Trying to test OpenVPN on local intranet

[georger^]

I have two computers, one desktop, the other a laptop. Both are running Ubuntu 16.04. Both have OpenVPN installed. I also have two books, "Mastering OpenVPN" and "OpenVPN Cookbook". I am attempting to step through the examples in the book in order to learn OpenVPN.

The first example in "Mastering OpenVPN" [p. 27] is setting up a Point-to-Point mode connection over my local intranet. This is a "clear text" connection with no authentication. I first start the server [desktop] with the terminal command: "openvpn --ifconfig 10.200.0.1 10.200.0.2 --dev tun". This works fine. Then I try to start the client with the terminal command: "openvpn --ifconfig 10.200.0.2 10.200.0.1 --dev tun --remote openvpnserver.example.com". This does not work: the software cannot resolve the "remote..." portion of the command. When I try to connect to the "openvpnserver.example.com" in a browser, it cannot find it.

At his point in my VPN education I have no clue what to do next. I would like to be able to go through the examples in the book, including certificate generation, encryption, and authentication. Can someone help me through the next step?

[TinCanTech]

example.com

There is no such host .. it is an internet standard and will normally resolve to localhost.

You need either a DNS name for your server or use the IP address in --remote