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How to Configure OpenVPN

Date: Sep 8, 2006.

Article Information

Article Description

OpenVPN may seem a little daunting at first, but once you get your feet wet this can be an incredibly useful (and free!) tool. In this article, Michael Riley shows you how to use OpenVPN for secure internet surfing on your client PCs. He’ll also help you set up the configuration that will allow you access to your home network while you’re traveling. From installation to troubleshooting, and using helpful OS-specific tips, this tutorial demystifies OpenVPN for the beginning user.

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Client configuration

Now you're going to install OpenVPN on each of the client computers using the same install file you used previously. You can leave all of the install settings on their defaults for the clients. Once you've rebooted, go ahead and copy the correct .ovpn configuration file into the config directory (C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config) of each client. Then copy the three necessary certificate files into the C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\easy-rsa\keys folder (make sure to create it if it's not there). The three files you need are ca.crt (each client and the server share a copy of this one file), clientX.key, and clientX.crt. Next, replace clientX with the filename/Common Name of each client cert.

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