AWS Marketplace Quick Start Guide for Access Server (Tiered/Fixed Connection Licensing)
Launch OpenVPN Access Server on AWS EC2 using a tiered Marketplace AMI — pre-licensed for a fixed number of VPN connections and billed hourly through AWS. Covers EC2 setup, initial configuration, and connecting your first VPN client.
OpenVPN Access Server is available on the AWS Marketplace as a Tiered offering with predefined VPN connection limits. You can deploy Access Server in your own Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and AWS handles the Access Server software subscription based on the connection tier you purchased.
This guide walks you through the AWS Marketplace Tiered offering using AWS CloudFormation, the recommended deployment method for new installations.
Deploying Access Server on AWS is well suited for organizations that need to:
Give remote users secure access to applications and private networks in AWS.
Connect cloud and on-premises networks with site-to-site VPN connections.
Run a self-managed VPN server within their AWS environment.
Note
For sizing and performance guidance, refer to System Requirements.
🌐 Choose the AWS Tiered offering
The Access Server Hub provides several ways to deploy Access Server on AWS, including AWS Launcher, CloudFormation Script, Linux on AWS, Docker on AWS, and AWS Marketplace.
For this guide, use the AWS Tiered offering.
Sign in to the Access Server Hub.
From the Installation page, select AWS Marketplace.
Under Tiered Instance, select the number of VPN connections for your deployment.
Select Launch instance.
Sign in to AWS if prompted.
🔑 About Tiered subscriptions
With an AWS Tiered instance, you purchase a predefined number of VPN connections through AWS Marketplace.
The selected connection tier is tied to the AWS Marketplace subscription, so you don't need to activate a separate OpenVPN subscription key.
AWS Marketplace also offers other deployment options, including Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) and Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL). This guide focuses on tiered instances.
AWS bills both the Access Server software subscription and the AWS infrastructure charges through your AWS account.
For a detailed comparison of all AWS licensing options, refer to the AWS licensing options FAQ.
If you have licensing issues with your Amazon tiered instance and it’s only allowing two connections, see our AMI tiered instance licensing troubleshooting page.
🌍 Subscribe to the AWS Marketplace Tiered offering
On the AWS Marketplace product page, confirm that the listing matches the connection tier you selected.
Select View purchase options.
Review:
Offer summary.
Purchase details.
Free trial details, if available.
Pricing details for the selected dimension.
Total cost.
Terms and conditions.
Under Purchase details, keep Usage based or select Usage based with annual contract, if available and appropriate for your deployment.
Request a purchase order if required by your organization.
Select Subscribe.
Wait while AWS creates the usage-based agreement.
Don't close or refresh the page while the request is processing.
When AWS confirms the purchase, select Launch your software.
From the AWS Marketplace launch page, choose the recommended CloudFormation deployment.
For the deployment method, select AWS CloudFormation instead of Amazon EC2.
Select the Access Server version.
The latest available version is selected by default.
Select the AWS Region where you want to deploy Access Server.
Select Launch with CloudFormation.
AWS opens the CloudFormation Create stack workflow.
⚙️ Create the CloudFormation stack
Specify the template
For Prepare template, keep Choose an existing template.
Under Specify template, keep Amazon S3 URL selected.
AWS Marketplace automatically populates the template URL.
Select Next.
Configure stack details
Enter a Stack name.
Configure the Access Server deployment parameters:
Configuration
Details
Let's Encrypt Certificate
Select enabled to automatically configure a browser-trusted Let's Encrypt certificate for the Admin Web UI and Client Web UI. Select disabled if you plan to manage the web SSL certificate separately. Access Server will launch with a self-signed certificate.
Public IP Address Type
Select an Elastic IP or an AWS Auto-assigned Public IP. We recommend an Elastic IP because it remains unchanged when the instance is stopped and started, helping prevent client disconnections caused by IP address changes.
VPC ID
Select the Amazon VPC where Access Server should be deployed.
Public Subnet ID
Select the public subnet for the Access Server instance.
SSH Access CIDR
Specify the CIDR block allowed to reach the instance over SSH on TCP port 22. Use a specific address such as
198.51.100.10/32whenever possible.Security recommendation
Avoid allowing SSH from
0.0.0.0/0for production deployments. We recommend you restrict access to a specific administrator IP address or trusted network.Instance name
Enter a descriptive name for the Access Server EC2 instance.
Instance type
Select an EC2 instance type appropriate for your VPN workload. Refer to System Requirements for sizing guidance.
AMI ID
Keep the AMI ID automatically populated by AWS Marketplace.
EC2 KeyPair for SSH access
Recommended. Enter the name of an existing EC2 key pair if you want SSH access to the instance. You can find available key pairs under EC2 → Network & Security → Key Pairs. If you leave this field blank, CloudFormation will auto-generate an EC2 key pair.
Admin password
Optional. Enter an initial password for the
openvpnadministrative account. Leave the field blank to have CloudFormation generate a temporary password automatically.Select Next.
🛡️ Configure permissions and stack options
Under Permissions, optionally assign an existing AWS IAM service role that CloudFormation can assume or create a new role.
Configure any additional stack deployment options, validations, or settings required for your environment.
Acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation may create IAM resources.
Select Next.
📜 Review and create the stack
Review the stack configuration.
Confirm the parameters are correct.
Select Submit.
AWS begins creating the CloudFormation stack.
Tip
If you regularly deploy Access Server with the same configuration, you can use the CloudFormation quick-create option to streamline future deployments.
🕵️♂️ Monitor the deployment
The CloudFormation stack displays the deployment timeline and the AWS resources created for Access Server.
Monitor the stack status while AWS creates the resources.
Wait until the stack reports:
CREATE_COMPLETE.Select the Outputs tab.
🔐 Get the Admin Web UI credentials
The CloudFormation outputs provide the information you need to access Access Server for the first time.
Locate:
Output
Description
AdminPortal
The URL for the Access Server Admin Web UI. The initial URL uses the public IP address assigned to the instance, including the Elastic IP when selected during deployment.
TempPassword
The temporary password for the
openvpnadministrative account when you leave the Admin password parameter blank.SSHKeyParameter
If CloudFormation generated an EC2 key pair, use the corresponding output information for SSH access.
Important
After the CloudFormation stack reaches
CREATE_COMPLETE, Access Server may require up to five additional minutes to finish system initialization. Sign-in attempts can fail during this period.Copy the TempPassword, if CloudFormation generated one, and store it securely.
Select the link for the AdminPortal URL.
After selecting the AdminPortal URL in a browser, the Admin Web UI login page displays.
Sign in with the
openvpnadministrative account and the TempPassword or the password you configured during deployment.Review the End User License Agreement (EULA).
Select Agree.
If your VPN setup consists of a site-to-site connection between your cloud instances and your on-premises machines, ensure you disable source/destination check protection on Amazon; otherwise, routing won’t function properly.
Turn off source/destination checks:
From Instances in the EC2 console, right-click on the VPN instance ID.
Select Networking → Change source/destination check.
Check Stop under Source / Destination checking and select Save.
Source/destination checking can also block traffic if you want VPC data to go directly to the IP addresses of your VPN clients in the VPN client subnet. For that use case, turn off the check as well.
Access Server’s default routing uses network address translation (NAT). Traffic originating from the VPN clients appears to come from the local IP address of Access Server with NAT, and this is simpler than setting up routing.
However, when using NAT, traffic from the VPC itself can’t directly access a VPN client because the NAT engine prevents direct contact. You must configure routing instead of NAT to allow direct access to a VPN client.
To access this configuration:
Sign in to the Admin Web UI.
Navigate to Access Controls → Global Access Rules.
Set IP Addresses and Subnets to Route for Reachable via.
Configure your subnets for your network.
After setting up routing, the source IP address of packets coming from the VPN clients is kept intact, and direct access from the VPC network to the VPN client subnet is possible. However, because the VPC doesn’t automatically recognize the VPN subnet within the VPN instance, it doesn’t know how to send the return traffic back to the instance. To correct this problem, add a static route in the Amazon routing table for your VPC so that the return traffic flows properly. Refer to Amazon’s AWS VPC routing documentation: Route tables for your VPC (Amazon).
After confirming that users can connect successfully, complete any operating system maintenance and security hardening required for your production deployment.
🕒 Change default time zone
If the server uses a different time zone than you require, run:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
Follow the prompts to select the appropriate time zone.
⏰ Verify time synchronization
Accurate system time is important for authentication, logging, certificates, and time-based one-time password (TOTP) authentication.
Before installing another NTP service, verify which time synchronization service is already active on the server and configure it according to your operating-system requirements.
🔄 Update operating-system software
Keep the underlying Linux operating system current with security and software updates. For example, on Ubuntu servers, run:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade
Review the packages before applying updates in production and reboot the server when required.
🛡️ Further security recommendations
Review the security guidance that applies to your deployment:
Tutorial: Keep Access Server Updated — Keep Access Server current with supported security and feature updates.
Tutorial: How to Change the Password for Your New Administrative Account — Replace the temporary administrative password used during initial setup.
Tutorial: Harden the Web Server Cipher Suite String — Restrict the cipher suites offered by the Access Server web services when your security requirements call for additional hardening.
Tutorial: How to Isolate Access Server's Web Services — Restrict access to the web interfaces for deployments that don't require them to be publicly reachable.
Not every security recommendation applies to every installation. Review each tutorial against your deployment and security requirements.