How to Setup VPN for Ubuntu - A Step by Step Complete Guide

Setup PPTP Protocol on Ubuntu

• Click on ‘Network Connection’ icon. Then go to ‘VPN Connections’ and click on ‘Configure VPN’.
• Once the Network Connection window opens, click on ‘Add’.
• Now click on the dropdown menu. Select ‘Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP)’ under VPN heading and click ‘Create’.
• Enter the ‘Connection Name’, the server address in ‘Gateway’, and the username and password you created or received from the VPN provider. Once you have entered this information, click on ‘Advance’.
• In advance settings, select ‘Use Point-to-Point encryption (MPPE)’, ‘Allow BSD data compression’, ‘Allow Deflate data compression’, and ‘Use TCP header compression’. Uncheck ‘EAP’ under Authentication and click ‘OK’.
• Now click ‘Save’ and close the Network Connection window. Access ‘Network Connection’ icon again and go to ‘VPN Connections’. You will see your new VPN connection created, click on it and you will be successfully connected to your VPN service.

Setup OpenVPN Protocol on Ubuntu

• Search for ‘Terminal’ from your Dash and open it. Once it is open, enter the following command: ‘sudo apt-get install network-manager-openvpn’ and hit enter from your keyboard to download and install Ubuntu OpenVPN packages.
• You will be asked to continue or not, type ‘Y’ and hit enter to continue. Once the installation is complete, close the terminal.
• Now download the OpenVPN files provided by your VPN provider and extract them to your desired location.
• Once the files have been extracted, click on the ‘Network Connection icon’ and go to ‘VPN Connections’ and click on ‘Configure VPN’.
• A Network Connection window will open, click on ‘Add’.
• A small window will open, from the dropdown menu select ‘OpenVPN’ and click ‘Create’.
• Now under the VPN tab enter ‘Connection Name’ and the desired server address under ‘Gateway’. Enter the login credentials (username and password) under Authentication. Then click on ‘CA Certificate’ field and navigate to the location where you extracted the OpenVPN configuration files. Look for ‘.crt’ file and open it. Once you have done this, click on ‘Advance’.
• Select ‘Use LZO data compression’. You may have to enter port settings under ‘Use custom gateway port’ depending on your VPN provider.
• You can also select the encryption level of your choice under the ‘Security’ tab.
• Now click ‘OK’ and ‘Save’ all your settings. To access your OpenVPN connection, click on Network Connection Icon, go to ‘VPN Connection’ and click on your newly created connection.