/24 assigned to it.
branch2-rtr will have the endpoint address of 10.23.1.20 and the subnet of
10.23.20.0/24.

X.509 Certificate Information:

Root CN (Common Name): my-root-ca.


Server CN: central.
Server key name: server.key.
Branch 1 CN: branch1.
Branch 1 client key name: branch1.key.
Branch 2 CN: branch2.
Branch 2 client key name: branch2.key.

All above certs are signed against our root cert. The file locations for the relevant files will
be in each of the routers at the path /config/auth/ovpn/

Configuring the Server


Firstly, we need to configure our central-rtr to act as our OpenVPN server.

In configuration mode, issue the following commands:

set interface openvpn vtun0 mode 'server'


set interface openvpn vtun0 server subnet 10.23.1.0/24
set interface openvpn vtun0 persistent-tunnel
set interface openvpn vtun0 protocol udp
set interface openvpn vtun0 tls ca-cert-file
'/config/auth/ovpn/ca.crt'
set interface openvpn vtun0 tls cert-file
'/config/auth/ovpn/server.crt'
set interface openvpn vtun0 tls dh-file
'/config/auth/ovpn/dh1024.pem'
set interface openvpn vtun0 tls key-file
'/config/auth/ovpn/server.key'

We also need to install a push-route to push the route of the server's LAN of
192.168.0.0/24 to the clients:

set interfaces openvpn vtun0 server push-route 192.168.0.0/24

Now we need to set each of the client's configuration options. Client names are identified by
the CN field in their certs:

set interface openvpn vtun0 server client branch1 ip 10.23.1.10


set interface openvpn vtun0 server client branch1 subnet
10.23.10.0/24
set interface openvpn vtun0 server client branch2 ip 10.23.1.20
set interface openvpn vtun0 server client branch2 subnet
10.23.20.0/24

Configure the Clients


Now we need to configure the client routers. We'll again assume the proper certificate and
key files have been moved to the /config/auth/ovpn/ directory on each client.

Branch 1's Router:

set interfaces openvpn vtun0 mode client


set interfaces openvpn vtun0 remote-host 203.0.113.2
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls ca-cert-file
/config/auth/ovpn/ca.crt
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls cert-file
/config/auth/ovpn/branch1.crt
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls key-file
/config/auth/ovpn/branch1.key

We also need to set up a static route to our 10.23.0.0/16 subnet on each router, as
OpenVPN does not install this route automatically:

set protocols static interface-route 10.23.0.0/16 next-hop-interface


vtun0

Branch 2's Router:

set interfaces openvpn vtun0 mode client


set interfaces openvpn vtun0 remote-host 203.0.113.2
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls ca-cert-file
/config/auth/ovpn/ca.crt
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls cert-file
/config/auth/ovpn/branch2.crt
set interfaces openvpn vtun0 tls key-file
/config/auth/ovpn/branch2.key
set protocols static interface-route 10.23.0.0/16 next-hop-interface
vtun0

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