Newb Help

Talk1226

Hello all,
Please excuse my newbness but i'm new to the whole VPN thing and had a couple of questions. I've read all the online documentation but I just can't seem to get it.

1. What are the differences between setting up a OpenVPN Access Server via downloading the .OVA file and importing it into ESXi 4.1 and installing the appropriate rpm's on a CentOS server via yum?

2. I have FIOS and was wondering how to setup a secure VPN tunnel to connect from the outside into my home network. Does the Actiontec router Verizon provides support this VPN method?

Thanks.

[deleted]

Talk1226 wroteHello all,
Please excuse my newbness but i'm new to the whole VPN thing and had a couple of questions. I've read all the online documentation but I just can't seem to get it.

1. What are the differences between setting up a OpenVPN Access Server via downloading the .OVA file and importing it into ESXi 4.1 and installing the appropriate rpm's on a CentOS server via yum?

2. I have FIOS and was wondering how to setup a secure VPN tunnel to connect from the outside into my home network. Does the Actiontec router Verizon provides support this VPN method?

Thanks.

the .ova is a whole template. it's AS already installed on a built VM. think of it as an appliance. installing the rpm's lets you put it on the version of centos of your choice, plus i'm sure it's much more up to date. ESXi 4.1 is old.

are you trying to do it on your router or do you have a device inside the network you're trying to do it on? if it is the latter, yes, easy.

Talk1226

hello douglas,
Thanks for the reply! I'm actually trying to do the latter, "have a device inside the network as my VPN server". I have already installed the .ova VM on my ESXi host and ran the ovpn-init script but I'm not sure where to go from here. Please note that my new OpenVPN Access server is on the same network as my internal home network:

Home network - 192.168.1.0/24
OpenVPN Server - 192.168.1.27

I would like to connect securely via OpenVPN from my work or at another remote location.

I guess I'm alittle confused b/c I have FIOS and i'm not sure what ports need to be forwarded on my router or if this new OpenVPN server should be in a DMZ or do I need to add another vNIC to this host? Would it just be easier to purchase a new router with VPN capabilities? Sorry for my newbness, I just really want to learn OpenVPN.

Thanks again.