How to use the Access Server AWS Launcher

Introduction

Create a pre-configured Access Server for Amazon AWS with our simple setup wizard. With it, you can easily create a CloudFormation script directly on our site.

Follow these steps to launch Access Server with CloudFormation.

Step 1: Procure an Access Server subscription

  1. Sign in to the Access Server portal.
  2. Click Subscriptions.
  3. Get a free subscription for two VPN connections, or purchase one with more connections.

Step 2: Use CloudFormation as the launch option

  1. Click Get Access Server.
  2. Click AWS under As a Cloud Image.

Step 3: Launch with CloudFormation

  1. Select your preferred AWS Region under Select an AWS region below to begin.
  2. Select your subscription.
  3. Click Launch Script on AWS. (You may need to sign in to your AWS account.) Or click on Download to get the CloudFormation script to launch manually.

Step 4: Provide needed parameters for CloudFormation

  1. Enter a Stack name or leave it as is.
  2. Note that the Activation Key is populated.
  3. Select your VPC ID and Public Subnet ID.
  4. Provide the Key Pair Name for SSH access.
  5. Select the checkbox, I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources. This permission is necessary to find the correct Ubuntu image for your selected region.
  6. Click Create stack.
  7. The new stack displays in the events tab with an in-progress status.
  8. Monitor the progress of the events as they're in progress and then completed.

Step 5: Sign in to the Access Server Admin Web UI

  1. After your new stack completes, click the Outputs tab.
  2. Take note of the URL for the Access Server Admin Web UI and the password.
  3. Click the URL to open the Admin Web UI.
  4. Sign in with the openvpn username and the provided, randomly-generated password.
  5. Change the temporary password after signing in:
    1. Click User Management > User Permissions.
    2. Click More Settings for the user, openvpn.
    3. Enter a new password in the Local Password text box.
    4. Click Save Settings and Update Running Server.
  6. You can now configure Access Server for your network.

Launch from Access Server Portal