Self-hosting your own VPN on Proxmox is easy

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If you're concerned about the privacy of your online activities, a Virtual Private Network is a worthwhile addition to your software suite. Unfortunately, cheap VPNs are notorious for selling user data, while their premium counterparts tend to charge high subscription fees.




Hosting your own VPN server is a good alternative if you want to maintain your online anonymity without being burdened by recurring subscription fees. Anyone who has a Proxmox-based home lab can easily deploy a WireGuard container in just a few minutes!

Running the Proxmox VE helper script for WireGuard

Considered one of the best modern alternatives to OpenVPN in networking circles, WireGuard combines solid performance with a simple interface and top-notch security features. As with any other self-hosted service, there are several ways to build and run WireGuard in Proxmox. However, we keep things simple and opt for the ultra-simple Proxmox VE Helper Script method.

  1. Select yours Proxmox node and navigate there sleeve Tab.
    Go to the “Shell” tab in the Proxmox web interface

  2. Paste the following command into the shell and tap Enter. 
    bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/ct/wireguard.sh)"
    The command to install WireGuard VPN in Proxmox

  3. Choose Yes when Proxmox asks for your consent to create an LXC container for WireGuard.
    Select Yes when Proxmox prompts the user to create a new LXC WireGuard container

  4. Choose Yes when prompted to use that Default settings.
    Select Yes when Proxmox asks the user for confirmation to use the default settings when creating an LXC container for WireGuard

    If you encounter network issues while running the script, you can run the apt update and apt dist-upgrade commands in the script. Alternatively, you can try setting the IPv4 and gateway addresses in advanced installation mode instead of using the default settings.

  5. Wait for Proxmox to create and deploy the WireGuard container.


Configuring the WireGuard container

Because the WireGuard script installs the WGDashboard GUI, you can create a private VPN server without having to mess with terminal commands.

  1. Open that URL generated through the WireGuard script in your web browser.
    The URL for the WireGuard VPN

  2. type Administrator than that user name And password.
    Log in to the WGDashboard

  3. Create a new one user name And password for the WireGuard container before tapping Next.
    Creating a WireGuard account

  4. (Optional) If you want additional security, you can set it up 2FA Use your preferred authentication app.
  5. Press the button configuration Button in the WGDashboard.
    The “Configuration” button in the WGDashboard

  6. Choose one name for your WireGuard VPN configuration and select the Listen to the port for the tunnel.
    Enter a name and listen port for the WireGuard VPN tunnel

  7. Enter your preference IP address and range and click Save configuration.
    Setting the IP address for the WireGuard VPN tunnel


Connecting clients to your WireGuard VPN

With the WireGuard configuration set up properly, it's time to pair some clients with the VPN server.

  1. Tap Arrow button next to your freshly created WireGuard configuration.
    Access to the newly created WireGuard configuration

  2. Click on + Peer Symbol.
    Adding new peers in WireGuard VPN

  3. Just type in name for the new peer and hit Add while the other settings are left at their default values.
    Adding a name for the peer in WGDashboard

  4. Download the official WireGuard app on the platform of your choice.
  5. Go to the client device and tap + Icon in the WireGuard application.
  6. Go back to the WireGuard web GUI and open the Triple point Menu next to the peer.
    Connecting a new peer to the Proxmox WireGuard server

  7. Depending on the client device, you can use either QR code, .conf fileor Join link to connect to the WireGuard VPN.


Protect your online privacy with a self-hosted WireGuard container

The WGDashboard with two VPN tunnels set up

If you followed everything correctly, you should be able to connect to the VPN from all of your local devices. To take this project to the next level, you can combine WireGuard VPN with an ad-blocking Pi-Hole container and enjoy an ad-free experience while surfing the web anonymously.

In addition to WireGuard, there are a number of other projects you can host on your Proxmox server, including document organization tool Paperless-ngx, private cloud CasaOS, and network video recorder ZoneMinder. Alternatively, you might want to try out some crazy project ideas if you want to build fun things with your Proxmox machine.


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