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    Tutorial: Configuring pfSense as VPN client to Private Internet Access

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    • W
      wiz561
      last edited by

      Thanks for the tutorial and it works….but does anybody know how to force OpenVPN to route traffic from only one vlan?  So, for example, I have the following interfaces:

      WAN
      LAN (10.0.1.0/24)
      Guest (10.0.2.0/24)
      OVPN (10.0.3.0/24)

      I want the LAN and Guest get routed through WAN.  How do I make only the clients on the OVPN interface use the OpenVPN tunnel?

      I've tried to limit the NAT to only the 10.0.3.0/24 net, but then the LAN (and probably Guest) wasn't routing any traffic out.  I also tried to setup some firewall rules to route the LAN to the WAN and make OVPN route it through the OpenVPN gateway, but nothing.

      Thanks!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • W
        White Widow
        last edited by

        @Derelict:

        Looks like it's connecting to me.  What's not working?

        You probably can't ping the gateway directly.  Just turn off monitoring or find something else to use as a monitor IP.

        Thanks - the problem is that as soon as I adjust the LAN firewall rule to direct LAN traffic to the PIAVPN_VPN4 gateway, I lose all internet access.  I can't ping, traceroute, etc. anything outside my LAN.  I have outbound NAT rules setup for both WAN and PIAVPN gateways and firewall rules for each interface that are basically unrestricted:

        sorry for the crappy spacing in the output below

        WAN Firewall Rules:
        ID Proto   Source Port         Destination  Port Gateway   Queue Schedule Description
        IPv4        *   *                 *       *              *             none

        PIAVPN Firewall Rules
        ID Proto   Source Port         Destination  Port Gateway   Queue Schedule Description
        IPv4        *   *                 *       *              *             none

        OpenVPN Firewall Rules
        ID Proto   Source Port         Destination  Port Gateway   Queue Schedule Description
        IPv4        *   *                 *       *              *             none

        LAN Firewall Rules (working)
        ID Proto   Source Port         Destination  Port Gateway   Queue Schedule Description
        IPv4        *   *                 *       *      WAN_DHCP     none

        LAN Firewall Rules (not working)
        ID Proto   Source Port         Destination  Port Gateway   Queue Schedule Description
        IPv4        *   *                 *       *    PIAVPN_VPNV4  none

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        • DerelictD
          Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
          last edited by

          Umm.  First thing you should do is delete that WAN rule.  Do it now.  Don't delay.

          Also delete the OpenVPN and PIAVPN rules.  Do it now.

          Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
          A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
          DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
          Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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          • DerelictD
            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
            last edited by

            Now that you've done that.  Show us your NAT rules.

            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
            A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
            DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • W
              White Widow
              last edited by

              @Derelict:

              Now that you've done that.  Show us your NAT rules.

              Ha!!  Yeah, those non-LAN rules were NOT active (disabled) and are now deleted - otherwise that would kind of defeat the purpose of a firewall, right? :) The only firewall rules I have right now are:

              The Outbound NAT Rules:

              When I activate the "PIAVPN" version of these rules and the corresponding firewall rule, I lose all connectivity outside my LAN.

              ***UPDATE: It's magically decided to start working now.  I have no idea what the problem was but it's good to go now.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • DerelictD
                Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                last edited by

                You can leave the NAT rules active.  They mean nothing unless that interface is being used for egress.  They just have to be there if you're going from the source IP addresses out that interface.

                Maybe PIA was having a problem?  Who knows.  Glad it's working and you don't have a pass any any rule on WAN.

                Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • W
                  White Widow
                  last edited by

                  One additional question: I can get the OpenVPN/PIA tunnel up and functioning, but when I come back after a while the Interface is down and the OpenVPN service needs to be restarted.  This is from the log:

                  Feb 14 23:26:43 openvpn[83612]: TLS: soft reset sec=0 bytes=494118/0 pkts=4201/0
                  Feb 14 23:26:43 openvpn[83612]: ERROR: could not read Auth username from stdin
                  Feb 14 23:26:43 openvpn[83612]: Exiting due to fatal error
                  Feb 14 23:26:43 openvpn[83612]: Closing TUN/TAP interface
                  Feb 14 23:26:43 openvpn[83612]: /usr/local/sbin/ovpn-linkdown ovpnc1 1500 1542 10.179.1.6 10.179.1.5 init

                  Is this because I specified "auth-nocache"?  If so, shouldn't this option cause the information to be re-read from the file, not stdin?  I'll try and remove the -nocache option since, really, why should I mind having the login credentials saved in memory when it's OK to have them stored plaintext on disk…

                  Is it something else entirely?

                  Thanks,
                  Aaron

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • DerelictD
                    Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                    last edited by

                    If you added auth-nocache outside of the tutorial, remove it.

                    https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/ticket/225

                    Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                    A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                    DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                    Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      plainzwalker
                      last edited by

                      Quick questions since I am still doing my research. If I wanted my VPN service (PIA) to use a different set of DNS servers, to prevent DNS leak, would it be possible? If so how would I go about setting this up? Or would pfsense as a whole have to use only one set of dns servers?

                      Sorry, still learning and haven't been able to get any hands on yet.

                      Thank you

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Z
                        zax123
                        last edited by

                        @kintaroju:

                        great tutorial you guys have. I have a more complicated situation that I have been trying to get setup.

                        Having TWO openVPN client setup via PIA.

                        So the idea is this, based on IP range 192.168.0.2-192.168.0.20 it'll go to PIA USA west

                        The based on IP range 192.168.0.21-192.168.0.40 it'll go to PIA Canada

                        Then the remaining IP 192.168.0.41-192.168.0.254 will be on the WAN.

                        I've tried to follow the instructions before and just add a 2nd VPN client accordingly, but everything just default to the PIA USA West, is there anything I could be missing?

                        Hi there,

                        Not sure if you solved your problem, but if you haven't passed "route-nopull" as an advanced option to the OpenVPN client, that might be your problem.  I wanted to selectively send some of my LAN clients to VPN and others not, and had to pass this option as it stopped OpenVPN from generating a default (0.0.0.0) route in my routing tables.

                        Good luck!

                        Rob

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                        • T
                          t3kka
                          last edited by

                          First a huge thanks to the OP for providing this.  Exactly what I was looking for.

                          Second - and please bear with me as I'm new to pfSense - what is the best way to have ALL communication to the internet shut-off if for whatever reason the VPN becomes disconnected? Or maybe this is already going to occur because of the NAT rules defined?

                          Thanks for clarification.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • DerelictD
                            Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                            last edited by

                            I have found the best way to do this is to edit the firewall rules that policy route traffic over the VPN.  Configure them to add a mark like VPN_ONLY.

                            Create an interface group for all your WAN interfaces.

                            Create a floating rule on the wan interface group direction out.  Make it a Reject rule, Quick, matching any traffic with mark VPN_ONLY.

                            vpn_block_float.png
                            vpn_block_float_mark.png
                            vpn_block_float.png_thumb
                            vpn_block_float_mark.png_thumb

                            Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                            A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                            DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                            Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • B
                              boowii
                              last edited by

                              Hi Everyone.
                              I have the service up and running but for some reason i am not getting a IP address?
                              what have i missed?

                              cheers

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • G
                                ghanem
                                last edited by

                                Hey friends
                                Can i make a vpn in pfsense firewall between the admin in my LAN to connect 2 dedicated servers with 2 public address x.x.x.x / x.x.x.x
                                its urgent thanks for your answer :)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • DerelictD
                                  Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                  last edited by

                                  Hey friends
                                  Can i make a vpn in pfsense firewall between the admin in my LAN to connect 2 dedicated servers with 2 public address x.x.x.x / x.x.x.x
                                  its urgent thanks for your answer :)

                                  Start another thread.

                                  Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                                  A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                                  DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                                  Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • U
                                    User1503
                                    last edited by

                                    Hey Derelict thanks for answering my other questiond.  My problem is..uh, I'm not the sharpest at learning; I can follow tutorials (and even wrote some for wireless) and what I need is another tutorial for setting up NAT (or LAN?) rules.  I followed this VPN tutorial and everything is running great!  But like other's have asked, I need to have 1,2 or maybe only 3 IP's (computers) use the VPN, and all other bypass the VPN and go straight to the local internet.  So the answer's I've read of 'create a Lan rule for xxx' are nice and I'm sure easy for some, but I don't know HOW to do that?  I made some LAN rules, but it blocked everything and so I just removed them.  Therefore, if you, or anyone, knows of another tutorial of 'How to create a rule for 1 IP to bypass the VPN' I sure would appreciate a link.  I can follow directions and be successful (driving, making coffee, buying groceries) but I don't know the 'how-to' of pfSense rules.  Thanks!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • DerelictD
                                      Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                      last edited by

                                      Create an IP alias called vpn_hosts or something Firewall > Aliases

                                      Add the IP addresses that you want to be forwarded through the VPN

                                      Look at the first post in this thread.  Find the section called Routing.

                                      The walkthrough changes the LAN IPv4 Rule so it forwards all of LAN Net to PIAVPN_VPN4.  You want to make a rule just like it but ABOVE it with the source network set to the alias instead of LAN net.  Then change the LAN net rule back to Gateway: default

                                      Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                                      A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                                      DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                                      Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • U
                                        User1503
                                        last edited by

                                        Thanks for the steps.  I just can't get it to work.  I either have  No outbound connection; Everything thru VPN; or Everything Open, not vpn'd.  The IP's are set in the 'VPN Out IPs' and the gateway is 'default' under the 2nd LAN rule.  Just not getting it I suppose.  Thanks for the help.

                                        PIA_VPN_AliasIP_rules.jpg
                                        PIA_VPN_AliasIP_rules.jpg_thumb

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                                        • DerelictD
                                          Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                                          last edited by

                                          That should work.  You sure PIA is up when you try?  Did you clear states?

                                          Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                                          A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                                          DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                                          Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • B
                                            bj24
                                            last edited by

                                            I have very similar set up and same issues.

                                            As I have it set up now, everything goes through the VPN. All I want is 192.168.0.102 to go on the VPN, all other traffic through ISP.

                                            What have I got wrong here?

                                            pfsens.jpg_thumb
                                            pfsens.jpg

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