OpenVPN Software or Asus Router with OpenVPN

[SteveA]

Hi,

Ive just built my first unraid server and would like to install sab,radarr,sonarr and plex. I would also like to put it all through a VPN, i currently have nord vpn and when using on win 10 its a breeze, you have it auto run and thats it everything else just automatically goes through it. Unfortunately am not having much luck on unraid as it gets confusing with openvpn, privoxy portforwarding duckdns the list continues. Just wondering if it would be easier to get like an Asus 2400 rt-ac85p for about £80 which has openvpn client on it and just use that as it seems more simple to set up. Just wondered what you guys use? Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[testdasi]

The router option is only valid if you want to route everything in your network through the VPN.

That sounds like a good idea on the surface but is a massive pain in practice. Many services (e.g. streaming, online banking, even google search engine) may blacklist VPN IP's (or even blacklist VPN-like traffic) or add CAPTCHA box or interpret VPN traffic as hacking / DDOS attempts etc.

 

Personally I don't find it any more confusing setting up VPN in Unraid as through the browser because fundamentally it's openvpn config, which is the same. Also no need for duckdns etc. You are confused between the client vs server setup.

 

All you need is a VPN privoxy docker (there are 2 widely used in the Apps store right now) and route the traffic of other dockers through that gateway docker (there's a guide on how to route traffic through another docker, very simple thing to do).

So it then comes down to the ovpn config file which you should be able to get from your VPN service provider (You likely need to edit it to change cert location, login file etc).

 

For apps that have ready-made "plus VPN" dockers (there are many of them on the Apps store), I use those instead of re-routing docker network. This is mainly for load balancing.

 

Guide:

 

[SteveA]

ok thanks mate i'll take a look at it, i am probably overthinking things and making them harder than it needs to be. Just trying to find the simplest solution .

Cheers

Steve

[jaylo123]

Yea, keep the VPN on UnRAID IMO.  I personally use this and it works just fine.  I just point my containers to this container for VPN access and it works fine.

 

https://hub.docker.com/r/binhex/arch-delugevpn/ 

 

Video if you're uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the UnRAID GUI or infrastructure:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEzm5y2EvM

 

For remote VPN connectivity if you're not at home, use the ASUS router with the MerlinRT firmware.

 

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/

 

I use it and it is a lifesaver, and works just fine with Windows' default VPN client (if you use Windows).  Or your OpenVPN client of choice.  Hopefully Wireguard support is added soon, to either Merlin or Asus' builds.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Jason Harris