Virtual private networks (VPNs) are a great way to securely access the internet from any location. They create an encrypted connection between your device and a VPN server, which can help protect your online activity from being intercepted by third parties.
In this blog post, we’ll show you how to install and configure a VPN server on a Raspberry Pi 4.
- Install Raspbian: First, you’ll need to install the Raspbian operating system on your Raspberry Pi. You can download the latest version from the official Raspberry Pi website and follow the installation instructions.
- Install OpenVPN: Next, you’ll need to install the OpenVPN software on your Raspberry Pi. OpenVPN is a free and open-source VPN server that is easy to set up and configure. You can install it by running the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt-get install OpenVPN - Generate a certificate and key pair: OpenVPN uses certificates and keys to authenticate and encrypt connections. You’ll need to generate a certificate and key pair for your VPN server. You can do this by running the following command:
cd /etc/openvpn
sudo openssl genrsa -out server.key 2048
sudo openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
sudo openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt- Configure the OpenVPN server: Now that you have your certificate and key pair, you’ll need to configure the OpenVPN server. Create a file called “server.conf” in the “/etc/openvpn” directory and add the following lines:
port 1194
proto udp
dev tun
ca ca.crt
cert server.crt
key server.key
dh dh.pem
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222"
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.220.220"
keepalive 10 120
comp-lzo
persist-key
persist-tun
status openvpn-status.log
verb 3- Start the OpenVPN server: Now you’re ready to start the OpenVPN server. Run the following command to start the server:
sudo systemctl start openvpn@serverTest the VPN connection: To test your VPN connection, you’ll need to install the OpenVPN client on a device. You can download the client from the official OpenVPN website and follow the installation instructions. Once you’ve installed the client, you can connect to your VPN server by using the certificate and key pair you generated earlier.
That’s it! You now have a fully functional VPN server running on your Raspberry Pi. You can use it to securely access the internet from any location.
As always, it’s important to keep your VPN server and software up to date with the latest security patches to help protect against known vulnerabilities.