OpenVPN Access Server
OpenVPN Inc. | 2.0.8Linux/Unix, Ubuntu 14.04 - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Worked like a charm
Got this server setup in 15 minutes. Just don't forget to sudo -i on the server and "passwd openvpn" to create a password to login to the web UI.
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let me check
I'll use it,vpn I want have one,ohohohohohoh ioshdads asdjfhasjfdh Not too short and not too long. Aim for between 75 and 300 words.
SSH Config Needs Help!
Finally got it working after 4 instance attempts. I could not log in to the Web UI because I didn't have a valid password. SSH configuration wizard doesn't prompt you to create password. Also I could only get it to configure with the default "openvpn" admin name. Name change attempts were rejected.
After initial SSH configuration is complete you must set the web UI admin password using "sudo passwd openvpn" command before exiting SSH session.
Good and simple VPN solution
OpenVPN was very easy to setup. There are not many options to adjust, but it comes with everything that is necessary to run a simple VPN setup at AWS. Installation time was 1-2 hours including client-side work.
We are using the clients for MacOSX and Linux and they worked like a charm. No problems so far. Documentation and software UI are quirky (hence only 4 stars), but hey: it works!
So far so good
Some bumps an bruises during the actual build. The instructions provided by openvpn were great BUT saying the passphrase was optional was wrong. I built the instance 5 times and generated the ppk at least that many before I finally tried setting a passphrase, which worked.
The config was simple and I was able to get the developer access quickly to our site. Those 4 stars could go to 5 with some time.
Exactly what we needed
We needed to quickly set up a VPN into our AWS VPC from both Mac and Windows clients and this AMI worked perfectly.
Follow these instructions:
http://dbsgkhvbz3k7m.cloudfront.net/AmazonVPC/AmazonVPC.html
Along with this page which contains additional detail:
https://docs.openvpn.net/how-to-tutorialsguides/virtual-platforms/amazon-ec2-appliance-ami-quick-start-guide/
and you'll have it set up with 30 minutes.
Easy to use VPN appliance with some ugly documentation
I'm running the OpenVPN access server as a micro instance, just as a home VPN and simple HTTP/TCP-IP proxy.
I found it fairly straightforward to get up and running, once I ironed out a couple of things which weren't highlighted well in the quickstart guide.
I didn't realise at first that the default user was set to 'openvpn' and so I got stuck with SSH-ing in, but soon worked it out. After that, configuration was simple if you followed each step of the guide.
My use case is fairly simple and this worked well for me.
Hard to use
Hard to use, you need to read openvpn manual to operate on it.
if you want to use it instead of rent a vpn service from those providers, think again.
Didn't work. Save the effort and build your own from the Ubuntu image
I spent a few days trying to get this build to work to no avail. I could connect fine and ping the inside interface of the VPN gateway server but I couldn't ping anything else in my VPC. I thought it was me being a bit rubbish at first, but then I gave up and built my own on an Ubuntu instance, which worked first time.
Not that hard to install yourself. It's a great product but either there's an undocumented config that's special to this instance or it's broke. Takes 10 minutes to get working. Used this great (albeit slightly out of date but workable) guide...
http://www.whiteboardcoder.com/2012/12/amazon-aws-vpc-setting-up-openvpn-server.html
Thanks Patrick Bailey!
WASTE OF TIME
3 DIFFERENT INSTANCES - ALL FAILED. I even opened up all traffic in the security groups and ACL. Nada... don't waste your time.