OpenVPN allows you to securely connect over the internet to a company or home network so you can access files and applications on that network.
Step-by-step guide
To setup the OpenVPN client VPN on a Mac:
- You need to install the free Tunnelblick VPN Client Software first.
- You can then install the OpenVPN configuration file.
Download the latest version of Tunnelblick from https://tunnelblick.net/downloads.html You should choose the Stable release branch. At the time of writing the latest version is 3.8.1 as shown below.
Click on the link to Tunnelblick 3.8.1 (or whatever the latest stable release is) and download the installer - Tunnelblick_3.8.1_build_5400.dmg
Once downloaded, double click on the installer to run it and the following window opens. Double click on the Tunnelblick.app to begin the installation.
Once Tunnelblick is installed, you need to install the OpenVPN file that you've been given. This contains the configuration and security keys to securely connect to the remote network. It may be a zip file that you need to unzip first. Once you've unzipped it, find the folder and inside, there will be a file with an .ovpn (OpenVPN) extension.
To install this OpenVPN configuration, double-click on the .ovpn file. Install it for yourself. You will be asked to authenticate the changes.
Once installed, connect to the VPN configuration (remember yours may be differently named) from the Tunnelblick menu as shown below:
You will be asked for username and password. Unless otherwise advised, these will be your network username and password you have at work.
To disconnect, use the same menu to disconnect. You can Disconnect All (if you have multipled connections) or just disconnect the individual VPN connection.
You can only have 1 active OpenVPN connection running at any one time. If you try to start another connection, they will cause each other to constantly disconnect and reconnect giving you connection problems.
Don't connect to the VPN if you are in the office; this can cause strange networking issues.