Mastering OpenVPN
About this ebook
If you are familiar with TCP/IP networking and general system administration, then this book is ideal for you. Some knowledge and understanding of core elements and applications related to Virtual Private Networking is assumed.
What You Will LearnIdentify different VPN protocols (IPSec, PPTP, OpenVPN)Build your own PKI and manage certificatesDeploy your VPN on various devices like PCs, mobile phones, tablets, and moreDifferentiate between the routed and bridged networkEnhance your VPN with monitoring and loggingAuthenticate against third-party databases like LDAP or the Unix password fileTroubleshoot an OpenVPN setup that is not performing correctlyIn DetailSecurity on the internet is increasingly vital to both businesses and individuals. Encrypting network traffic using Virtual Private Networks is one method to enhance security. The internet, corporate, and “free internet” networks grow more hostile every day. OpenVPN, the most widely used open source VPN package, allows you to create a secure network across these systems, keeping your private data secure. The main advantage of using OpenVPN is its portability, which allows it to be embedded into several systems.
This book is an advanced guide that will help you build secure Virtual Private Networks using OpenVPN. You will begin your journey with an exploration of OpenVPN, while discussing its modes of operation, its clients, its secret keys, and their format types. You will explore PKI: its setting up and working, PAM authentication, and MTU troubleshooting. Next, client-server mode is discussed, the most commonly used deployment model, and you will learn about the two modes of operation using "tun" and "tap" devices.
The book then progresses to more advanced concepts, such as deployment scenarios in tun devices which will include integration with back-end authentication, and securing your OpenVPN server using iptables, scripting, plugins, and using OpenVPN on mobile devices and networks.
Finally, you will discover the strengths and weaknesses of the current OpenVPN implementation, understand the future directions of OpenVPN, and delve into the troubleshooting techniques for OpenVPN.
By the end of the book, you will be able to build secure private networks across the internet and hostile networks with confidence.
Style and approachAn easy-to-follow yet comprehensive guide to building secure Virtual Private Networks using OpenVPN. A progressively complex VPN design is developed with the help of examples. More advanced topics are covered in each chapter, with subjects grouped according to their complexity, as well as their utility.
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About the author
Eric F Crist is an IT professional with experience in hardware and software systems integration. With a few others, he has had a key role in building the OpenVPN community to what it is today. He works in research and development as a principal computer system specialist for St. Jude Medical. His role involves system engineering, configuration management, and cyber security analysis for products related to the Cardiovascular Ablation Technology division. You can find him online at the Freenode and EFNet IRC networks as ecrist. He calls the Twin Cities, Minnesota, his home and lives with his wife, DeeDee, his son, Lance, and his daughter, Taylor.
Jan Just Keijser is an open source professional from Utrecht, the Netherlands. He has a wide range of experience in IT, ranging from providing user support, system administration, and systems programming to network programming. He has worked for various IT companies since 1989. He has been working mainly on Unix/Linux platforms since 1995. He was an active USENET contributor in the early 1990s. Currently, he is employed as a senior scientific programmer in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at Nikhef, the institute for subatomic physics from the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). He is working on multi-core and many-core computing systems, grid computing, as well as smartcard applications. His open source interests include all types of virtual private networking, including IPSec, PPTP, and of course, OpenVPN. In 2004, he discovered OpenVPN and has been using it ever since. His first book was OpenVPN 2 Cookbook, Packt Publishing.
