Applicable to:
- Plesk Onyx
Question
How to set up VPN connection using Plesk VPN extension?
Answer
Warning: Plesk Obsidian doesn't support Plesk VPN extension
Note: For more details regarding VPN Component refer to the Plesk documentation.
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Log into Plesk and install the extension on the Plesk server ( Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades).
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Go to Plesk > Extensions > My extensions > Virtual Private Networking.
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Set up the network:
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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.
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Ports specified may be set as default 1194 (Make sure, that this port is opened with the Firewall before establishing a connection).
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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 check 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:
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Press Switch On button and Set up Open VPN client on the machine that is connecting from to the Plesk server.
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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
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Download client package for Unix in the VPN extension and unpack it:
# tar -xvf openvpn-package.tar.gz
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Use the following article to set the connection:
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Make sure, that OpenVPN is installed.
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Download client package for Windows.
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Unpack it.
The client package is a ZIP archive that contains the following files:
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Install TAP device.bat- installs the TAP driver on the computer. -
Uninstall TAP device.bat- removes the TAP driver from the computer. -
Connect to VPN.bat- establishes a VPN connection. -
System folder - contains the cryptographic key and VPN preferences.
To install and uninstall the TAP drivers, Windows administrator rights are needed.
To install the TAP driver, run the
install TAP device.batfile. After the driver is installed, establish a VPN connection to the Plesk-enabled server by running theconnect to VPN.batfile. 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:
- Go to Extensions > Virtual Private Networking.
- Click Switch On.
To disable a VPN connection from Plesk:
- Go to Extensions > Virtual Private Networking.
- Click Switch Off.
Comments
7 comments
I am running Windows 10, and I get the message "tapinstall failed." when running the Install TAP device.bat (run as Administrator). I've removed the echo off line to see the message. Any idea what needs to be done to make this work?
@Svein A. Berg
I would recommend you contact OpenVPN support:
https://openvpn.net/
They are experts in their product and can assist you with installing TAP driver.
make a cross reference to this article this solves my problems...
https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001577713?page=1#comment_360001839794
Hello @Jan,
Thank you for your input.
The article was modified.
Hello, where is this extension in Obsidian ? A search yields just cloudplan, which I don't really want. Has it been slashed in Obsidian ? Had I known, I would not have upgraded. Thanks
Hello @Lucian,
That's correct. Due to low popularity, the development of this extension was stopped.
Check this article for more information: https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023860913-Which-are-the-deprecated-functionalities-in-Plesk-Obsidian-18-
Hello, hi OK I understand about the development, but why has the extension been removed all together from the catalog ? I had to install the openvpn access server and complicate myself with that solution. Anyways, I'm kinda disappointed. Again, had I known, I wouldn't have updated to Obsidian, now it is too late. Cheers
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