Quick Start Guide

QUICK START / ACCESS SERVER

OpenVPN Access Server Quick Start Guide

Sign in to the Access Server portal and download the software package for your platform.
Install ‘openvpn-as’ package
Get the password for the Admin Web UI
Set up in browser: https://[youripaddress]/admin

Setting up OpenVPN Access Server on Linux

Follow this high level overview to set up OpenVPN Server and OpenVPN Access Server Admin Web UI. For more details, refer to the Admin Web UI User Manual.

OpenVPN Access Server fits seamlessly with Linux. Our latest releases come through our software repository. It provides you with the following three components:

OpenVPN Server

The VPN server is the underlying component in OpenVPN Access Server.

  • Routing
  • User management
  • Tunneling
  • Authentication
  • Encryption

Admin Web UI

The online admin web interface provides an easy UI for managing the server.

  • VPN settings
  • Network settings
  • User permissions
  • Web server certificates

OpenVPN Connect

This is the client app to connect users to the VPN. Your server comes with a web-based Client UI with pre-configured apps available for download. You can also download a configuration file.

Choosing Your Platform

You can host a server on-premise, with a virtual machine, or through a cloud service provider. Start by choosing the appropriate platform from inside the Access Server portal. Then you’ll launch your new VPN server.

We provide specific quick start guides for each option. These make it easy for you to get your VPN up and running.

Linux OS

Copy and paste the repository commands and execute with root privileges

Ubuntu for access server
Debian for access server
redhat for access server
CentOs for access server

Virtual machine

Select one of our pre-configured appliances

VmWare for access server
HyperV for access server

Cloud service provider

Select the OpenVPN instance from their marketplace

AWS for access server
Azure for access server
GCP for access server
redhat for access server
Oracle Cloud for access server

Obtain Admin Web UI login details

Once you install OpenVPN Access Server on your selected platform from above, you can configure your VPN using the web-based Admin Web UI. In the last step of the installation process, a randomly generated password for the openvpn administrative account will be shown on the console.

Then connect to the Admin Web UI with that username and password. The URL will be along the pattern of https://[youripaddress]/admin/

Replace “[youripaddress]” with the static IP address of your server.

Note: Access Server versions older than 2.10 don't automatically generate a password. On older versions, set the password manually by typing passwd openvpn on the command line.

Next Steps

Once you’ve signed in to your web-based Admin Web UI, you can configure your VPN. These next steps will guide you through setting up a custom hostname, configuring network settings, adding users, and additional security steps.

Interfaces

The Admin Web UI

The Admin Web UI provides an intuitive tool to manage settings for your VPN server. Refer to the OpenVPN Access Server User Manual for details about the configuration options and functionality within the tool.

The Admin Web UI for Access Server

OpenVPN Connect

OpenVPN Connect is our free, full-featured VPN Client.

To download a pre-configured app via web browser, simply navigate to the IP address or hostname of your VPN server: https://[youripaddress]

You may also download OpenVPN Connect directly here, and import the config file.

OpenVPN Connect for Desktop

Connect for Windows
Connect for Mac

OpenVPN Connect for Mobile

Connect for iPhone
Connect For Android

Helpful Configuration Tips

  • Successfully running the Linux commands here require that they are executed with root privileges logged in as a root user or sudo up.
  • To reach OpenVPN Access Server via the Internet, set the Hostname or IP address to one facing the public internet.
  • The default subnet for OpenVPN Access Server’s internal DHCP system is 172.27.224.0/20. This may be changed to a subnet that might work better for your current network.
  • Make sure the time and date on the Linux server are correct as Access Server generates certificates with both a start and expiration date. It can also affect the use of multi-factor systems such as Google Authenticator. If needed, install a Network Time Protocol (NTP) client program on the server to correctly and automatically sync the time.
  • For licensing an Access Server without internet access, it requires contacting the OpenVPN team for an offline activation procedure.
  • If you install Access Server 2.9 and older, you'll need to manually set the password for the openvpn account: passwd openvpn