Before beginning, I assume the reader is familiar with the basic concepts behind Linux system administration.
Also note that 'screen' is not manadatory. I just like running my OpenVPN session via 'screen'
Step 1 - Install:
To install using apt-get, and using a Debian/Ubuntu based distro, run the below command.
apt-get install openvpn
apt-get install screen
If running a RHEL/Fedora based distro run the below:
yum install openvpn
yum install screen
Step 2 - Download the VyprVPN CA cert
sudo wget -O /etc/openvpn/ca.vyprvpn.com.crt \
http://www.giganews.com/vyprvpn/ca.vyprvpn.com.crt
Step 3 - Run the client
First run the command:
screen
Once within the screen session run the below:
sudo openvpn --client \
--remote hk1.vpn.giganews.com \
--dev tun \
--comp-lzo \
--auth-user-pass \
--tls-client \
--ca /etc/openvpn/ca.vyprvpn.com.crt
You may be prompted for your sudo password. Enter that. After you pass sudo authentication, you will then need to supply your VPN credentials. Enter those. Note that this is a basic configuration that works. Tweak as needed. Also note that the '--remote' argument can be any of the supported VyprVPN gateways.
Step 4 - Verify your connection
From a seperate console, run the below
ifconfig -a
Notice the tun device has been created
Also run traceroute to some random host...
traceroute cnn.com
Notice that your route begins at the VPN gateway.. Which in this case would be somewhere in Hong Kong.
You can also parse through wget or curl output from www.ip2location.com
curl -s www.ip2location.com | grep chkCountry\"\> 2>&1
wget -q -O - www.ip2location.com | grep chkCountry\"\>
Output may look something like..
<td><label for="chkCountry">HONG KONG</label></td>
Step 5 - End Your Session
When complete, simply ctrl-c from within the screen session. Or simply kill the openvpn process.
To verify your VPN session has been terminated, simply run 'ifconfig -a', and notice the absence of the tun device.
