How to setup VPN on google cloud?

VPN
1

I’m trying to setup VPN on google cloud, one in which I can easily connect to the network with my phone/PC/etc.

However I’m running into roadblock, partly because I’ve never setup VPN, partly since I’m vaguely understanding the terms (such as layer5 VPN, there’s OpenVPN, there’s strongSwan, etc. and I’m no smarter which one should I use).

My end goal is having as usable state as possible with as little hassle as possible → connecting via Linux, Windows, Android, etc.

As I understand it IPSec is the way to go? Or has google cloud some VPN services handled, since I couldn’t find anything specific (only site-to-site setup).

EDIT:
Its use case is to access VPS instance on the google cloud primarily, not circumvent the IPS/Georestrictions/etc.

2

I would go for an OpenVPN setup. It takes about 15-20 minutes:

  1. Create a VM (micro should be enough).
  2. Blindly follow this tutorial: How To Set Up an OpenVPN Server on Ubuntu 16.04 | DigitalOcean
  3. Instead of the last bit of Step 8 (Opening the port): In the GCP Console create a firewall rule which targets your VM and opens port udp:1194

You should be good to go :slight_smile:

At the end of step 11 you will have an .ovpn file, which you will need at a device you want to connect using the VPN. You want to create a separate file for every user/device (Step 6 to generate key/cert, Step 11 to generate the ovpn file).

3

Thank you!

I managed to do it.
Also, arch wiki OpenVPN - ArchWiki as always was a tremendous help!

4

This is the right solution for a “road warrior” style VPN. If you needed a site-to-site VPN you would need the IPSec IKEv2 deployment mentioned in Google Cloud Documentation.