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 configu...Read More

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.

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The following screenshot shows the steps for the generation of client key the step for setting the
OpenVPN server.

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The following screenshot the completion of the setup of openvpn and accessing the system as a
root user. The iptables are configured for allowing the client to access the server and the steps is
also shown in the screenshot.
Task 1.3. Installation of OpenVPN Client (Windows)
The following screenshot shows the installation of openVPN client in the windows operating
system.

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The following screenshot shows accepting the license agreement for proceeding with the
installation steps
The components of openvpn are selected for the installation and the next option is clicked.

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The directory for the installation of Openvpn is configured
The following screenshot shows the progress of installation of openvpn.

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The following screenshot shows the completion of the installation of openvpn in the client
windows machine.

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Task 2: Editing OpenVPN’s var file and addition of information
The var file is configured at the server end the organizational filed are set for the country,
province, city, organization, email and organizational unit. The private key is generated and the
certificate request from the server is configured by navigating to the directory.
Task 3: Initialization of variable and generation of certificate authority
certificate and key
The certificate authority is created and can be used for the generation of private key and
certificate request from the server. The certificate request and the private key is needed to be

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transferred to CA for signing and creation of the needed certificate. This can be done by
navigating to the EasyRSA directory present in the openvpn server.
The easyrsa script is needed to be executed with the pki option. The command ./easyrsa init-pki
is used for calling easyrsa script and nopass is used such that the key doesnot get password
protected.

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Task 4: Generation of certificate and key for server and client
A private key is created for the server along with a certificate request file and it is needed to be
copied in the /etc/openvpn/ directory. The following screenshot shows the steps for navigating to
the open vpn directory and copying the key in the /etc/openvpn directory.
The easyrsa script is executed with gen-req and nopass option for the generation of the client
key. The key is needed to be transferred to the client machine for establishing a secured
connection.

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Task 5: Generation of Diffie-Hellman parameters
The Diffie-hellman parameter is used for defining the performance of OpenSSL in Diffie-
hellman key exchange. This is used for the prevention of logjam attack.

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Task 6: Creation of configuration files for server and client
The configuration file is created for server and client is named as server.conf and
client.conf. It is used for creating a vpn connection using a virtual tun network interface. It
creates a client connection using UDP and port 1191. The virtual address is distributed for
connecting clients from subnet 10.8.0.0/24. For using the configuration file the ca cert key and
dh parameters are needed to be edited.

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Task 7: Starting OpenVPN daemon
The following screenshot shows the command used for starting the vpn daemon on the server
end

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Task 8: Starting OpenVPN client
The following screenshot shows the starting of openvpn client in the windows host machine.
Task 9: Pinging server to confirm connection established between the
machines
The following screenshot shows successfully pinging the server and tracerouting the server to
find the path used for reaching the dns server.

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Bibliography
How To Set Up an OpenVPN Server on Ubuntu 18.04 | DigitalOcean. (2020). Digitalocean.com.
Retrieved 16 February 2020, from
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-an-openvpn-server-on-
ubuntu-18-04
Keijser, J. J. (2017). OpenVPN Cookbook. Packt Publishing Ltd.