OpenVPN is a highly configurable VPN (Virtual Private Network) software package. VPNs are used to secure your internet connection, and they’re especially useful when you’re using public Wi-Fi. In this blog post, we’ll guide you on how to set up OpenVPN on your Linux machine.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure that you have:
- Access to a Linux machine.
- OpenVPN server details from a VPN provider.
- Root or sudo access on your machine.
Step 1: Install OpenVPN
The first step is to install OpenVPN on your Linux system. Most modern Linux distributions include OpenVPN in their repositories, so you can install it using your package manager.
For Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu, use the following command:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install openvpn
For Red Hat-based distributions like CentOS, use the following command:
sudo yum install openvpn
Step 2: Configure OpenVPN
After installing OpenVPN, the next step is to configure it. You’ll need the configuration file from your VPN provider for this step.
The configuration file should be placed in the /etc/openvpn directory and must have the .conf extension.
You can use the cp command to copy the configuration file to the correct directory. For example:
sudo cp /path/to/your/config.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client.conf
Step 3: Start OpenVPN
After configuring OpenVPN, you can start it using the systemctl command.
sudo systemctl start openvpn@client
You can also set OpenVPN to start automatically on boot with this command:
sudo systemctl enable openvpn@client
Conclusion
By following these steps, you’ve successfully installed and configured OpenVPN on Linux. Now you can browse the internet securely and privately using your VPN. Remember to always use a trustworthy VPN provider and stay safe online!