How to Install OpenVPN on POP! OS

OpenVPN is open-source software that provides a secure and efficient way to connect to a remote private network. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install OpenVPN on POP! OS, a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

Before you can install OpenVPN, make sure your system is up-to-date using the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Installing OpenVPN

The OpenVPN client can be installed on POP! OS using the following steps:

Open a Terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.
Install the OpenVPN client using the following command:
```
sudo apt install openvpn
```
To verify that OpenVPN has been successfully installed, execute the following command:
```
openvpn --version
```
You should see the version of OpenVPN that was installed.

Configuring OpenVPN

Next, you will need to configure OpenVPN to connect to your remote private network. Follow these steps:

Obtain the configuration files for your OpenVPN server from your network administrator.
Copy the configuration files to the /etc/openvpn directory.
```
sudo cp ~/Downloads/client.ovpn /etc/openvpn/
```

Start the OpenVPN client with the following command:

sudo openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/client.ovpn

You should see output similar to the following:

Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 OpenVPN 2.5.0 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [EPOLL] [PKCS11] [MH/PKTINFO] [AEAD] built on Dec 31 2020
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 library versions: OpenSSL 1.1.1f  31 Mar 2020, LZO 2.10
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 Outgoing Control Channel Authentication: Using 512 bit message hash 'SHA512' for HMAC authentication
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 Incoming Control Channel Authentication: Using 512 bit message hash 'SHA512' for HMAC authentication
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 TCP/UDP: Preserving recently used remote address: [AF_INET]10.0.0.1:1194
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 UDP link local: (not bound)
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 UDP link remote: [AF_INET]10.0.0.1:1194
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 WARNING: this configuration may cache passwords in memory -- use the auth-nocache option to prevent this
Wed Sep  8 18:36:41 2021 [server] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]10.0.0.1:1194
Wed Sep  8 18:36:42 2021 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Wed Sep  8 18:36:42 2021 /sbin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Wed Sep  8 18:36:42 2021 /sbin/ip addr add dev tun0 10.8.0.3/24 broadcast 10.8.0.255
Wed Sep  8 18:36:42 2021 Initialization Sequence Completed

You are now connected to your remote private network via OpenVPN.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we walked you through the steps to install and configure the OpenVPN client on POP! OS. You can now connect to your remote private network using OpenVPN.