Create your own VPN on any device in 5 minutes
👨💻
It is getting more and more difficult to protect your privacy every day while browsing online. With more and more services being compromised on a daily basis, it is difficult to ensure that your personal browsing data is safe.
Using a VPN is a great way to maintain privacy by routing traffic through your VPN server. Instead of directing traffic to the website you are browsing, the traffic between your computer and the VPN server is encrypted and then travels to the source website. This means that the destination sees all traffic as coming from your VPN server rather than your ISP, keeping your personal information safe.
Instead of paying for a VPN provider, you should consider setting up your own VPN server. It is much easier than it looks and can be done in less than 5 minutes.
In this article, we will show you how to set up OpenVPN on ServerMania using Debian 9. Once your server is set up, you can connect to it from Windows 10, Mac OS, Android, iPhone, or any other device.
Why might I need a personal VPN server?
Creating a personal VPN server is fundamental to maintaining your privacy online. Every time you use a public WiFi like in a coffee shop or hotel, you have no idea where your browsing data is directed to.
When you create your VPN server, you will only see the network you are connected to the connection that is established between your computer and your ServerMania server. This connection is encrypted, and the local network will have no idea which sites you are accessing.
Even when you contact your local ISP, you cannot be sure of the browsing data that your ISP may release to third parties. By using a VPN, you can be sure that this data is secure.
Is it difficult to create my own personal VPN server?
It is really easy to set up your own cheap VPN server in ServerMania. Setting up the VPN only takes a few minutes. We’ll show you how in this article.
VPN server system requirements
System requirements for setting up a VPN server with OpenVPN are rather modest:
- ServerMania hybrid or dedicated server
- Debian 9 (although other Linux distributions are supported)
- 128MB RAM – We recommend 1GB RAM for other system services
- 10 GB of disk space for OpenVPN and other system packages
Installation overview
- We’ll start with a hybrid server request in ServerMania. This is the server that will route all the traffic in order to setup your VPN server.
- We will log into the server and install the software in a few steps.
- Finally, we will configure your local machine to connect to the VPN server.
Personal VPN Server Installation Instructions
Step 1: Request your server
Start by visiting ServerMania.com and requesting your server. For a personal VPN, we recommend the Hybrid Mystery Box server as it is an affordable option.
Step 2: Log in to your server
To start the process of creating your VPN, log into your server via SSH. We have lessons on connecting via SSH using Mac or Windows.
ssh root @IP-Address
Step 3: Update the server
We will update the repositories on the server:
apt-get update
Step 4: Install the required software
If your server does not have wget (used to download the installer script), we will download it now:
apt-get install wget
Step 5: Download the installer
Next, we will download a popular OpenVPN installer from github:
wget https://git.io/vpn -O openvpn-install.sh
Step 6: Update file permissions
Let’s update the permissions on the file to make it executable:
chmod + x openvpn-install.sh
Step 7: Start the installation process
Now to start the installation process by executing the installation script:
./openvpn-install.sh
Enter this information into the installation script:
- The server’s primary IP address is automatically populated. Press Enter to continue.
- Press 1 to proceed with the UDP installation.
- Press Enter to continue on the default port.
- Enter the DNS provider you wish to use on the server. We recommend using OpenDNS.
- Enter your name to use when creating the client certificate and press Enter.
- Press Enter to continue with the installation.
The script will install OpenVPN and generate all keys required for use.
Step 8: Copy the VPN Configuration File
Execute the following command and copy the data into a text file on your computer.
cat /root/client.ovpn
Save the file as client.ovpn.
You can use scp to download the file to your local machine from the device
scp user @IP: /root/client.ovpn/Local/folder
Once downloaded, you can use this file in your favorite VPN client to connect.
Add VPN Users
Every device you use must have its own user on the VPN server to function reliably. You can run the following command to add users:
./openvpn-install.sh
Choose option 1, and create a unique name for the device.
Copy the content from the configuration file for use on your device. For example, if you name the customer phone Then you can run this command:
cat /root/phone.ovpn
Starting, stopping, and restarting OpenVPN
After installation, OpenVPN will start automatically and will be set to start on boot. Here are the start and stop commands for your reference:
To start OpenVPN:
start systemctl openvpn@server.service
To stop OpenVPN:
systemctl has stopped openvpn@server.service
To restart OpenVPN:
Restart systemctl openvpn@server.service
Connect to your VPN server
[ad_1]
Don’t forget to share this post with friends !
