Connecting pfSense to a standard OpenVPN Server config

First, you need to dump the client cert+key into System -> Cert Manager -> Certificates. Then dump the server’s CA cert into System-> Cert Manager-> CA.

Now go to the VPN -> OpenVPN -> Clients and add a client. You’ll likely want Peer-to-Peer (SSL/TLS), UDP, tun, and wan. Put in the remote host IP address or FQDN. You’ll probably want to check “infinitely resolve server”. Under Cryptographic settings, select the CA and certificate you entered into the System Cert Manager, and you’ll most likely want BF-CBC for the encryption algo and SHA-1 for the auth digest algo. Topology should be subnet unless you’re doing something funky; set compression if you’ve enabled it on the other end, but otherwise leave it alone.

This is enough to get you the VPN, but it won’t pass traffic originating there to you. To respond to traffic initiated from the other end, you’ll need to head to Firewall -> Rules -> OpenVPN. If you want all traffic to be allowed, when you create the new Pass rule, be certain to change the protocol from TCP to Any, and leave everything else the default. Save your rule and apply it, and you should at this point be connected and passing packets in both directions between your pfSense OpenVPN client and your standard (based on the template server.conf distributed with OpenVPN and using easy-rsa) OpenVPN server.

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Jim Salter

Mercenary sysadmin, open source advocate, and frotzer of the jim-jam.

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