How to Setup a VPN (PPTP) Server on Debian Linux

VPN-ing into your server will allow you to connect to every possible service running on it, as if you were sitting next to it on the same network, without individually forwarding every port combination for every service you would like to access remotely.

Using a VPN connection also has the upshot of, if desired, granting access to other computers on the network as if you where in it locally from anywhere across the internet.

While not the most secure of the VPN solutions out there, PPTP is by far the simplest to install, configure and connect to from any modern system and from windows specifically as the client is a part of the OS since the XP days and you don’t need to mess with certificates (like with L2TP+IPsec or SSL VPNs) on both sides of the connection.

Did i get you interested? then let’s go

Preface

You will need to forward port 1723 from the internet to the server to enable the connection (not covered here).
You will see me use VIM as the editor program, this is just because I’m used to it… you may use any other editor that you’d like.

Server Setup

Install the pptp server package:

sudo aptitude install pptpd

Edit the “/etc/pptpd.conf” configuration file:

sudo vim /etc/pptpd.conf

Add to it:

localip 192.168.1.5
remoteip 192.168.1.234-238,192.168.1.245

Where the “localip” is the address of the server, and the remoteip are the addresses that will be handed out to the clients, it is up to you to adjust these for your network’s requirements.

Edit the “/etc/ppp/pptpd-options” configuration file:

sudo vim /etc/ppp/pptpd-options

Append to the end of the file, the following directives:

ms-dns 192.168.1.1
nobsdcomp
noipx
mtu 1490
mru 1490

Where the IP used for the ms-dns directive is the DNS server for the local network your client will be connecting to and, again, it is your responsibility to adjust this to your network’s configuration.

Edit the chap secrets file:

sudo vim /etc/ppp/chap-secrets

Add to it the authentication credentials for a user’s connection, in the following syntax:

username * users-password *

Restart the connection’s daemon for the settings to take affect:

sudo /etc/init.d/pptpd restart

If you don’t want to grant yourself access to anything beyond the server, then you’re done on the server side.

Enable Forwarding (optional)

While this step is optional and could be viewed as a security risk for the extremely paranoid, it is my opinion that not doing it defeats the purpose of even having a VPN connection into your network.

By enabling forwarding we make the entire network available to us when we connect and not just the VPN server itself. Doing so allows the connecting client to “jump” through the VPN server, to all other devices on the network.

To achieve this we will be flipping the switch on the “forwarding” parameter of the system.

Edit the “sysctl” file:

sudo vim /etc/sysctl.conf

Find the “net.ipv4.ip_forward” line and change the parameter from 0 (disabled) to 1 (enabled):

net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

You can either restart the system or issue this command for the setting to take affect:

sudo sysctl -p

With forwarding enabled, all the server side settings are prepared.

We recommend using a “Split Tunnel” connection mode for the VPN client.

A more in depth explanation about the recommended “Split Tunnel” mode, as well as instructions for Ubuntu Linux users can be found in the “Setting up a “Split Tunnel” VPN (PPTP) Client on Ubuntu 10.04” guide.

For windows users, follow the guides below to create the VPN client on your system.

PPTP VPN Dialer Setup on XP (split tunnel)

We will create a regular VPN dialer with one note worthy exception, that we will set the system to NOT use it as the “Default Gateway” when connected.

Skipping this step will limit the connecting computer’s surfing speed to the VPN server’s upload speed (usually slow) because all of it’s traffic would be routed through the VPN connection and that’s not what we want.

We need to start the connection wizard, so we will go to control panel.

Go to “Start” and then “Control Panel”.

*If your system is setup with the “Classic Start Menu” you need to just point on the “Control Panel” icon and then select “Network Connections”.

In “Control Panel” double click “Network Connections”.

Double click “New Connection wizard”.

In the “New Connection wizard” welcome screen click “Next”.

Select the “Connect to the network at my workspace” option and then “Next”.

Select the “Virtual Private Network connection” option and then “Next”.

Give a name to the VPN connection.

Type in the name of your VPN servers DNS-name or IP address as seen from the Internet.

Optionally You may choose to “Add a shortcut to the desktop” and “Finish”.

Now comes the tricky part, it is vitally important you do NOT try to connect now and go into the dialer’s “Properties”.

Go to the networking tab and change the “Type of VPN” to “PPTP VPN” as shown in the picture below (this is optional but will shorten the time it takes to connect) then go into “Properties”.

On the next window go into “Advance” without changing anything else.

On the next window, uncheck the “Use default gateway on remote network” option.

Now enter the connection’s credentials as you set them on the server and connect.

That’s it, you should now be able to access all the computers on your network from the XP client… Enjoy.

PPTP VPN Dialer Setup on Win7 (split tunnel)

We will create a regular VPN dialer with one note worthy exception, that we will set the system to NOT use it as the “Default Gateway” when connected.

We need to start the connection wizard, so we will go to the “Network and Sharing Center”.

Click the network icon in the system tray and then “Open Network and Sharing Center”