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An open-source VPN

Opinion
May 24, 20041 min
NetworkingOpen SourceSecurity

Where can I find an open source SSL VPN package for Windows?

Where can I find an open source Secure Sockets Layer VPN package for Windows?

OpenVPN is an open source SSL VPN system that supports servers and clients across several platforms. Version 1 required unique ports for individual VPN client connections. Version 2 (now in beta) provides a multi-client server mode.

The OpenVPN Windows installer includes all the binaries for servers and clients. The difference between servers and clients is in the configuration files you create.

After downloading and installing OpenVPN on two machines, configure a “shared secret” connection between the two systems. Then enable Transport Layer Security/SSL authentication to use multi-client server mode.

The OpenVPN documentation shows how to use the included OpenSSL to generate and deploy the required security certificates from your chosen certificate authority.

To create your own OpenVPN Windows-based certificate authority, copy openssl.cnf from the source code ZIP file into your OpenVPN “bin” directory, edit the text to match your system, and add “-configopenssl.cnf” to the openssl commands given in the documentation.