As remote work and distributed teams become the norm, establishing secure connections to cloud resources has become crucial. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers an excellent solution for this through AWS Client VPN. In this article, I'll outline my step-by-step experience implementing an AWS Client VPN solution.
Setting Up the Lab Environment
My journey began by setting up the lab environment. To streamline this process, I used a CloudFormation template, which allowed me to create the necessary infrastructure with just one click. This resulted in the creation of EC2 instances, VPCs, and related subnets. The automation and simplification of infrastructure deployment using CloudFormation templates saved me considerable time and ensured consistency.
Establishing Simple AD
Next, I created a Simple AD (Active Directory). Since I planned to use identity-based authentication for my client VPN, Simple AD served as my identity provider for users. It offered a standalone, managed directory service, integrated with SAML-based applications and AWS services, providing a seamless security experience.
Creating the Server Certificate
After setting up Simple AD, I focused on creating the server certificate that the client VPN would use. I used my Ubuntu VM as the local machine to accomplish this. Once created, I uploaded the certificate to AWS using the AWS ACM import CLI command. This certificate is crucial for ensuring secure connections between the client and the server.
Creating the Client VPN Endpoint
The next step was to create the Client VPN Endpoint within AWS. I did this under the VPC service, where I created a client VPN endpoint and associated it with the A4L-VPC. Afterward, I linked the Endpoint to the corresponding private subnet. This endpoint would serve as the point of contact for clients to establish VPN connections with AWS.
Installing AWS Client VPN
The final installation stage involved downloading the configuration file for the client VPN and installing the AWS Client VPN. I chose AWS Client VPN for Ubuntu and installed it on my Ubuntu VM. However, I ran into an issue: the VPN Client was crashing instantly.
After some digging, I discovered that Ubuntu 22.04 had libssl3 installed, while AWS VPN Client needed libssl1 as a dependency. I quickly solved this issue by installing libssl1 on my Ubuntu VM. With that done, I created a new profile using the configuration file I had downloaded earlier.
To ensure access to necessary resources within the A4L VPC (namely, DNS Servers), I set up an authorization rule for the client VPN endpoint.
Testing the Connection
With all the steps completed, it was time to test the connection. I attempted to connect to AWS Client VPN, and much to my relief, the connection was successful. To verify the connectivity to AWS resources, I pinged the directory service's IP address, and the ping worked perfectly, indicating a successful VPN setup.
In conclusion, my journey to setting up an AWS Client VPN solution was a successful one. While the setup process involved several steps, the result was a secure, reliable, and scalable VPN solution that can cater to a variety of business needs. It's important to remember that every setup might encounter challenges, like the one I faced with my Ubuntu VM, but with a bit of troubleshooting, they can be quickly resolved.
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