Configuring OpenVPN on a Windows client with bridged TAP

Elo666

Hi.

I already know OpenVPN a little from having used it a couple of years ago. It has pretty much evolved since then and I probably need to refresh a lot of my knowledge of it. My issue maybe is some kind of a XY problem but here it goes.

My setup is as follows: I have an OpenVPN server installed on a Debian 8.2 machine. I also have a device with a fixed IP address, say 192.168.50.3/29, that is tied to the Ethernet adapter of a Windows OpenVPN client, say Client1. I need to access that device from another OpenVPN client (Windows), say Client2, as if it were in the same network as the remote device connected to Client1 — i.e. 192.168.50.0/29 — without routing involved.

Besides, as the protocols shared by the device and Client2 are not only IP, I opted for TAP virtual interfaces. I have also bridged the TAP and Ethernet interfaces on Client1, which is accessed on the local area network through its wireless adapter. Correct me if I'm wrong but this allows me to simplify the architecture and have the device on Client1 and other OpenVPN clients in the same network.

Now I've setup Client1 succesfully but with a slight twist: I've had to give the bridge a fixed IP address, i.e. the one that the TAP interface gets upon a successful connection. I haven't been able to determine if and how the OpenVPN client would set the "pushed" IP address to the bridge instead of the TAP interface.

Is there a better way to achieve this? (I guess the answer is yes although I'd like to avoid routing between two OpenVPN clients.)

Thanks a lot in advance for any hint/suggestion/help.

Traffic

For bridges see this HOWTO:
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/miscellaneous/ethernet-bridging.html

Elo666

Traffic wroteFor bridges see this HOWTO:
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/miscellaneous/ethernet-bridging.html

Thanks. I've indeed read that HOWTO and found nowhere the answer to my need. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that document refer to *server* bridging, right? What I have is *client* bridging. I'm not using server-side bridging. At least from what I understood. Or is there something that I've missed?

Traffic

Why not make client1 the openvpn server ?

Elo666 wroteOr is there something that I've missed?

Networking class 101.

Elo666

Traffic wroteWhy not make client1 the openvpn server ?

Because it is a laptop, mobile, not always connected to my network and not to be in my hands anymore once it's configured.

Elo666 wroteOr is there something that I've missed?

Traffic wroteNetworking class 101.

Uh? Can you develop? Well, just a little so that I'm sure I can understand what you mean.

Look, I've said I would preferably not use routing. However you might, I don't know, suggest I just *should*. I'm only asking for a little guidance here. Replies that consist of one sentence are not exactly what I was expecting TBH.

Traffic

Elo666 wroteI would preferably not use routing. However you might, I don't know, suggest I just *should*

It is your network and you presumably know what you need it for:
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/howto.html#vpntype

From what you have posted so far .. I have no idea why/what you are trying to accomplish.
Other than it is undocumented and therefore sounds like a square peg in a round hole ..

Elo666

Traffic wrote what you have posted so far .. I have no idea why/what you are trying to accomplish.

Then why not just ask for supplemental information? (That bugs me. Never mind I'll try figuring it all out on my own, maybe somewhere else.)

Elo666

How do I delete my account on this forum?

EDIT: Don't bother, found it on my own. Yet another of those countless forums where accounts are not deleted...