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Micronaut

Member

Registered: 2019-07-04

Posts: 201  

Running a VPN from normal user privilege

By default, OpenVPN sets all the keys and certs as root-only access. I guess this makes sense from a security standpoint. But it means you have to run the daemon from a root terminal window to be able to access them. Is there a way to run OpenVPN at a normal user level and still get access to those high-security files? If it's a single user system, no one else ever logs in, would it be too big a deal to change those files so they can be read by the normal user starting the VPN?

Last edited by Micronaut (2022-04-06 23:00:36)

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,117  

Re: Running a VPN from normal user privilege

The networking part of the client, i.e. creating a tap interface and manipulating the routing set up, requires root, so the client must run as root anyhow.

Micronaut

Member

Registered: 2019-07-04

Posts: 201  

Re: Running a VPN from normal user privilege

Hmm, I guess SetUID it is then...