Resolving OpenVPN LAN Issue on Raspberry Pi 4 with NordVPN

Raspberry Pi 4 - Raspbian Lite with NordVPN and OpenVPN

This article provides a detailed guide on setting up a Raspberry Pi 4 with Raspbian Lite, NordVPN, and OpenVPN to create a secure VPN router for accessing files within the Local Area Network (LAN).

Prerequisites

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4
• Operating System: Raspbian Lite
• VPN Service: NordVPN
• VPN Client Software: OpenVPN

Install NordVPN and OpenVPN

Follow the steps below to install NordVPN and OpenVPN on your Raspberry Pi 4:

• Install NordVPN by following the official NordVPN guide for Raspberry Pi.
• Install OpenVPN by following the official OpenVPN guide for Raspberry Pi.

Configure OpenVPN to connect outside LAN

Once NordVPN and OpenVPN are installed, follow the steps below to configure OpenVPN to connect outside the LAN:

1. Create a new OpenVPN configuration file with the following content:
client dev tun proto udp remote your_nordvpn_server_ip 1194 resolv-retry infinite nobind persist-key persist-tun ca ca.crt cert client.crt key client.key ns-cert-type server cipher AES-256-CBC comp-lzo verb 3
2. Replace your_nordvpn_server_ip with the IP address of your NordVPN server.
3. Save the configuration file as client.ovpn in the /etc/openvpn directory.
4. Create a new OpenVPN service file with the following content:
start on runlevel [2345] stop on runlevel [!2345] respawn exec openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/client.ovpn
5. Save the service file as openvpn-client.service in the /etc/systemd/system directory.
6. Enable and start the OpenVPN service:

            sudo systemctl enable openvpn-client
            sudo systemctl start openvpn-client
        

Access files in LAN

With the OpenVPN client set up, you can now access files within the LAN from outside the network.

References

• Books: -
• Articles: -
• Online Resources:
  • NordVPN Guide for Raspberry Pi
  • OpenVPN Guide for Raspberry Pi