How to set up VPN connection using Plesk VPN extension?

Question

How to set up VPN connection using Plesk VPN extension?

Answer

Note: for more details regarding VPN Component refer to the Plesk documentation.

1. Install extension on the Plesk server ( Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades).

2. Go to Plesk > Extensions > My extensions > Virtual Private Networking.

3. Set up the network:

   • Remote IP. Enter the hostname or the IP address of the host to communicate to. Leave this field blank if the other party is going to be able to connect to the server from different addresses or if the remote IP address is not known in advance. Note, however, that one server cannot be involved in simultaneous communication with two or more remote hosts.

   • Ports specified may be set as default 1194 (Make sure, that this port is opened with the Firewall before establishing a connection).

   • Remote and local peers might be any 2 IP address of the local subnet, that are not used by anything. Like 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. Here is the article with ranges of private IP addresses .

     Note: set IP addresses which differ only in last two binary digits. It could be 0001(1) and 0010(2) or 0101(5) and 0110(6) e.g. Also heck network configuration to avoid IP collision. If internal network on the server is 172.x.x.x it would be better to use 192.168.x.x for VPN network.

     As an example:

     ​​ ​​

   4. Press Switch On button and Set up Open VPN client on the machine, that you would like to connect from to the Plesk server.

   If client machine operating system based on Linux:

   • Make sure, that OpenVPN service is installed on the client machine.

     CentOS/RHEL operating systems:

     # rpm -qa | grep openvpn

     Debian/Ubuntu based operating systems:

     # dpkg -l | grep openvpn

   • Download client package for Unix in the VPN extension and unpack it:

     # tar -xvf openvpn-package.tar.gz

   • Use the following article to set the connection:

   How to establish the connection via Plesk VPN Extension?

   If client machine operating system based on Windows:

   • Make sure, that OpenVPN is installed.

   • Download client package for Windows.

   • Unpack it.

   The client package is a ZIP archive that contains the following files:

   • Install TAP device.bat - installs the TAP driver on your computer.
   • Uninstall TAP device.bat - removes the TAP driver from your computer.
   • Connect to VPN.bat - establishes a VPN connection.
   • System folder - contains the cryptographic key and your VPN preferences.

   To install and uninstall the TAP drivers, you must have Windows administrator rights on your computer.

   To install the TAP driver, run the install TAP device.bat file. After the driver is installed, you can establish a VPN connection to the Plesk-enabled server by running the connect to VPN.bat file. The OpenVPN software itself is contained within the client package and does not require any installation or removal procedures.

To enable a VPN connection from Plesk:

1. Go to Extensions > Virtual Private Networking.
2. Click Switch On.

To disable a VPN connection from Plesk:

1. Go to Extensions > Virtual Private Networking.
2. Click Switch Off.