VPN setup

Overview

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) establishes a secure channel between your SenArch ARCH-1 LoRaWAN Gateway and your server. It protects data in transit and enables remote management over public networks.

Prerequisites

Gateway configuration

  1. Copy your configuration file into the folder: /data/openvpn
  2. Make sure that the file contains key, cert, ca and possibly tls certificates.
  3. Make sure that the file starts with:
client
nobind
dev tun
remote-cert-tls server
remote your.vpnserver.com 1194

  1. Once the client.conf is inside the correct folder VPN service will start automatically.

  2. To check if VPN has an interface, execute the command ifconfig, then search for tun0.

Troubleshooting

VPN connection failure

Problem: VPN client cannot connect to the server.

Cause: Network connectivity issues or firewall blocking VPN traffic.

Solution: Verify udp port 1194 is open and forwarded through your firewall.

No network connectivity after VPN connection

Problem: VPN connects successfully but no network traffic flows.

Cause: Configuration mismatch between server and client settings.

Solution: Ensure both server and client use the same device type (tun) and protocol (udp) or (tcp).

TLS authentication errors

Problem: VPN connection fails with certificate or authentication errors.

Cause: Invalid or mismatched certificate files or server configuration.

Solution: Verify certificate files are correct and the server address matches the certificate Common Name.

Next steps