OPNsense 21 setup with NordVPN

In order to setup OPNsense with OpenVPN please access your OPNsense via browser.
Navigate to System -> Trust -> Authorities and click on the +Add button.

You should see this screen:

We will configure our OPNsense to connect to US 8561 server but you should connect to a server suggested to you at this page: https://nordvpn.com/servers/tools/ .

You can find the server hostname right under the server title.

Press on + Add button. Then fill the fields out like this:

Descriptive Name: NordVPN_US8561_CA
Method: Import an existing Certificate Authority
Certificate data: paste the contents below

Certificate Private Key: leave blank;
Serial for next certificate: leave as it is by default;

Press Save

Navigate to VPN -> OpenVPN -> Clients and press + Add button.
Fill in the fields:

GENERAL INFORMATION

Disabled: leave unchecked.
Description: Any name you like. We will use NordVPN_US8561.
Server mode: Peer to Peer (SSL/TLS);
Protocol: UDP4 (you can also use TCP4);
Device mode: tun;
Interface: any;
Remote server:

Host or address: us8561.nordvpn.com (change to the hostname of the server you are going to use);
Port: 1194 (use 443 if you use TCP);

Retry DNS resolution: check;
Proxy host or address: leave blank;
Proxy port: leave blank;
Proxy Authentication: None;

USER AUTHENTICATION SETTINGS

User name/pass: fill in NordVPN service username and password;

You can find your NordVPN service credentials (service username and service password) in the Nord Account dashboard:
1. Click Set up NordVPN manually.
2. You will receive a verification code in your email that you use for NordVPN services. Type the code in:
3. Copy the credentials using the “Copy” buttons on the right:

Renegotiate time: leave blank;

CRYPTOGRAPHIC SETTINGS:

TLS Authentication: Enabled - Authentication only
TLS Shared Key: Paste the contents below

-----BEGIN OpenVPN Static key V1-----
e685bdaf659a25a200e2b9e39e51ff03
0fc72cf1ce07232bd8b2be5e6c670143
f51e937e670eee09d4f2ea5a6e4e6996
5db852c275351b86fc4ca892d78ae002
d6f70d029bd79c4d1c26cf14e9588033
cf639f8a74809f29f72b9d58f9b8f5fe
fc7938eade40e9fed6cb92184abb2cc1
0eb1a296df243b251df0643d53724cdb
5a92a1d6cb817804c4a9319b57d53be5
80815bcfcb2df55018cc83fc43bc7ff8
2d51f9b88364776ee9d12fc85cc7ea5b
9741c4f598c485316db066d52db4540e
212e1518a9bd4828219e24b20d88f598
a196c9de96012090e333519ae18d3509
9427e7b372d348d352dc4c85e18cd4b9
3f8a56ddb2e64eb67adfc9b337157ff4
-----END OpenVPN Static key V1-----

Peer Certificate Authority: NordVPN_US8601_CA;
Client Certificate: None (Username and Password required);
Encryption Algorithm: AES-256-GCM;
Auth Digest Algorithm: SHA512;

TUNNEL SETTINGS:

IPv4 tunnel network: leave blank;
IPv6 tunnel network: leave blank;
IPv4 remote network: leave blank;
IPv6 remote network: leave blank;
Limit outgoing bandwidth: leave blank;
Compression: Legacy - Disabled LZO algorithm (--comp-lzo no)
Type-of-service: leave unchecked;
Don’t pull routes: leave unchecked;
Don’t add/remove routes: check.

ADVANCED CONFIGURATION:

Advanced: paste the contents below

remote-random;
tun-mtu 1500;
tun-mtu-extra 32;
mssfix 1450;
persist-key;
persist-tun;
reneg-sec 0;
remote-cert-tls server;

Verbosity level: 3 (recommended);

opnsense7 (1).png

Click Save.

Navigate to Interfaces -> Assignments and click on + near New Interface. By default, it is ovpnc1.
Click on the OPT1 to edit the interface.
Click on the Enable Interface and do the following changes:

Description: NordVPN (or anything you want);
Block private networks: leave unchecked;
Block bogon networks: leave unchecked;
IPv4 Configuration Type: None;
IPv6 Configuration Type: None;
MAC address: leave blank;
MTU: leave blank;
MSS: leave blank;

No changes required on the DHCP client configuration so just click on Save button.

Click on the Apply changes button.
Navigate to Services -> Unbound DNS -> General.

Enable: check;
Listen port: 53;
Network Interfaces: All;
DNSSEC: uncheck;
DHCP Registration: check;
DHCP Domain Override: leave blank;
DHCP Static Mappings: check;
IPv6 Link-local: unchecked;
TXT Comment Support: leave unchecked;
DNS Query Forwarding: check;
Local Zone Type: Transparent;
Custom options: leave blank;
Outgoing Network Interfaces: NordVPN (or whatever you named your OpenVPN interface);
WPAD Records: leave unchecked;

Click Save and Apply changes.
Navigate to Services -> Unbound DNS -> Advanced and do the check the following options:

Hide Identity: check
Hide Version: check
Prefetch Support: check
Prefetch DNS Key Support: check

Leave anything else as it is by default, click Save, and Apply Settings.
Navigate to Firewall -> NAT -> Outbound, select Hybrid outbound NAT rule generation (automatically generated rules are applied after manual rules), click Save and Apply Changes.
Click on the +Add button on top, on the edit menu, select Interface as NordVPN. Leave anything else by as it is by default, click Save, and Apply Changes.
Navigate to Firewall -> Rules -> LAN and delete the IPv6 rule. After that, click on the edit button next to IPv4. Scroll down and under Advanced features, select Gateway as NORDVPN_VPN4. Click Save.

Next, click +Add, change Source to LAN net and Destination to LAN Address, don't change anything else, Save and Apply Changes.
Navigate to System -> Settings -> General and do the following changes:

Under Networking, check the Prefer IPv4 over IPv6;
DNS servers:
103.86.96.100, Use Gateway: none;
103.86.99.100, Use Gateway: none.

On DNS server options, uncheck Allow DNS server list to be overridden by DHCP/PPP on WAN

Click Save and Apply Changes.
Navigate to System -> Gateways -> Single and do the following changes:

Edit NORDVPN_VPN6 -> click Disabled

Save and Apply Changes.
Now you can navigate to VPN -> OpenVPN -> Connection Status and it should state that the service is “up”:

Restart the connection to assign the OpenVPN Virtual Address to the interfaces.
Navigate to Lobby -> Dashboard and confirm the NordVPN Interface has an IP Number
You can also check the connection log file under VPN -> OpenVPN -> Log File. If you encounter any connection issues, please send the log file to our customer support for the further support.

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OPNsense 21 setup with NordVPN

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