Share this article

Improve this guide

How to set up VPN server on Raspberry Pi [Complete Guide]

6 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

Share this article

Improve this guide

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Key notes

Raspberry Piis a marvel of technological advancement, as it proves that strength isn’t all about size. The Raspberry Pi is actually a single-board computer.

Much like your phone, it can fit in your pocket (although it might look a bit bulgy) and, if you have the peripherals, can help you interface with it anywhere.

However, thanks to its size-based convenience, many choose to use these devices for very specific roles.

Some turn them into vintage arcades using emulators, while others use them as email servers, tiny media centers, or evenVPNservers.

World-class 24/7 support with 83% for a 3 years plan and 3 months free.

Amazing connection speed with 35% off and 3 months free for the 1-year plan.

Best security protocols with 83% off and 2 months free for a 2-year plan.

How to set up a VPN with Raspberry Pi?

Requirements

Note that you won’t need all of these components to install theVPNon the Raspberry Pi. If you connect the device to a working Internet source, you can access it viaSSH.

However, note that this method can have some drawbacks, as it involves having to reconnect to the RPi once you change network settings. We’ll get to that in just a bit.

Assuming that you have all the required components ready, let’s proceed with setting up theVPNon your RPi.

Connecting to your Raspberry Pi

Make sure everything is up-to-date

Before you proceed, you must understand that Raspberry Pi OS is more sensitive to change than, for instance, Windows.

Therefore, it won’t offer to fix any compatibility issues automatically.

Instead, you have to make sure that the environment is fit before installing anything, includingVPNsoftware on your Raspberry Pi.

Fortunately, doing so isn’t difficult with proper guidance.

Follow these steps:

Performing these two operations is of utmost importance, as running aVPNserver implies a certain degree of security.

Keeping everything up-to-date on your Raspberry Pi device is a surefire method to avoid compatibility issues and exploitable vulnerabilities.

Note that these procedures can take quite a while, especially the upgrading part one. So, in the meantime…

Get a static IP address

Having astatic IP addressis quite important in this case. It will allow you to access your personal Raspberry PiVPNserver from virtually anywhere in the world without worrying that its IP will change at some point.

If you already have a static IP address, you should be fine.

Some ISPs offer this type of service by default, although many prefer the dynamic approach to solve (or better yet delay) the IP address pool exhaustion.

However, if you have a dynamic (that changes periodically) IP address, you can use DHCP or a free dynamic DNS service.

The DHCP method is a bit more complicated and depends on several factors such as router and ISP.

Thus, we suggest you pick a dynamic DNS service, but not before checking if your router has DDNS (dynamic DNS) support.

Installing PiVPN on Raspberry Pi

That’s it, you’ve successfully installed PiVPN on your Raspberry Pi device. It’s not exactly rocket science but has a lot of steps, which can easily confuse novice users.

Create VPN profile

After performing all the steps above, yourVPNprofile should be automatically created and you should now be able to use it without any issues.

Note that the profiles are saved on the RPi’s storage unit, so you’ll have to fetch them from there (you can use remote VNC or a card reader).

Note that you’ll also need to forward the port you used earlier. In our case, it was port1194, so we forwarded this one.

Connect to your private RPi VPN

You should be now connected to theVPN serveryou personally configured on your RPi. The OpenVPN Connect client will show you some useful information such as your sent and received traffic, connection duration, and the time you received the last packet.

If for some reason you can’t connect to yourVPN, check if you forwarded the port correctly (make sure to use the local IP address of your RPi instead of its external one).

Should you still be having difficulties, try the following:

That’s it. TheVPNconnection should now work like a charm.

Conclusion

All things considered, it seems that the RPi is indeed a multi-talent tool that can also be used as your private, personalVPNserver.

You can also connect to theVPNserver with your phone. However, note that for every new client that connects to your server, you need to create a newVPNprofile.

For better security, make sure that each profile has a different, strong password.

How to set up VPN server on Raspberry Pi [Complete Guide]#

How to set up a VPN with Raspberry Pi?#

Requirements#

Connecting to your Raspberry Pi#

Make sure everything is up-to-date#

Get a static IP address#

Installing PiVPN on Raspberry Pi#

Create VPN profile#

Connect to your private RPi VPN#

Conclusion#