What is the process to install *just* the openvpn *client* on Windows?

[Lucia Gallo]

What is the process to install *just* the openvpn *client* on Windows?

I just want to find a Windows tutorial for installing *just* the openvpn
client software.

Of course, I went to the openvpn web site and read their FAQ, but there
isn't a SINGLE Q&A asking this most basic of questions.
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/faq.html

Of course, there are tutorials at that same web site, but they suffer from
the same problem, which is that they *assume* you want to also install the
openvpn server (which I don't):
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/documentation/howto.html#install

All I want is a tutorial for installing *just* the openvpn client!

Googling, all I see are *SERVER* setups:
http://www.vpnbook.com/howto/setup-openvpn-on-windowsxp
http://strongvpn.com/setup_windows_xp_openvpn.html
https://www.cactusvpn.com/tutorials/how-to-set-up-openvpn-vpn-on-windows-xp/

Do I have to install the (far more complex) server setup before I can use
the client?

All I want is to have the "openvpn --config filename.ovpn" command so that
I can load in existing free public vpn server configuration files from the
likes of vpngate.net and others out there.

Please help.
What is the process to install *just* the openvpn *client* on Windows?

[Jonas Q]

Have you seen this in while Googling?

https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/docs/admin-guides/395-how-to-install-the-openvpn-client-on-windows.html

http://preview.tinyurl.com/qg555x5

[Ann Marie Brest]

On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 14:14:10 -0700, Lucia Gallo wrote:
> What is the process to install *just* the openvpn *client* on Windows?

Here is a tutorial I just hacked out for you.
I'm no expert but it seems to give me free public vpn access on WinXP.
Please try it and let me know how it works for you.
The proof is that all your traffic will now be on a new IP address.

0. Depending on what NET FRAMEWORK you have, the openvpn client
installation
may require a new .NET.Framework version. Luckily, my WinXP SP3 install
didn't
need it but you can get it from here if you do need a .Net Framework
version.
http://openvpn.net/dotnet

1. Download and install the openvpn client for your Windows OS from here:
https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/downloads.html

I installed into C:\app\network\openvpn\ but most will default to
C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\

I put my configuration files (say, from vpngate.net) here:
C:\app\network\openvpn\config\
But, most people will use the default:
C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\

2. To test, go to www.vpnbook.com and download any configuration file.
For example, click on:
Server #1: Download Euro1 Server OpenVPN Certificate Bundle

That saved a zip file to the default openvpn config directory:
c:\app\network\openvpn\config\VPNBook.com-OpenVPN-Euro1.zip

Doubleclicking on that zip file added a "VPNBook.com-OpenVPN-Euro1"
directory, containing four ovpn configuration files.

Arbitrarily choosing one of those four ovpn configuration files:
C:\> cd c:\app\network\openvpn\config\VPNBook.com-OpenVPN-Euro1\
C:\> copy vpnbook-euro1-udp53.ovpn test1.ovpn
C:\> openvpn --config test1.ovpn
This should report about 20 or so lines, culminating with:
Tue Jun 09 13:45:43 2015 Initialization Sequence Completed

You can see the route by running this command:
C:\> route PRINT

And, you can test your IP address by using a web service:
http://whatismyipaddress.com

NOTE: If you know of a command line method, such as what Linux does with
inxi -i, to get the IP address, please let me know.

Another way to test is to right click on the ovpn file and open with:
c:\app\network\openvpn\bin\openvpn.exe or with
c:\app\network\openvpn\bin\openvpn-gui.exe
But, I haven't tested that method yet (I prefer the command line anyway).

To kill your test, just type "Control + C" in your command line window
and then type "exit" to close the command-line window.

Note the username & password below, but you should never need them
(I'm not sure why they even provide them, since it works without them!):
Username: vpnbook
Password: Qe3esucU

3. To run another test, go to vpngate.net & download a configuration file.
C:\app\network\openvpn\config\vpngate_vpn428003276.opengw.net_udp_16175.ovpn

Then start the openvpn client, pointing to that configuration file:
C:\> cd c:\app\network\openvpn\config\
C:\> copy vpngate_vpn428003276.opengw.net_udp_16175.ovpn test1.ovpn
C:\> openvpn --config test1.ovpn

This should report about 20 or so lines, culminating with:
Tue Jun 09 13:45:43 2015 Initialization Sequence Completed

You can see the route by running this command:
C:\> route PRINT

And, you can test your IP address by using a web service:
http://whatismyipaddress.com

NOTE: If you know of a command line method, such as what Linux does with
inxi -i, to get the IP address, please let me know.

Another way to test is to right click on the ovpn file and open with:
c:\app\network\openvpn\bin\openvpn.exe or with
c:\app\network\openvpn\bin\openvpn-gui.exe
But, I haven't tested that method yet (I prefer the command line anyway).

Note the username & password below, but you should never need them
(I'm not sure why they even provide them, since it works without them!):
Username: vpn
Password: vpn

To kill your test, just type "Control + C" in your command line window
and then type "exit" to close the command-line window.

[Lucia Gallo]

On Tue, 09 Jun 2015 17:24:50 -0400, Jonas Q wrote:

> http://preview.tinyurl.com/qg555x5

That tutorial seems perfect and I had NOT seen it before.
But, *WHERE* is the XP client software it speaks about?

When I click on "software packages" at that page, I see this:
https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/download-openvpn-as-sw.html

But, all those packages are LINUX!
None are Windows. :(

So the only thing missing is the Windows openvpn client software.
Where is the 32 bit XP windows client openvpn software stored?

[Jonas Q]

Very good question I haven't usde XP for so long that I forgot what it
looked like. :-)

[Paul B. Andersen]

Ann Marie Brest <annmar...@qualcomm.com> wrote:

> And, you can test your IP address by using a web service:
> http://whatismyipaddress.com

On LINUX you would use any of the following commands.

curl http://ident.me; echo
curl http://ipecho.net/plain; echo
curl http://myip.dnsomatic.com; echo
curl ifconfig.me && curl ifconfig.me/host
inxi -i |grep IP|awk '{print $5}'
wget -O- http://icanhazip.com 2>/dev/null
wget -qO- http://myip.dnsomatic.com; echo
wget -qO- ifconfig.me/ip

Do any of those commands work on Windows?

[Paul B. Andersen]

Jonas Q <J...@nomail.invalid> wrote in message ml7pc5$mf7$1...@dont-email.me

> Very good question I haven't usde XP for so long that I forgot what it
> looked like.

I use the LINUX client which is installed just by typing.
$ sudo apt-get install openvpn

There is no setup.
You just download an ovpn file from any free public vpn service.
bunkerbustervpn.com
vpnbook.com
vpngate.net

Once you download the ovpn configuration file, you just type:
$ sudo openvpn --config downloaded_filename.ovpn

And, you're on a new IP address for all your ports.

[VanguardLH]

You sure OpenVPN is free? Just because it has "open" in its product
title doesn't mean it is free.

https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/pricing.html

That shows pricing for client (10 minimum so $96/yr minimum). If you
want it free then make sure you are looking at the Community edition.
From https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source.html, I clicked on the
Downloads page link. That listed XP 32- and 64-bit versions for their
download. It looks like you download the whole thing. Just because it
is an .exe does NOT mean it is an installer. It may simply be a
self-extracting compressed archive file (e.g., .zip with .exe wrapper).

I looked at the downloaded .exe using PeaZip (7-zip and WinZip should
work, too) to view it as an archive file. It carries the libeay32 and
openssl libs so the .exe may just extract the files to where you specify
but the program may not use MSI to install the software.

I extracted the .exe into a folder (rather than run the .exe). The bin
folder contains what looks like the client. The openvpnserv.exe is way
too small to be a server at only 33 KB. So it looks like all you get is
the client and it probably only gets deposited on your drive (i.e., no
installation per se).

[Paul B. Andersen]

VanguardLH <V...@nguard.LH> wrote in message ctpea8...@mid.individual.net

> You sure OpenVPN is free? Just because it has "open" in its product
> title doesn't mean it is free.

Good question.

I've been using the openvpn client on Linux for a long time
and I've never paid for it.

In fact, since I'm on LINUX, I don't even have a *mechanism* for paying
for anything.

I just run these two commands:

$ sudo apt-get install openvpn

$ sudo openvpn --config file.ovpn

Where the file.ovpn is one I download ad hoc off the Internet from a
variety of free public vpn services (e.g., vpngate.net).