IT410 W3 Project: Establishing Secure VPN Connection (Windows & Linux)

This project report details the complete process of setting up a secure VPN connection using OpenVPN between a Windows client and a Linux server (Ubuntu 18.04.3). The project begins with the installation of Ubuntu in a virtual machine using Oracle VirtualBox, followed by the installation and configuration of the OpenVPN server on the Linux machine. The report then covers the installation of the OpenVPN client on a Windows machine. Key steps include editing the OpenVPN vars file, initializing variables, and generating a certificate authority (CA) certificate and key. Furthermore, it explains the generation of server and client certificates and keys, generation of Diffie-Hellman parameters, and the creation of configuration files for both the server and client. The report also includes steps for starting the OpenVPN daemon and the client, and concludes with pinging the server to confirm the establishment of a secure connection. The report includes screenshots of each step to aid in understanding the process. The assignment brief also required the identification of the cipher used to encrypt data and the changes made to the Windows routing table after the client connects to the server, although these details are not explicitly mentioned in the provided solution.

Running head: IT410 W3 PROJECT
IT410 W3 Project
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Task 1: Installation of Linux, OpenVPN server, OpenVPN client..................................................2
Task 1.1. Installation of Linux.....................................................................................................2
Task 1.2. Installation of OpenVPN Server (Linux)...................................................................10
Task 1.3. Installation of OpenVPN Client (Windows)..............................................................13
Task 2: Editing OpenVPN’s var file and addition of information.................................................16
Task 3: Initialization of variable and generation of certificate authority certificate and key........16
Task 4: Generation of certificate and key for server and client.....................................................17
Task 5: Generation of Diffie-Hellman parameters........................................................................19
Task 6: Creation of configuration files for server and client.........................................................19
Task 7: Starting OpenVPN daemon..............................................................................................20
Task 8: Starting OpenVPN client..................................................................................................21
Task 9: Pinging server to confirm connection established between the machines........................21
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................23

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Task 1: Installation of Linux, OpenVPN server, OpenVPN client
Task 1.1. Installation of Linux
For the installation of linux we have used Ubuntu 18.04.3 version and oracle virtual box.
In the first step a new machine is created and it is named as Ubuntu. The location of the machine
is set and type is set to Linux. The version of Ubuntu is 64 bit and in the next step memory is
allocated to the virtual machine and it is set to 1024 mb i.e. 1gb.

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Configuration is made for the virtual hard disk and the file type of the hard drive is set to
VDI and the storage of the hard drive is set to dynamically allocated such that the size may get
increased or decreased according to the needs of the user.

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The location of the storage of the hard drive is configured and the initial size of the hard
disk is set to 10.00 GB.
The start option is clicked and the iso file downloaded from Ubuntu website is selected as the
start up disk for starting the installation of Ubuntu as a virtual machine.

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The screenshot shows the option presented by Ubuntu for starting the installation and
English is selected as the default language for proceeding with the installation.
The following screenshot shows selection of the keyboard layout and English US layout
is selected for proceeding with the next step of installation.

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The option for update and other software is selected and here the normal installation is
selected and the option for download updates while installation is unchecked for saving the
installation time.
In the next step the installation type is configured and the erase disk and install Ubuntu is
selected for starting the installation in the virtual hard drive.

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The changes made to the disk are confirmed and the continue option is selected for the selection
of hard drive.
The time and date zone is selected for the selection of the server and installing the updates from
that server.

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The name is set to user and the computer name is automatically set to user-VirtualBox
and a password is set for securing the installation of the operating system
The following screenshot shows installation progress bar of Ubuntu.

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The following screenshot shows successful completion of Ubuntu operating system
Task 1.2. Installation of OpenVPN Server (Linux)
For the installation of OpenVPN server the openVPN project is downloaded from github
and permission is granted to the file for reading, writing and executing. The bash script is
executed for starting the installation of OpenVPN.

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The installation of openvpn is started and it is configured to communicate using UDP protocol
and port number 1191 and use the DNS of google. The certificate is generated and named as
client.