Simple DIY VPN

Features

• Starts automatically on demand and shuts down automatically when not used (Using systemd socket activation)
• Works on any VPS or home server with just ssh suppport. Distro/architecture/size does not matter. Only working ssh support required. No other software setup required on the server
• Easy to setup multiple different VPNs to different server. No need to change whole system network settings.
• Simple interactive cli utility to setup. No need to create/edit config files
• Simple bash script with no dependencies - (ssh and systemd are usually preinstalled)
• Once setup with browser extension, easy to use for non-technical users - Just right-click and choose a container

Requirements

• Linux system with Systemd and ssh client
• Server with ssh support. ssh keys setup for passwordless login
• Browser or any app with SOCKS proxy support. Librewolf with Container Proxy extension allows to setup different VPN for each container

Installation

• Archlinux AUR
• Manual install: (run as root)

make install

Usage

❯ diyvpnctl add
Server name [e.g. vps1] [required] : homets
Listen address [e.g. 127.0.0.1:9090] [required] : 127.0.0.1:8071
Idle Timeout [e.g. 5min] [5min] :
Remote server Ip [e.g. 1.2.3.4] [required] : 100.64.0.2
Remote server ssh port [e.g. 2222] [22] :
Remote server username [e.g. dave] [required] : balki
SSH private key [e.g. ~/.ssh/id_ed25519] [required] : ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
Diyvpn config for homets added. Edit below configs for further changes
==> /home/balki/.config/diyvpn/servers/homets/config.rc <==
LISTEN_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1:8071
IDLE_TIMEOUT=5min

==> /home/balki/.config/diyvpn/servers/homets/ssh_config <==
Hostname 100.64.0.2
Port 22
User balki
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

# vim: set filetype=sshconfig:

❯ diyvpnctl list
config path: /home/balki/.config/diyvpn/servers

Server               ListenAddress
can1                 127.0.0.1:8072
homets               127.0.0.1:8071
us1                  127.0.0.1:8070

Internals

TODO: Explain

Future Ideas

• Automatically fire up a VPS instance in a cloud provider on demand. Since most VPS are charged pre hour, for those using rarely, don't have to pay for entire month. A new VPS every time improves privacy.