The virtual instances on the IDrive cloud will have outbound internet network connectivity. You can use a suitable VPN solution within your site's network and configure the VPN client on the virtual instance to bring it inside your network. We recommend using either of the two methods detailed below.
Method 1: Use a self-hosted OpenVPN access server
Self-host the OpenVPN Access Server within your network to which the cloud virtual instance can connect and get access to the internal network resources.
Prerequisite:
The OpenVPN Access Server is available as a virtual appliance and as a software package. The software package needs a spare Linux machine (Ubuntu 18) for manual deployment. We recommend using a pre-built virtual appliance instead which is quick and easy. The download for the virtual appliance method is available for both Hyper-V and VMware ESXi platforms in which you can choose the feasible one.
The following steps assume you have a Hyper-V server where you can self-host the OpenVPN access servers' virtual appliance, by downloading the required virtual disk file and attaching it to a Generation 1 VM.
Download the virtual appliance
- Signup for a free account with OpenVPN.
- Click Get Access Server.
- Under the As a virtual appliance section, click Microsoft Hyper-V.
- Download and configure the virtual appliance as a Generation 1 VM in your Hyper-V server.
- Ensure the VM is connected to a virtual switch in Hyper-V, configured with the External connection type so the VM has access to the physical network.
-
When the virtual appliance starts, log in to its root account using the username and password (Username: root, Password: openvpnas).
You will be prompted with a few configuration steps. It is recommended to go with the default settings and use the default ports suggested.
Note: This free version of OpenVPN allows 2 licenses. You can connect only 2 cloud virtual machines via VPN at a time.
Set up port forwarding in your router to enable access to the OpenVPN access from the cloud VM
- Log in to your network router.
- Navigate to the section where you can enable virtual servers or define port forwarding rules.
- Enable port forwarding to forward external traffic to the static local LAN IP of the OpenVPN access server with the following default ports: 443 (TCP), 943 (TCP), and 1194 (UDP).
Once the port forwarding is set up, your OpenVPN access server's web UI is accessible from anywhere for administration via the WAN/Public IP: https://<your_wan_ip>:943/admin
Steps on cloud VM
- Create a VM with the networking option set to NAT (Firewalled), so that the VM has outbound internet access.
-
Open a browser in your cloud VM and download the OpenVPN client: https://<your_wan_ip>:943
The downloaded client is preconfigured with the necessary connection details and authentication to reach your OpenVPN access server. - Install the OpenVPN client and launch the tray icon to start the VPN connection.
Your cloud VM now has access to your site's internal network resources through this VPN channel.
Method 2: Use your existing VPN solution
This method is suitable if you already have a hardware or software-based VPN solution setup within your network (router, switch, Cloud VPN software product, etc.). You can configure the cloud virtual instance to connect to your existing VPN infrastructure and get access to its local network resources.