CloudConnexa: How to Install and Configure OpenVPN 2 on a Docker Container as a Network Connector

Deploying a Network Connector on a Docker container doesn’t support installing the OpenVPN 3 Linux client. To use a Docker container as a Network Connector for CloudConnexa, install the open-source OpenVPN client, OpenVPN 2.

This example uses an Ubuntu 24.04 Docker container.

Step 1: Download and transfer the Network Connector connection profile

1. Sign in to your CloudConnexa Portal.
2. Click Networks > Networks.
3. Click the name of the desired Network.
4. Click the Connectors tab for the Network.
5. Click the Deploy drop-down.
6. Click Download Profile in .ovpn format.
   
7. Transfer the downloaded .ovpn connection profile to your Docker Server using an SCP program such as WinSCP.
8. Transfer the  .ovpn connection profile to your Docker Container using the docker cp command.

sudo docker cp connector_singapore.ovpn connector-ubuntu-node:/root/

Step 2: Access the Docker Container running in Ubuntu 24.04

Use the following command to access the Docker container from the Docker server:

sudo docker exec -it connector-ubuntu-node /bin/bash

Step 3: Install OpenVPN2

Install the open-source OpenVPN client, OpenVPN 2:

apt install openvpn -y

Step 4: Verify the OpenVPN2 installation

Verify the installed OpenVPN 2 version:

openvpn --version

Step 5: Enable IP Forwarding

Run the following commands to enable IP forwarding:

echo 'net.ipv4.ip_forward=1' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv6.conf.all.forwarding=1' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sysctl -p

Step 6: Configure NAT

Run the following commands to set up NAT:

IF=$(ip route | grep -m 1 default | awk '{print $5}')
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o $IF -j MASQUERADE
ip6tables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o $IF -j MASQUERADE
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt install -y iptables-persistent

Step 7: Configure OpenVPN2 to start automatically on boot

1. Transfer the .ovpn connection profile to the path /etc/openvpn/client and rename it to a client.conf filename:

   cp connector01_singapore.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client/client.conf

2. Enable the OpenVPN2 service to run on boot:

   systemctl enable openvpn-client@client.service

3. Restart the OpenVPN2 client service:

   systemctl restart openvpn-client@client.service

Conclusion

Your Docker Container should now automatically connect to CloudConnexa as a Network Connector using OpenVPN2 upon boot.

If you have any more questions, please submit a support ticket.