If you’re looking for a project to both enhance your privacy and tinker with a Raspberry Pi, setting up a personal VPN is a perfect choice. By leveraging the ease of use and power of a Raspberry Pi, you can create a secure tunnel for your internet traffic using VPN protocols, particularly OpenVPN. In this post, we’ll go through how to set up a VPN server on Raspberry Pi 3 or 4, using PiVPN, a straightforward OpenVPN installer.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, here are some prerequisites:

  1. Raspberry Pi (3 or later) with Raspbian OS installed.
  2. SSH Access to your Raspberry Pi.
  3. Static IP Address for your Raspberry Pi.
  4. Port forwarding on your router for the VPN port.

Step 1: Update Your Raspberry Pi

To start, ensure that your Raspberry Pi is up to date by running:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Step 2: Install PiVPN

Now, download and install PiVPN using the following command. PiVPN simplifies the process of installing OpenVPN server on a Raspberry Pi.

curl -L https://install.pivpn.io | bash

This command will download the PiVPN installer and execute the script to guide you through the installation process. During the installation:

  • Choose OpenVPN.
  • Use a static IP address for your Raspberry Pi.
  • Select the user profile for the VPN connection (usually the pi user).
  • Allow the installer script to set up your firewall.

Step 3: Configure the OpenVPN Server

After installation, configure the server using:

pivpn add

Follow the prompts to create a new client configuration profile. For example, type HomePC to create a profile for a client device.

This command will generate .ovpn files stored at /home/pi/ovpns. You can transfer this file to your client device using SCP or a USB drive.

Step 4: Port Forwarding

To access the VPN server from the internet, set up port forwarding on your router. Forward the default OpenVPN port UDP 1194 to the internal IP of your Raspberry Pi.

Step 5: Configure Client

Transfer the .ovpn file to your client, and use a compatible OpenVPN client to import this configuration.

# Example for Unix-like systems:
sudo openvpn --config HomePC.ovpn

For Windows or Mac, you can use the OpenVPN GUI or other VPN clients that support the import of .ovpn files.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully set up a VPN server on your Raspberry Pi. This setup provides a personal secure tunnel, encrypting your data and ensuring privacy over less secure networks. You can further customize your configuration and expand your VPN network by adding more client devices or playing around with different security settings.

Remember, keeping your software up to date and maintaining good security practices are crucial when running your own VPN server.