Portal:VPN

Welcome to the VPN Portal edit

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a comprehensive network access solution that connects multiple private networks together, giving them controlled access to each other. The typical scenarios are:

To offer employee home office access to computer internal networks.
Secure communication between server networks across the public Internet.

Warning: VPN encrypts network traffic and the use of encrypted network traffic is illegal in countries where such activities are outlawed. Please observe and comply with advice from your local regulatory authority in regards to network traffic encryption before considering to use VPN.

VPN Protocols and Solutions edit

There are various open technologies that implement VPN, each with its own strengths:

IPSec is an open and standardised VPN protocol widely supported by most systems/devices. It is available on Linux, Unix, Windows, Android, Blackberry, iOS and MacOS, without the need for third-party software solution. On openSUSE, the server and client softwares are available in package "strongswan", and easily configurable via YaST VPN module (yast2-vpn).

L2TP/IPSec is an open VPN protocol that combines the confidentiality provided by IPSec with an additional layer of L2TP tunnel. It really does not provide more features than using IPSec alone. L2TP/IPSec VPN is natively supported by Linux, Unix, Windows, Android, iOS and MacOS, without the need for third-party software solution. On openSUSE, the server and client softwares are available in package "xl2tpd" in addition to "strongswan".

OpenVPN is a commercially produced open-source VPN implementation based on SSL protocol. It is available on most Linux and Unix distributions; with a manual software download and installation, OpenVPN is also available on Windows, iOS, MacOS. On openSUSE, the server and client softwares are available in package "openvpn".

PPTP is a legacy VPN protocol, its encryption technology is crackable with modern computers, hence PPTP is not secure and usage should be avoided. On openSUSE, the server software is available in package "pptpd" and client is available in package "pptp".

YaST VPN Module Availability edit

Available

YaST VPN configuration editor is available on Tumbleweed in package "yast2-vpn".

The VPN configuration editor will soon be available on openSUSE 42.2 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP2.

User Manual edit

YaST VPN Module - Create IPSec VPN server and clients using a graphical YaST module.

YaST VPN Module Troubleshoot - Troubleshoot common problems with IPSec VPN server and clients created by the YaST VPN module.