Guide – How To Start – Amnezia VPN Server on Ubuntu 18.04

Configuration and connection to Amnezia VPN Server on Ubuntu 18.04

Set up a server

1. To start the server, run the VM through Azure Portal.

2. To work, you must open all TCP and UDP ports in the network properties in the Azure firewall

Note: You can only open certain ports when configuring the AmneziaVPN client manually (see ‘The instruction for the customization of the AmneziaVPN Client’.) This will depend on the choice of the container when installing the AmneziaVPN client. You will be presented with the option to select the port and TCP/UDP protocol – if the receiving part supports this option. See the documentation for the selected container for details.

The instruction for the customization of the AmneziaVPN Client

1. To customize the VPN Client, first, you need to know the server IP address. You can find it in the personal account of Azure. (You need to select the virtual machine from the list. By clicking the item “Overview”, your IP is displayed in the line “Public IP Address”).

2. After that, you need the Amnezia Client for the work. Go to site: Amnezia VPN. Your own self-hosted VPN and download the installer in the “.exe” format for Windows:

3. After the downloading of the installer is finished, you should run it. In the opened window of the AmneziaVPN  installer click on the “Next” button:

Note: During installation, the error “error file not found vcruntime140_1.dll” may appear. In this case, you need to install two packages into your system:

https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe

https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe

then reinstall the client.

4. After that click “Install”:

5. After the installation progress is finished the AmneziaVPN start window opens

6. Click ‘Set up your own server’

7. Enter your VM IP (1), a username (2), and password (3) that were specified while the VM was being created, and after that click “Connect” to connect to the VPN server.

8. Click ‘Run Setup Wizard’ or ‘Configure VPN protocol manually’ if you want to use a specific protocol.

9. Then choose your preferred level of censorship and click ‘Next’

10. Setup Wizard will offer VPN protocol. If you want to change it, go back to the step 8

11. You can change this option in the settings later. Click ‘Start configuring’

12. It will take some minutes

13. Then the main AmneziaVPN window is displayed. If VPN is disconnected click the main button

14. Once connected, the button turns green and displays your VM’s IP.

You can check the change in your IP on What Is My IP by going to it before connecting to AmneziaVPN and after connecting.

Note: If the client does not connect, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1: re-enable the adapter

Open Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings. 

Check the description of network adapters to find the Tap-Windows Adapter.  

Right-click on it > Disable. 

Right click again > Enable.  

Solution 2: reinstall the Tap driver  

Check if opening C:\Program Files\TAP-Windows already install it 

Right-click on Uninstall and select Run as administrator 

Reboot the system (not required, but recommended)

Download the Tap driver from OpenVPN repository and install it (right-click on it > Run as administrator)

15. You can customize your VPN the way you want

Now you can use Amnezia VPN Server on Ubuntu 20.04 adapted for Azure. 

If you have any questions, please refer to the Amnezia VPN. Your own self-hosted VPN

Connecting to the server with Ubuntu (optional)

1. To connect to a VM, you need the PuTTy application to connect via ssh. You can download it at the following link – Download

2. Run Putty, enter the VM address in the “Host” field and click “Open” to connect.

3. In the opened console you will need to enter a username and password that were specified while the VM was being created (you’ll not see the password in the console while entering it).

4. The next window is displayed