Getting VPN Service

To use Tunnelblick you need access to a VPN server — your computer is one end of the tunnel and the VPN server is the other end.

The Tunnelblick project does not provide access to VPN servers — we are not "VPN service providers" — we only create the free software that many VPN service providers recommend or provide to their clients.

There are several ways to get access to a VPN server:

• Your employer may provide a VPN server so you can work from home or the road securely.
• You can set up your own VPN server at home, and use it to access your home network and the Internet securely when at a remote location. The VPN server could be a program running on a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer, or on your home router.
• You can get (free or for a fee) access to a VPN server by using a VPN service provider.

Employer-provided VPN Servers

Your employer should supply you with an OpenVPN configuration file (.ovpn or .conf file), along with the appropriate certificate and key files, or with a Tunnelblick VPN Configuration (.tblk), which includes the certificate and key files within it.

Follow the instructions from your employer or in Installing Tunnelblick to install Tunnelblick and configurations.

Set Up Your Own VPN Server

This is more complicated. It involves creating your own OpenVPN configuration file and creating your own certificate and key files for encryption. There are tutorials about setting up OpenVPN servers — try searching the Internet for "set up openvpn server". Tunnelblick includes 'easy-rsa' to help you with creating certificate and key files; there is an "Open easy-rsa in Terminal" button on the Utilities panel. Instructions on using easy-rsa to create encryption files are available in the OpenVPN FAQ.

If you want to set up a computer to act solely as a router/bridge/firewall, Untangle has a free VPN component.

If you have a router running DD-WRT, you can use OpenVPN on DD-RT. There is a tutorial.

If you want to run an OpenVPN server "in the cloud" which also does ad blocking, take a look at the instructions at Pi-Hole and PiVPN on Google Compute Engine Free Tier with Full Tunnel and Split Tunnel OpenVPN Configurations. (Note that the instructions download and install pi-hole and piVPN by piping from curl to bash. A better practice is to download the install scripts, examine them for problems, and then run the already-examined scripts.)

VPN Service Providers

Another way to get access to a VPN server is to use a VPN service provider, an organization that makes its VPN servers available (free or for a fee). Some provide you with a customized, and possibly renamed, version of Tunnelblick.

VPN service providers: email webmaster@tunnelblick.net to be listed on this page.

Disclaimer: The products, services, and links on this page are not endorsed or recommended by the Tunnelblick project or its developers. This list is offered solely for the convenience of those wishing to use Tunnelblick.