Connecting MacOS to an OpenVPN server using the OpenVPN Connect Client

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I have a Netgear Nighthawk router which contains a VPN server. I want to connect my Macbook to the VPN.

I have done the following so far:

  • Installed the OpenVPN Connect client on my Macbook
  • Configured my Dynamic DNS server on the router
  • Turned on the VPN server on the router
  • Downloaded a ZIP file from the router containing the following:

Zip file from the router containing four files, two CRT, one Key and one Conf

The CRT and key files seem to be standard public/private keys, the conf file looks like this:

Line seperated list of values including the URL and port of the VPN server

I have some instructions from Netgear for setting things up. Step 4 says:

Step 4: Unzip the configuration files you have just downloaded and use iTune to upload them to the folder of "OpenVPN Connect" on your device.

macOS doesn't seem to associate any of these files with iTunes, the OpenVPN client has an Import From Local File menu option, but it doesn't recognise any of the files:

No file association with iTunes on macOS

OpenVPN connect menu

Import from Local File doesn't recognise the certificate files

I'm just a bit stuck, and not very familiar with macOS. Hopefully I'm missing something obvious, thanks!

JMK

Posted 2020-01-13T19:21:58.173

Reputation: 2 839

The Netgear article Enabling VPN service on a Nighthawk router using a MAC OS computer describes the procedure to use. Let me know if this works for you.

– harrymc – 2020-01-15T21:07:37.610

@harrymc I know I can use the Tunnelblick client, but can't I use the official OpenVPN client? – JMK – 2020-01-15T21:08:35.493

It would surprise me if the Nighthawk VPN server cannot work with the OpenVPN client, but stranger things have happened. As these configuration files aren't in a format usable by OpenVPN, you might examine their content (if text) to find the parameters needed by the OpenVPN client and do the configuration manually. – harrymc – 2020-01-15T21:22:44.683

Netgear recommend using the OpenVPN client, they even link to the download page! The OpenVPN GUI doesn’t contain any options for connecting with a private key, just username and password, there’s no way to set a username/password on the router. @harrymc – JMK – 2020-01-16T05:17:34.580

Try to rename the config file to client2.ovpn. – Jakub Jindra – 2020-01-16T07:20:59.117

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You could try the procedure in this post, where a couple of methods are described (for Linux but may apply here).

– harrymc – 2020-01-16T07:35:39.363

@harrymc Will try that later on, thanks – JMK – 2020-01-16T11:37:25.170

1@JakubJindra That was it!! If you answer the question I'll give you the bounty, cheers! – JMK – 2020-01-16T21:08:51.857

Answers

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Rename config file to *.ovpn file extension. Some OpenVPN clients uses ovpn to recognise the config file. Other applications use directory or zip file which contains all files including certificates and key.

Jakub Jindra

Posted 2020-01-13T19:21:58.173

Reputation: 503

So simple, once I did this Import -> From Local File recognised the configuration. You would think they could document this somewhere! Thanks – JMK – 2020-01-16T21:58:46.700

Asked: 2020-01-13T19:21:58.173

Viewed: 91 times

Active: 2020-01-16T21:13:24.017