Linux VPN Server: Installation and Setup for OpenVPN⁠

• You need a supported Linux OS with root-level access. You can connect directly through the console or through an SSH session using a tool like PuTTY.

• If you need to sign in as an unprivileged user, sudo up to gain root privileges.

• Ensure your server has the correct time and date, which is required for certificate generation and verification and implementing multi-factor authentication.

• To check the current time, date, and time zone on a Debian/Ubuntu system:

  apt update apt -y install tzdata dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

• To check the current time, date, and time zone on a CentOS/Red Hat system:

  timedatectl --help

• Ensure your server can access the internet. Some use cases require running Access Server in an environment without internet access—if you need this, contact support to help set you up with an offline license activation.

• We recommend installing Access Server behind a firewall as part of a layered security approach. Forward the following ports from the public internet to Access Server's private IP address:

  • TCP 443 – Web interface and OpenVPN TCP connections

  • TCP 943 – Web interface and cluster API communication

  • UDP 1194 – OpenVPN UDP connections

• Check DNS resolution works correctly. Test by pinging a domain, such as www.google.com, to verify that the server resolves it to an IP address.

You must know the correct operating system to use the appropriate commands to add the repository and install Access Server.

Run these commands to find the necessary OS information:

cat /etc/issue
lsb_release -a
uname -a

• You must download software packages separately.

• Access Server comes in two packages: OpenVPN Connect client software bundle and Access Server.

• The software also depends on various other packages to install successfully. On the Access Server portal, click on your Linux OS, then refer to Option 2: Manually download packages.

• To activate your subscription or license, contact our support team.