NAS 323
Using Your NAS as a VPN Server
Use your NAS as a VPN Server and connect
to it using Windows and Mac
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NAS 323: Using Your NAS as a VPN Server
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course you should be able to:
1. Be able to use your ASUSTOR NAS as a VPN server and connect to it using Windows and
Mac.
PREQUISITES
Course Prerequisites:
None
Students are expected to have a working knowledge of:
N/A
OUTLINE
1. Configuring Your VPN Server
1.1 Enabling and configuring PPTP connections
1.2 Enabling and configuring OpenVPN connections
2. Connecting to Your VPN Server Using Windows and Mac
2.1 Connecting to your VPN server via PPTP
2.1.1 Connecting using Windows 7
2.1.2 Connecting using a Windows 10
2.1.3 Connecting using a Mac
2.1.4 Connecting using an Android device
2.2 Connecting to your VPN server via OpenVPN
2.2.1 Connecting using Windows 7
2.2.2 Connecting using a Mac
2.3 Configuring the gateway and routing for the VPN client
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2.3.1 Configurations using Windows 7
2.3.2 Configurations using Windows 10
2.3.3 Configurations using a Mac
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1. Configuring Your VPN Server
In the following example, we wil configure ASUSTOR NAS��s VPN Server.
Before you begin, log in to ADM from your Web browser and then search for and install
[VPN
Server] from
[App Central].
1.1 Enabling and configuring PPTP connections
STEP 1
Enabling PPTP service: You can use the toggle found under
[PPTP] to enable PPTP service.
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STEP 2
Adding a new user: Select
[Privilege] ��
[User] ��
[Add]. In the graphic below, we have chosen
to add the account ��vpn�� as an example. After you have chosen the user that wish to add, click
on
[Save].
Select the
[PPTP] checkbox and then click on
[Apply]. Now, the ��vpn�� user account will be able
to utilize PPTP connections.
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STEP 3
Configuring advanced settings: Select
[Settings] ��
[PPTP]. Here, you will be able to configure
settings for
[Dynamic IP address],
[Max. client number],
[Authentication],
[Max. MTU],
[Max.
MRU] and
[DNS server]. Make sure to click on
[Apply] after you have made any changes to the
settings.
1.2 Enabling and configuring OpenVPN connections
STEP 1
Enabling OpenVPN service: You can use the toggle found under
[OpenVPN] to enable OpenVPN
service.
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STEP 2
Adding a new user: Select
[Privilege] ��
[User] ��
[Add]. In the graphic below, we have chosen
to add the account ��vpn�� as an example. After you have chosen the user that wish to add, click
on
[Save].
Select the
[OpenVPN] checkbox and then click on
[Apply]. Now, the ��vpn�� user account will be
able to utilize PPTP connections.
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STEP 3
Configuring advanced settings: Select
[Settings] ��
[OpenVPN]. Here, you will be able to
configure settings for
[Dynamic IP address],
[Transmission Protocol],
[Port],
[Max. client
number],
[Checksum (Digest)],
[Encryption (Cipher)],
[DNS server],
[Redirect gateway] and
[VPN link compression]. Make sure to click on
[Apply] after you have made any changes to the
settings.
Note: Click on the [Download configuration file] button to download the configuration file for
OpenVPN clients. You must import this file to your VPN client in order to successfully create
OpenVPN connections.
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2. Connecting to Your VPN Server Using Windows
and Mac
2.1 Connecting to your VPN server via PPTP
2.1.1 Connecting using Windows 7
STEP 1
Select
[Control Panel] ��
[All Control Panel Items] ��
[Network and Sharing Center] ��
[Set up
a new connection or network].
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STEP 2
Select
[Connect to a workplace] ��
[Next].
STEP 3
Select
[No, create a new connection] ��
[Next].
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STEP 4
Select
[Use my Internet connection (VPN)].
STEP 5
Enter the IP address of your ASUSTOR NAS into the
[Internet address] field and then click on
[Next].
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STEP 6
Enter a username and password in the appropriate fields and then click on
[Connect]. You will
now be able to access your ASUSTOR NAS through Windows.
Note: If you are unable to connect to your VPN server, please ensure that your VPN settings are
identical to your VPN server settings.
For example, in the graphic below, we check that the [Type of VPN] is Point to Point Tunneling
Protocol (PPTP), that the [Data encryption] method is PAP or MS-CHAP v2 and that they have
been allowed under the [Allow these protocols] radio button.
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2.1.2 Connecting using Windows 10
STEP 1
Click the
[Network] icon on the bottom right-hand side of the system tray and select
[Network
Settings].
STEP 2
Select
[VPN] from the left panel, and click
[Add a VPN connection].
STEP 3
Select
Windows (built-in) in
[VPN Provider] field. Type in the name for this VPN connection and
enter the IP address of your ASUSTOR NAS into the
[Server name or address] field. Choose
PPTP as the
[VPN Type], enter the username/password in the appropriate fields, and click
[Save].
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STEP 4
Now you can see that the newly created VPN connection has appeared. To specify the
authentication protocol, please click
[Change adapter options].
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Right click on the VPN connection and select
[Properties].
STEP 5
Select the
[Security] tab, check the
[Allow these protocols] option, then choose the same
protocol (PAP or MS-CHAP v2) as the VPN server on your ASUSTOR NAS. Click
[OK] to save the
settings.
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STEP 6
To establish the VPN connection, go to the Windows
[NETWORK & INTERNET] >
[VPN] page,
select an existing VPN profile and click
[Connect].
2.1.3 Connecting using a Mac
STEP 1
From the Apple menu, select
[System Preferences��].
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STEP 2
Select
[Network].
STEP 3
Click on the
[ + ] button and then select
[VPN] for Interface,
[PPTP] for VPN Type, fill in the
Service Name as ��
VPN (PPTP)�� and then click on
[Create].
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STEP 4
Enter your
[Server Address] and
[Account Name], select
��None�� for
[Encryption] and then click
on
[Connect]. Please ensure that your VPN client settings and VPN server settings are identical.
STEP 5
Enter the name and password for your VPN server and then click on
[OK].
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STEP 6
You should now be successfully connected and should be able to access your ASUSTOR NAS
using your Mac. You can disconnect the connection at any time by clicking on the [Disconnect]
button.
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2.1.4 Connecting using an Android device
The following setup screens are caprured from ASUS Zenfone (Android 4.4.2).
STEP 1
Click
[Settings] >
[More��] >
[VPN] to open the configuration screen.
STEP 2
Click [Add VPN profile], enter the self-defined connection name, select PPTP as the connection
type, type in the IP address or URL of your NAS in
[Server address] field, and choose the
encryption type, click
[Save] to finish editing.
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Note: The
[PPP encryption (MPPE)] needs to be checked only when the PPTP connection on
NAS is enabling MS-CHAP v2 authentication and MPPE/Max MPPE encryption.
STEP 3
Click the completed VPN profile and enter usrename/password, press
[Connect] to establish
VPN connection.
Once the VPN connection is established, click on the profile to view the detailed information.
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2.2 Connecting to your VPN server via OpenVPN
2.2.1 Connecting using Windows 7
STEP 1
Download and install the OpenVPN program from the OpenVPN website.
STEP 2
Extract the OpenVPN configuration file that you have downloaded from your ASUSTOR NAS��s
VPN server (see section 3.2). Open the
[asustor.ovpn] file, change the IP address for the VPN
server and then save the changes. In the graphic below, we have changed the IP address of the
VPN server to 172.16.2.102.
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STEP 3
Copy the
[asustor.ovpn] and
[ca.crt] files to the
(C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\) folder.
STEP 4
Open
[OpenVPN GUI].
You should now be able to see the
[OpenVPN GUI] icon in your system tray. Double-click on it.
STEP 5
Enter the username and password for your ASUSTOR NAS VPN server and then click on
[OK].
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STEP 6
After successfully connecting, you should be able to see that the OpenVPN GUI icon in your
system tray has turned green. You should now be able to access your ASUSTOR NAS using
Windows.
2.2.2 Connecting using a Mac
STEP 1
Download tunnelblick.
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STEP 2
Install
[Tunnelblick].
After installation, click on
[Launch].
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STEP 3
Click on
[I have configuration files].
If you have already download the configuration file from your ASUSTOR NAS��s VPN server, click
on
[OpenVPN Configuration(s)].
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You should now be able to see the newly created
[Empty Tunnelblick VPN Configuration]
folder on your desktop. Copy the configuration file from your ASUSTOR NAS��s VPN server to
this folder.
Open the
[asustor.ovpn] file and then change the IP address for your ASUSTOR NAS VPN server.
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After saving the changes to the file, change the name of the folder to ��
ASUSTORVPN.tblk��.
Tunnelblick VPN configurations should have now been installed successfully.
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STEP 4
From the Mac menu bar, click on the
[Tunnelblick] icon and then select
[Connect
ASUSTORVPN].
STEP 5
After successfully connecting, you will be able to see the connection status and time in the
menu bar as shown in the graphic below.
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2.3 Configuring the gateway and routing for the VPN client
When using a VPN client, the system will automatically forward your VPN server��s
default
gateway. Under these circumstances, you will not be able to connect to the Internet. Therefore,
we must change the VPN gateway and routing in order to connect to the Internet.
2.3.1 Configurations using Windows 7
STEP 1
Right-click on your VPN connection and then select
[Properties]. Select
[Internet Protocol
Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)] and then click on
[Properties].
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STEP 2
Click on
[Advanced��].
STEP 3
Uncheck the
[Use default gateway on remote network] checkbox.
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2.3.2 Configurations using Windows 10
STEP 1
Click the Windows icon on the bottom left-hand side of the taskbar, select
[All apps] from the
list, and scroll down to find
[Windows Powershell]. Click on it to execute the program.
STEP 2
Issue the ��
Get-VpnConnection�� command to list the information of your existing VPN
connections.
By default, the value of the SplitTunneling parameter is False, which means all network traffic
of this VPN client will be forwarded to the VPN server��s gateway.
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STEP 3
Issue the ��
Set-VpnConnection -Name ��ASUSTOR VPN" -SplitTunneling $True�� command to
change the value of the SplitTunneling parameter to True.
Note: The ��ASUSTOR NAS�� string in the example above must be replaced to your own VPN
connection name.
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STEP 4
Issue the ��
Get-VpnConnection�� command again to verify that the change has been made
successfully.
2.3.3 Configurations using a Mac
STEP 1
Open
[Terminal] and then enter the command ��
ifconfig-a��. You will now be able to see your
VPN server��s IP address. Note that the Mac operating system only provides this gateway for
connecting to a VPN server and cannot connect to the Internet. Therefore, we will have to
manually enter the IP address for the ASUSTOR NAS.
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STEP 2
Please replace either 10.0.1.6 or 10.0.1.5 with the IP address of the ASUSTOR NAS. Executing
the commands below will allow you to connect to the Internet.
sudo route add –net 172.16.1.216/16 10.0.1.6
OR
sudo route add –net 172.16.1.216/16 10.0.1.5
