What is this?
OpenVPN is an open-source VPN daemon — a background service that creates a secure, encrypted tunnel over the public internet, so your device can reach a private network as if it were directly connected.
OpenVPN is an open-source VPN daemon — a background service that creates a secure, encrypted tunnel over the public internet, so your device can reach a private network as if it were directly connected.So is this something I run on a server, or does it install on a regular desktop too?Both. It is a daemon that can run as the VPN server or as the client connecting to one: there are community Windows installers (MSI) and Debian packages, and it builds from source on Unix-like systems.
Both. It is a daemon that can run as the VPN server or as the client connecting to one: there are community Windows installers (MSI) and Debian packages, and it builds from source on Unix-like systems.Is there anything in the repo I should not use for a real deployment?Yes — the bundled sample-keys/ directory holds sample RSA keys and certificates meant for testing only; the README warns in caps that they are totally insecure. Never use them in a real setup.
Yes — the bundled sample-keys/ directory holds sample RSA keys and certificates meant for testing only; the README warns in caps that they are totally insecure. Never use them in a real setup.Is it free to use, even commercially?Yes — it is free software released under the GNU General Public License version 2, so you can use, modify and redistribute it, including for commercial purposes, under those terms.
Yes — it is free software released under the GNU General Public License version 2, so you can use, modify and redistribute it, including for commercial purposes, under those terms.Where do I find ready-made configs to base my setup on?The sample/sample-config-files/ directory collects OpenVPN config files and scripts from the official HOWTO, and the man page goes deeper with detailed information and examples.
The sample/sample-config-files/ directory collects OpenVPN config files and scripts from the official HOWTO, and the man page goes deeper with detailed information and examples.How do I generate the certificates and keys a VPN setup needs?With easy-rsa. It is no longer kept in this repo — like the tap-windows driver for Windows, it is maintained as its own subproject, so you fetch it separately.
With easy-rsa. It is no longer kept in this repo — like the tap-windows driver for Windows, it is maintained as its own subproject, so you fetch it separately.Where is OpenVPN's own tunneling protocol documented?In the source code: the README points to the ssl.h file included in the source distribution for a description of OpenVPN's underlying protocol.
In the source code: the README points to the ssl.h file included in the source distribution for a description of OpenVPN's underlying protocol.What are similar projects?SoftEtherVPN, openvpn-install, acme.sh, openvpn-install, streisand, Xray-core, marzban-node, brook
SoftEtherVPN, openvpn-install, acme.sh, openvpn-install, streisand, Xray-core, marzban-node, brook