General process

OpenVPN is disabled by default.

When OpenVPN is enabled by root360 for specific users, they are able to connect to the bastion host using a TLS-secured private tunnel. When additionally Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA) is active for the environment valid MFA information must be provided upon connect.

Following steps are required to enable and use OpenVPN:

1. check and accept preconditions

2. request activation of OpenVPN and optionally MFA

3. activate MFA if it is enabled

4. obtain the VPN client config, install and configure OpenVPN client

5. establish VPN connection

Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA)

Multi-Factor-Authentication (short MFA) is a method to improve the protection against credential brute-force attacks by requiring multiple security information.

In general the following factor groups exist:

• something you know (e.g., password, passphrase, answers to security questions)

• something you have (e.g., OTP generator device, SSL certificate)

• something you are (e.g., biometric information like fingerprint or iris scan)

When MFA is used at least 2 out of those groups are requested and must be valid to grant access.

For OpenVPN we support MFA by always requiring a valid SSL certificate and additional information. The MFA method is configured globally for every environment.

The following methods are currently support for OpenVPN:

• Method 1: Credentials of dashboard (Orbiter) (recommended)

  • required for PCI DSS environments

• Method 2: Time-based one-time-password token (TOTP-token)

We are recommending method 1 because the activation and management processes are easier than method 2. Additionally with this method the user may change the credentials whenever required without depending on our support.

Method 2 is sometimes called 1,5 MFA because on a deeper look TOTP-tokens are in the same factor group as SSL certificates. As TOTP-tokens are valid for a few minutes and the device that generates them is different than the SSL certificate storing device which is why this method still improves the security a lot. It also prevents credential brute-forcing attacks almost equally to method 1.

For compliance regulations like PCI DSS method 2 is not sufficient which is why we are enforcing method 1 for environments with these requirements.

Preconditions (not for site-to-site connection)

When Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA) should be configured the following preconditions are required.

Method 1: Credentials of dashboard (Orbiter)

Every OpenVPN user must have a verified account for our dashboard (Orbiter).

Method 2: Time-based one-time-password (TOTP) token

See preconditions at Activate MFA (Multi-Factor-Authentication) for SSH and OpenVPN

Request activation of OpenVPN

Request activation of OpenVPN for a dedicated environment via change request at https://support.root360.cloud.

If you want additional security add the requirement for MFA configuration to your activation request.

Activate MFA (not for site-to-site connection)

The activation process depends on the MFA method you choose.

Method 1: Credentials of dashboard (Orbiter)

To use this recommended MFA process you have to request access for every user that should connect to the OpenVPN via https://support.root360.cloud.

Method 2: Time-based one-time-password (TOTP) token

Follow the steps for MFA activation at Activate MFA (Multi-Factor-Authentication) for SSH and OpenVPN , if TOTP-MFA is enabled for the target environment.

Install and configure OpenVPN client

Windows

1. Download the OpenVPN Windows installer

2. Install the client software (make sure to tick "EasyRSA 3 Certificate Management Scripts"  )

   Open

   

3. Create a Certificate Signing Request (see additional infos below) and send the resulting CSR file to root360 via https://share.root360.cloud/

4. Get the OpenVPN client config file including the signed certificate from root360

5. Copy the content of your private key into the config file (into the key section)

   <key> -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- ... -----END PRIVATE KEY----- </key>

6. Copy the secret VPN config file into directory C:\Users\<your-user>\OpenVPN\config

Linux

1. Install the OpenVPN client and easy-rsa using your package manager

2. Create a Certificate Signing Request (see additional infos below) and send the resulting CSR file to root360 via https://share.root360.cloud/

3. Get the OpenVPN client config file including the signed certificate from root360

4. Copy the content of your private key into the config file (into the key section)

   <key> -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- ... -----END PRIVATE KEY----- </key>

5. Copy the secret VPN config file into a directory of your choice

Establish connection

Windows

1. Start the programm OpenVPN GUI

2. Double-click the OpenVPN GUI systray icon (lower right desktop corner) to start the connection

3. Enter your certificate password and the MFA information

   • in case of MFA method “credentials of dashboard (Orbiter)”: enter your username and password for Orbiter

   • in case of MFA method “time bases one-time-password token”: enter the 6 digit based token generated by your TOTP application

Linux - Manual Start

1. Run OpenVPN client

   openvpn --config /path/to/secret_vpn_config

2. Enter your certificate password and the MFA information

   • in case of MFA method “credentials of dashboard (Orbiter)”: enter your username and password for Orbiter

   • in case of MFA method “time bases one-time-password token”: enter the 6 digit based token generated by your TOTP application

Additional information

Create CSR

1. see example code below for your operating system:

   • make sure to replace <username> with your name in format <first-digit-of-prename>_<surname> (e.g. j_doe) AND append the current date in format YYYYMMDD (e.g. 20200103): j_doe_20200103

   • we recommend to secure your certificate with a strong password when asked Enter PEM pass phrase:

     • at least one lower-case character

     • at least upper-case character

     • at least one digit

     • at least 8 characters

     • optionally with symbols

   • make sure to set valid values for

     • Country Name (<country-code>) = 2-letter code for your companies country, e.g. DE

     • State or Province Name (<province>) = name of your companies state/province, e.g. Saxony

     • Locality Name (<city>) = name of your companies city, e.g. Leipzig

     • Organization Name (<company name>) = your company, e.g. root360 GmbH

     • Common Name (<username>_YYYYMMDD>) = your VPN username, e.g. j_doe_20200103

     • Email Address (<email-address>) = your email address registered in root360 cloud dashboard (Orbiter), e.g. j.doe@example.com

     • A challenge password = empty as it does not provide any security improvements for the intended usage

2. copy the content of pki\reqs\<your-name>.csr into https://share.root360.cloud/

3. send the share link into the ticket requesting OpenVPN activation

Sample commands for Windows

Sample commands for Linux

While running this command the following warning might be printed and can be ignored:

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