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We use Citrix at work and I am able to vpn in with Ubuntu 14.04 but am having issues with 16.04. I think this is silly that once a distro gets updated it becomes a pain to get working and I have to revert my OS just to restore remote connectivity. There has got to be a more stable solution I'm not aware of.

Hoping someone could recommend a firewall or vpn product or opensource solution that has good vpn support for Linux clients.

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  • What's wrong with OpenVPN + UFW?
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:14
  • @kazwolfe Probably nothing I just know nothing about it. What is UFW? Is openvpn the client I install on my OS and UFW an appliance our IT staff can install?
    – simgineer
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:17
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    UFW is just a firewall program that is effectively a frontend to iptables. See this DigitalOcean article. As for OpenVPN, it comes in a client and a server mode. See here. These aren't like physical boxes or other hardware appliances/devices. They're apps that anyone can install on any Ubuntu server. If you want a router or security gateway, that's a different (and more complicated) matter.
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:20
  • @KazWolfe Your comment is what I was looking for. If you don't think this question ought to be deleted you can create a question that I'd happily mark as an answer.
    – simgineer
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:43

1 Answer 1

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What's wrong with just installing the OpenVPN server and UFW on a standard Ubuntu server? It isn't a traditional security gateway or full-fledged "appliance" like what you might be used to, but it gets the job done very well with minimal overhead.

Both UFW and OpenVPN are very easy to set up (see the links), though they do require a specific (but fortunately, common) configuration.

For example, the firewall installation on a standard server will only protect the server itself, not the network as a whole. If you want this full protection, you will probably need an enterprise gateway of some sort. You will, however, need to discuss this with your IT team to find a solution that will fit your company's requirements.


Starting with UFW, most Ubuntu servers will already have this installed on them. If not, run this command:

sudo apt install ufw

UFW at its core is pretty simple to use. To allow SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS for example:

sudo ufw allow 22
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443

This will take effect when you run sudo ufw enable. Unlike iptables, these rules will persist through a reboot.

OpenVPN is far more complicated. I would highly advise you read the above-linked post, as it dives very deep into all of the configs that you will likely need to touch. There are many guides available online if that one doesn't work. Either way, to install it:

sudo apt install openvpn-server

A sample config file is available at /usr/share/doc/openvpn/examples/sample-config-files/client.conf, and can be played with to your heart's content. As it's a service, you'll need to restart it (systemctl restart openvpn.service) on any changes to the real config under /etc/openvpn.

It is also important to note that the act of just installing OpenVPN on a server is not enough. If your company network is common, your server will be hiding behind a NAT and you will need to have your IT department set up a port forward for this server so that you can access it from the world. In this case, be sure to test and set up any relevant security/firewall systems before exposing the server to the Internet.

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