VPN and VPS Setup

Tutorials
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I now have my own VPN on several VPSs. Here is why I love having my own VPNs.

  1. I can as many or as few VPN locations of my choosing (i.e. not only 1 external IP)
  2. I found VPS deals on LowEndBox. com (Thank you, Jeff!) for less than half of the promotional yearly pricing of a very popular VPN service out there.
  3. I no longer worry about what those VPN companies are doing with my data
  4. It was super fun to making things work though I don’t understand most of it yet
  5. It was pretty easy to set up once I understood the process

Hope this helps, @dimitre!

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Why do you need a vpn on a vps?

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For me, mostly for saving money, privacy, and security.

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Guys, I was able to set up wireguard, as a newby it was very difficult for me.

Once I got it done, and I flipped the switch in wireguard I lost my internet connection.

I think I got ahead of myself with this and have decided to let this sit for a few weeks.

I really need to understand better what the point is, for using the VPN. What I thought it meant was that I could browse the web through my VPS site without people spying on me, but alas, I am a bit lost. I hope that I learn more about this soon but I have tabled this for now. Any perspective you can give would be great.

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Hi Nestling, thank you for writing out your VPN journey. Can you clarify how exactly you did #3 “I copied the script from onemarkfifty’s github?” Did you copy all of that code together at once and paste it into the terminal and run it, or did you do it 1 command at a time? Sorry but I’m a total noob here.

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Thanks Libertymom,

As I recall the onemarkfifty script just ran and ran well.

The tilix script was one that I had to post a little bit at a time.

Sorry to say, I am totally stalled out on this. I think I got everything installed correctly, and if you follow the instructions above you get a nifty little on/off switch in your “network” section that you can turn wireguard on.

Where I am at currently is that I can switch it on, but then loose my internet.

So I am missing something. I’ve decided to let this sit for a while and perhaps someone else will find a more elegant path to get there. Let me know how you get along because you might get it this working for you and might break the log jam for me!

Good Luck

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I asked for clarification on what a VPN does and got some excellent help from Will which is posted below. This was helpful for me.

A VPN is for your privacy while browsing the web. SSH is secure even if you are not using a VPN.

We will eventually be covering how to set up your own VPN. The next video of mine coming out will show how to set up security on your private server.

Here is a video about the basics of VPNs.

Will Welker

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@LibertyMom , this script I found for OpenVPN (wireguard was too hard for me) was very easy to set up.

SSH into your VPS then copy the commands from there. This produces files for client devices to copy to.

Here is an example of the process.
https://lowendbox.com/blog/running-your-own-openvpn-vpn-server/

However, per Vasileios’s suggestion, choose 1.1.1.1 for name server because it’s not from the big G.

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Thanks for the information on Wireguard GUI. Too many of the videos I found use the command line, and that was driving me crazy. I’m stalled out at the moment, but will keep trying.

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@Jenny8675309 Nyr’s OpenVPN script is super easy to use, I have to guess the WireGuard script would be the same. My biggest confusion was how to set it up on a Linux machine. It turned out to be easy to go to Network Manger (I’ve only used Ubuntu so far) and import the file the script made for you.

Hope you will soon be enjoying your own VPN as I do. :crossed_fingers:

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@Ai Thanks for the script link! I got the server set up with the Wireguard script and installed the app on my phone, scanned the QR. I’m golden! Wireguard is installed on my desktop, but I don’t see a program in my Applications. Can you tell me how to run traffic from my desktop through the VPN?

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I don’t know… my desktop is super old, I had to go with OpenVPN instead.

Assuming you have a Mac, not having WireGuard in your Applications folder may be an issue, since that is were apps are activated… Here is the video for Mac OS maybe it would help… WireGuard Installing On Mac OS - YouTube

Near the end of the video, you will see how you can control your VPN from WG’s logo on the top right corner.

If you get frustrated with WireGuard like I did, remove it from the server with the script you used, remove the apps from the phone and desktop. Switch to OpenVPN with the OpenVPN script from Nyr.

I am very happy with OpenVPN’s client interface, easy to setup and use, a better choice for a newbie like me.

In either case, I hope to hear good news from you soon!

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Thanks so much! You’ve been a great help.

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Guys, finally got my VPN working after the two courses from Wil and Vasileios in the class. Will walked through how to create a server and harden it. Vasileios went through installing the VPN. Here is a summary of the key steps.

  1. Setup the VPS server with Linode.
  2. Used the following script and instructions https://github.com/angristan/openvpn.
  3. The open vpn install creates a configuration file that you copy back to your local PC.
  4. You go your local computers settings then network and there is a VPN section where you can add a VPN. You can browse out to the file you created in step 3, then turn on the VPN.

Glad to have this done. These are the major steps and it works great once it is installed.

Cheers!

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Hi,
I’m struggling with getting WireGuard onto my Mac Desktop. So, I’m thinking I’ll switch to OpenVPN now too, as it seems like its easier from the posts in this thread. Just wondering if anyone knows which workshop # Vasileios shows how to install it etc.

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Don’t worry - found it.

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Nicole,

It was the Linux for beginners course I was fortunate enough to get in on the first group. However, I am sure having been through it there will be others happy to help.

You mentioned that you are looking to install it on a Mac. Just wondering if you have a Linux machine set up yet. If you do, I and others might be able to help you through the steps we learned.

Sorry for the confusing start to this thread, I feel some responsibility to help others heading down this path and am glad to help.

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Jenny, its been a while since I reviewed this thread. I assume you got the question answered. Basically, what you do is you open your settings in you local machine.

Then go to Network.

Then in the network menu you will see a VPN section. Press the + button then you can link to the open vpn config file that you created in previous steps.

Once you do that you can flip the switch and turn on the VPN. However before you do you can go out to a website that tells you your IP address I used ipchicken.com. Make note of the address before you flip the switch.

Then flip the switch on turning on the VPN. Then you should be able to go out again to ipchicken.com and see that you are now accessing the web through the IP address of your VPS.

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Yes, I did get it worked out but thanks for your response!

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Hi Nestling,

Thanks for your message. I’ve managed to get OpenVPN working on the Mac desktop, the Linux desktop and Linux laptop. Now, just in the process of having a go adding it to my iPad and iPhone.
Really appreciate your kind offer to help. I’ll see how my attempt goes and let you know what happens hehe…must say, its quite fun and turning into a great hobby.