Set Up Your Own VPN at Home With Raspberry Pi! (noob-friendly)

A simple, short and easy to follow guide on setting up your own Wireguard VPN instance on a Raspberry Pi
Links:
Text guide notthebe.ee/blog/set-up-your-...
Raspberry Pi OS www.raspberrypi.org/software/...
balenaEtcher www.balena.io/etcher/
Dynamic DNS service freedns.afraid.org/
Wireguard script by Nyr github.com/Nyr/wireguard-install
Wireguard (Google Play) play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Wireguard (App Store) apps.apple.com/us/app/wiregua...
Wireguard (Desktop clients) www.wireguard.com/install/
Support the channel:
Patreon / wolfgangschannel
PayPal (one time donation) www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted...
Follow me:
Twitter / notthebeeee
Twitch / notthebeee
GitHub github.com/notthebee
Music:
Gvidon - Body in a Half Light
Tru Genesis - Burned
Stock Footage (pexels.com):
Kurt Von
Cottonbro
Pavel Danilyuk
ALL IZ WELL
Tima Miroshnichenko
Henrique
Pressmaster
Mike
Kai Pilger
"Inside The World's Largest Data Center" by Tech Vision (4:08) • Inside The World's Lar...
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
0:42 Common VPN use cases
1:29 Use cases for a selhofsted VPN
2:15 Why not just use a VPN service?
2:56 What skills will you need for this project
3:57 Technical requirements
6:38 TUTORIAL START - Downloading and installing Raspberry Pi
8:18 Initial setup
8:40 For monitor users
8:56 For "headless" users
10:47 Dynamic DNS
13:59 Port forwarding
14:51 Installing Wireguard VPN
15:43 Connecting to the VPN from a smartphone
16:38 Connecting to the VPN from a PC
17:57 Outro

[@WolfgangsChannel]

If your IP address does not update: 13:01 Replace `use=if, if=eth0` with `use=web, web=dynamicdns.park-your-domain.com/getip`

[@fanta..]

whats a selhofsted vpn

[@francescoatria1086]

How do I have to set it up if I have a static public ip and I want to skip the dns part?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

@@francescoatria1086 Skip the DDNS part and when asked about your public hostname in the script, enter your IP address.

[@francescoatria1086]

@@WolfgangsChannel i have to skip the dd client istallation as well?

[@notrevvz]

@@francescoatria1086 yes you would since ddclient is only used for updating your IP for use with "forwarding".

[@Slate245Ivanovo]

Dude, I admire the production quality of your content! Given VPNs are a pretty beaten theme, you still take time to present the guide in a most easy to follow and easy to reference way. Big respecc, as always, Wolfgang

[@mohamedmimonasbai8563]

It's no need for a pogchang.

[@fitrianhidayat]

yeah, he even edit JoJo in it

[@anthonyrussano]

I like the way you breakdown these topics and go over the process so thoroughly while keeping it perfectly concise enough to understand.

[@nekoill]

When I subscribed I didn't expect to find THAT much useful stuff here and I already loved your channel, imagine how much I love it now! Not in my wildest dreams could I imagine that I found essentially a one stop shop for a beginner/pre-DevOps stuff. Love you, bro❤

[@stephen-dev]

Had a bit of a hard time getting it to work. Oddly enough, the thing that finally made mine work was to turn off IPv6 on the raspberry. Worked immediately after I did that. Just FYI for everyone else out there.

[@YXHYX]

How to do it pls

[@PerfectorZY]

Also, turning off IPv6 worked for me too!

[@ddaland]

Did you disable IPv6 on the pi? Then it works immediately?

[@PerfectorZY]

@@ddaland Might need to sudo reboot.

[@ddaland]

@@PerfectorZY I actually rebooted, but it still doesn't work :(, it's like I can connect to the VPN, but it has no internet connection

[@antivaxxtoaster8919]

Works like a dream 2 years later Thank you so much for this

[@r.cantini]

This was the only tutorial in the world that actually worked for me! :O

[@slam5]

Thank you so much! I hadbeen trying to get wire guard on a pi for so long without success, yours is the first detail explanation.

[@StayHumble_Smallz]

Yo man you did an outstanding job on making this video. It really help me understand the basics of VPN's and I will continue furthering my knowledge on it. Keep up the great content.

[@randoschannel3801]

I remember making my own VPN with help of a friend in Canada by sending him a RPI2 that i had laying around. It still works even though she moved out about a year ago.

[@mangoc4169]

Thanks for this, Wolfgang. Used a RPi 3B+ running RPi OS Lite (64-bit). Works perfectly. Noted that Nyr's install script seems to be updated from the time you made this video; it differs slightly, but straightforward nevertheless. Cheers!

[@MrRandomposter]

Yes!!! On the second attempt it worked flawlessly. So good using Powershell instead of Putty. There is a confusing part where setting ddclient true/false. I just had to ignore your narration and set it as you had it on screen. I use my VPN to wake on LAN my PC from being completely turned off then remote access it with teamviewer and then shut it down. Access or start my plex server for friends when travelling for work using motels protected wifi which wont allow it. Hopefully my dynamic dns works rock solid and I wont even need to access the rp3 for ages. Love an elegant solution. Ethernet and power. So good

[@jonasking3670]

You can also integrate pihole into the system. That way you have an ad blocker at the router level. You can adapt pihole to be recursive DNS so that your DNS queries disappear.

[@TRD_Mike]

Hi Jonas, can you expand on that more please? I'm currently running a RPi Pihole on my network as my DNS server, and am also looking to install a VPN on the RPi so I can safely connect to public wifi networks. If I follow this tutorial to get the VPN up, is there anything I need to change on the Pihole? Thanks.

[@thegoldenmoss7756]

@@TRD_Mike Hi Mike, I haven't setup the VPN but in a part of the video you are given the option to set a DNS server. I recon you can from there set a IP address of your PI hole

[@gabrielecafa6394]

@@thegoldenmoss7756 actually yes, plus at least in the phone in wireguard you must insert the ip of ur pi hole as dns server in the vpn settings. For the phone works, i think u should do the same with the pc

[@adriatical9016]

That is if your router even allows you to change your DNS settings. Unfortunately for me, my router has its DNS settings hardcoded for 'security purposes'. Thanks a lot, comcast.

[@gabrielecafa6394]

@@adriatical9016 security purposes = bro I have to track every move you do so I can send you relevant ADs and make money

[@dempa3]

Man, I wish this homegrown solution could be used for sharing all of my favorite Linux distros. But I do not live in Holland. Maybe I'll give the self hosting via VPS provider a shot! Thanks for your understandable and accessible videos!

[@ndrechtseiter]

9:32 Not “Command/Control+Shift+C”, but rather “Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+V”. For the folks, who are using Terminal for the first time :)

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Yep 😁 Not sure how I missed that. Thanks

[@marknefedov]

Doesn't shift thing is specific to Gnome terminal?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Every terminal that I've used on Linux (apart from xterm derivatives) uses Ctrl+Shift+C/V

[@ndrechtseiter]

@@marknefedov такая же штука в st и Konsole, на моей памяти

[@vanya132]

or Shift+Insert =)

[@mikediamond3697]

well getting the DDClient configured ended up being something of a nightmare but as soon as I cracked that my new vpn is running perfectly, thank you for the very useful tutorial

[@travisanderson3462]

Thanks for showing the how to test. I followed another tutorial and at the end was just, "alright its done" without more explanation. As simple as it is never thought to use my phone to test.

[@Tithis]

I've had a wireguard setup for my home for a couple years now. Rather than a raspberry pi or dedicated computer I used our router. We're using an Ubiquiti EdgeRouterX. Its a small but decently pretty full featured $60 router and Wireguard has been ported to it for quite some time now. Once installed the configuration of each device profile can be done through the webGUI. Obviously only really an option if you're okay with your router and wireless access point being separate devices, but that's generally a good idea to begin with.

[@olamalmstrom1897]

Agree! I use my ASUS router as an OpenVPN server. Works fine when I am away from home and want to access stuff on my home network.

[@AlexSuslin]

mikrotik router works fine as a vpn server to home network as well )

[@vivarantx]

who cares man

[@Tithis]

@@vivarantx 13 people and your mom.

[@bw2247]

13:00 NOTE (applied to me and might apply to others) you need to change the line "use=if, if=eth0" the eth0 needs to be your ethernet adaptor (get it with "ip add" command". ex. mine was enp3s0, so had to change it to "use=if, if=enp3s0". Of course if yours is already eth0 then no need to change. Other than that everything worked! Thanks for the great and comprehensive tutorial!

[@vietsmiley]

Which line was this on?

[@bw2247]

@@vietsmiley 15

[@michaelfuchs5353]

or "use=if, if=wlan0" if using wifi instead of ethernet

[@adamelamrani9149]

@@michaelfuchs5353 Thanks to you it worked!

[@rick-c993]

Thanks that worked!

[@GeorgeMulak]

You have a gift as a teacher. Detailed and in order.

[@danonbrown2035]

Great guide and easy to follow. Thank you.

[@kissingfrogs]

accessing my home network remotely is what I use ssh tunnels for, but your solution is way more streamlined. Thanks for sharing

[@W93h3753mwesley]

Howwww

[@niklas879]

Thanks for the video. Now I know why my Raspberry Pi didn't work with solar power. I put it on my roof now instead of the window ledge, hope it works 🤞👌

[@adrianm.2878]

Actually one of the most useful videos that I've seen on youtube in a long time!

[@Killbunny]

I already had everything setup except for the actual tunnel so i just watched the last 2 minutes and that was really quick and easy :) great tutorial

[@_karla._]

I think it's great that german telekom now has wireguard built in on their latest speedport routers. You just need a dynamic-dns service and with literally a click of a button you have a vpn. The only problem i could think of, is that it is single-user only.

[@triggerhappyasian]

HHKB with the space bar flipped is absolutely and utterly based

[@gamerharmeet]

Thank you for an amazing video and very detailed step by step description. Am going to try it out. Thank you for putting this up.

[@Joe-qb7iq]

Works great. Thank you for the simple easy to follow guide.

[@megazord5696]

A can't wait for the PlayStation 1 version of the video!

[@simonbroberg969]

Still waiting for version for my Amiga 1500

[@serratedwarstep]

To answer your question about residential ISP blocking mail servers on their network it's to prevent people from hosting spam email servers.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Yeah, that actually makes sense

[@eight-double-three]

@@WolfgangsChannel Indeed, but still annoys the heck out of me... ;)

[@xxportalxx.]

Amazing how we live in a world where a great number of advanced features have to be taken from citizens bc the bulk of individuals using said advanced features are shitty criminals abusing their privileges...

[@festusbojangles7027]

@Craig Whitley no we just need to have fewer laws all together. we need less government interference

[@AndyShrestha]

Hands down, one of the best video on Pi VPN on the internet.

[@andyroo_]

After 2 days of following this guide, I finally got it. Thank u

[@erikreider]

0:14 love your estimated revenue 😂

[@pisuke815]

Just discovered your channel, amazing stuff and very well explained. I'm unsure if requests are accepted, but could it be possible to extend this video, and also explain how to add a secure mail server with email encrypting? Is that something feasible in the Pi?

[@darthsideous1968]

I LOVE the videos you upload and I definitely look forward to any and all new videos you upload. I just wish you would upload MORE lol!

[@WolfgangsChannel]

This channel is a one-man show and I upload as often as the time allows 🙃

[@darthsideous1968]

@@WolfgangsChannel I am more than grateful for the uploads that you put up on this platform and for the time and effort you put into making them. Many thanks for all that you do Wolfgang and keep up the awesome work! :)

[@kowi333]

Thanks alot for showing wireguard-install script! FInally it worked as expected :D

[@buuras]

hey, thank you for this detailed tutorial and east to follow tutorial. I will definitely try at first chance I get and I believe it will work in first try. But before I try I was wondering will the port-forwarding cause a security breech in my home network and what can I do to secure it ? thank you in advance.

[@kimvonklvsgrd]

Awesome video, I'm gonna get this setup on my RBP4 very soon. Quick question though, I've gained interest in the adblock service that can be setup on a RBP too, is it possible to have both installed and fully functioning at the same time?

[@akshayjoshii]

Yep, you could install both Wireguard and Pihole in your RP4. Later just configure the DNS primary address to point to your RP4's IP address.

[@sebastianwendl603]

This is explained so precisely... It could have saved me hours of sarching google, if all raspi projects were covered like that...

[@dannybribiesca]

Amazing! Thank you so much, Wolfgang!

[@m.2383]

After literally months of putting this off, I finally was able to get it to work. Thanks so much for the detailed video!

[@DonnieAzoff_]

how did it work. My VPN connects but as i turn my mobile data on i cant connect to the internet:/

[@anthonybarbosa572]

@@DonnieAzoff_ Hey did you ever find a fix for this? I am running into the same issue

[@fp-7girirajkulkarni411]

Did you find the fix for this??

[@ioritzpaulis]

When you connect to your self-hosted network services (the Secret 5G Corona test site), what kind of dashboard is it? it looks very neat.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

It's called Homer

[@ioritzpaulis]

@@WolfgangsChannel Thanks man. Your videos are great, very interesting and well explained. Keep up the good work!

[@ValeriyUnknown]

Wolfgang's Channel how to even google it?

[@rokasmalakauskas]

@@ioritzpaulis or if you really want to look on github, Google - site:github.com homer

[@ninline2000]

Very slick. I like it! Thanks for this tutorial.

[@mibrahim4245]

This is an original content Wolfgang!! THANKS !! DANKE !!

[@ndrechtseiter]

Лучший Линукс-мальчик снова выпустил прекрасный ролик Время заварить чайку и начать строить -калмуни- домашний ВПН

[@Stupidtigerz]

**is unable to read message** "Ah yes, agreed good sir. Take my like" **sips tea**

[@ndrechtseiter]

@@Stupidtigerz I highly appreciate you, sir!

[@Stupidtigerz]

@boy lasagna LMAO what's funny is, I didn't look up the translation whatsoever but yet we both mention drinking tea

[@jerrypinewood6278]

Hey Wolfgang. Love your channel, best content on niche projects by far. Would you be open to making a video on turning a Pi into a VPN enabled wifi access point? The use case is compelling- American netflix on devices like Chromecast that don't support VPN apps installed locally. There are a handful out there on YT but they're mostly trash

[@danielchisica6486]

Is not posible to connect a device to the VPN created on the video and access to American Netflix?

[@lingyanmeng4754]

The quality of your video is great!

[@AdriaanCilliers90]

This tutorial worked perfectly, thank you for the great video!!!

[@bennypr0fane]

Thanks for a very informative video! Would very much like to know the reason you didn't just use PiVPN as a server, which would seem to be much less work.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

You would still have to set up port forwarding, flash the image to the SD card and set up dynamic DNS, and that’s what takes the most time

[@bennypr0fane]

@@WolfgangsChannel Also the part where the dynamic DNS is managed on the RPi is cool, because I've always tried to get the router to do that. Sadly, many routers don't have a DynDNS service or only support a specific provider. Then again, You probably already had a number of services running in your home network with an open port to the internet. Do you have each of them managing their own dynDNS? Surely not all of them have the OS that allows that?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

I only have one home server which runs ddclient

[@bennypr0fane]

@@WolfgangsChannel does that mean your home Server also runs the DHCP Server? And is it the Raspberry Pi or a different Machine?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

@@bennypr0fane No, I have a FritzBox router for that. I use an Intel J4105 machine for all of my home server needs.

[@jakobfink8659]

Hello Wolfgang, thank you for trhe Tutorial. Sadly i got stuck at the Dynamic DNS. 13:39 - I get no warning when checking the status of the ddclient and in the file default ddclient there is no entry for run daemon. I truied with out it and also with the same as you showed in the video. both ways the ip at freedns wont change from 0.0.0.0 to mine. Can you help me? Thank you.

[@rideislife192]

same goes for me.

[@thegodlydemon2605]

Same here, any chance someone found an answer?

[@kendosum4409]

Same issue here. The only thing I could find online was something about HTTP needing an update to 1.1 but have no clue what that means yet.

[@Rahul-cu2tb]

found a way?

[@morandoms3010]

Thanks for the video mate! Did you end up creating a video showing how to setup on a windows laptop? If not, is it possible, and any other resource/tutorial you'd recommend?

[@harolddavies1984]

Excellent. Thank you. This semi-retired inorganic chemist needed a noobs vpn.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

The self-hosted dashboard is called Homer: github.com/bastienwirtz/homer

[@codenoob9325]

Nice project. One of the coolest aspect of studying network engineering and Network Security. Really blessed but you should expect your audience are pretty linux-ish at this point. So why not use Bash?

[@WolfgangsChannel]

@@codenoob9325 what do you mean? I'm already using bash to configure stuff on the raspberry pi

[@timothyhan9735]

Hi I tried your method of checking the dynamic IP assignment using the dummy address 0.0.0.0., and it doesn't work upon refreshing the webpage after I followed your instructions did the whole editing of ddclient.conf file and did a systemctl restart ddlcient

[@ashureg1354]

Have you solved the problem? Im on the same boat.

[@trinib1]

@@ashureg1354 try stopping it

[@lzm2104]

Same, don’t know how to figure it. Debug shows get-ip: using if, eth0 reports “local IP address”

[@underArm0ur]

Same here. Did you solve it?

[@dirtydarrell4748]

As always, thank you brother!

[@thinkhelpservice]

great channel with great content - thnak you Wolfgang

[@emxtsc]

Hello sir, how do i set this up on my smart fridge??

[@bennypr0fane]

Or you could not use a smart fridge. Don't you know they run botnets? Just watch Silicon Valley. ;-)

[@Shady]

i almost spat out my coffee when I saw that you had made 1.3M euro on one video, I was abut to ask how on earth you got a $100 CPM. it took me a good 30 seconds to realize lol.

[@scriptkiddie6151]

I still didn't get it!

[@nicos.3625]

@@scriptkiddie6151 He edited the website so it says 1337 then 420 and 69, it's a meme number

[@derekswitzer9624]

this looks awesome! I just setup a pi homebridge, and a pihole! so for the VPN pi, is there a drastic drop if speed since it's running through the pi? (for home use, clearly it would be slower when needing to connect to your home network/vpn when out and about)

[@wirthiwirth7166]

Oh another interesting project to do. Love what you are doing. Thank you for the content you are creating. Still using my custom modified T440p when I need a laptop. Now where did I put my raspberry pi.

[@SciHeartJourney]

I didn't know what VPN meant, so its usefulness went right over my head. Forgive me if I still don't get it right. I think a VPN allows you to access your own network from anywhere outside it. Furthermore, besides being able to access the devices in your home, you can have members and share your work between each other. And most importantly, you can keep everyone else out; it's all encrypted.

[@brandon8574]

SUPER helpful! Thank you!

[@petres5866]

worked like a charm, now I have home vpn on all my devices 😎 very useful to access my cctv and other local only devices!

[@williamhoudersheldt7076]

Just one question, WHAT?

[@jt_hopp]

Lol 1337 420 69

[@user-kx7ls8ds9j]

Revenue and IP. What a lucky guy

[@JoHenson828]

Good video breakdown. Super helpful

[@miriamramstudio3982]

Very helpful indeed. Thank you.

[@R3DMSR]

1.4M views 88.8 h watch time I see what you did there

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Oh no, that one was actually an accident I'm not *that* kind of a Linux youtuber

[@R3DMSR]

@@WolfgangsChannel Great to hear, it was pretty unexpected from you

[@maxarendorff6521]

@@WolfgangsChannel Thank god. We don't need more cryptofascist linux youtubers.

[@nayibmc5437]

You should consider uploading to Odysee too!

[@Coderama]

great video , can't wait to start this project

[@fp-7girirajkulkarni411]

Did you do the project??

[@hasanmujeeb8922]

Bro ur contents are really awesome 😍

[@johno8425]

This is Gold! Instant like, instant subscribe after watching this!

[@atuki-]

massive thanks, I myself went with a cron job running on my Pi - but other than that, went perfectly!

[@potahters1228]

thanks! really helpful tutorial

[@DarthG33k]

I have a Pi at home that runs my UMS media server, this will be a great way to make it accessible when I'm away from home!

[@Niko12451]

Works Great. Thank You

[@alexkonopatski429]

Cool vid! Is there any way I can use this with my TV? And also, how do I use the feature where I can change my location?

[@farmanshaikh6405]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@DrexProjects]

Great video, thanks. My main intention in watching this was to see if it would change my IP. You see I was banned from twitch for some comment about a game character ( not the twitcher ) and a moderator banned me for 30 days.This VPN thing obviously would not work. So looks like I change ISP's and create a new account on twitch or just wait the 30 days. Ya I challenged the ban with twitch but they did not respond. I bet no one reads this but at least I get to practice my typing.

[@nosuchthing8]

Dude, good show. Thanks

[@Elhamidi0249]

Hey, cooles Video! Mir gefällt dein Content so sehr, dass ich dich abonniert habe. Hoffe es kommen noch mehr und noch spannendere Videos von dir. Grüße aus dem Rheinland Cheers, Youssef

[@Keyshooter]

this video was super cool, i will save for a raspberry now, this looks like a cool project to try, BTW, what happen with your NAS project? i'm really interested on trying something similar myself, and i check out your video about it, and want to try it out, but after checking other videos about the topic non of them really convinced me as much as yours did, i can see on this video that you like doubled down

[@WolfgangsChannel]

I'm waiting on some hard drives for a mergefs + snapraid setup

[@Keyshooter]

oh! thanks for the info!! can wait to see how this progress

[@noelespinas7258]

Thanks heaps ... awesome presentation.

[@de4dvo1ce]

Hi, first of all thank you for this beautiful video. I have a question: how do i add a tunnel config? i want one for my phone and one for my laptop.

[@freakmoon8171]

this video still works and was very easy. the only thing is that my IP did not get updated automatically, so I had to change it to my real IP and it worked

[@achraftn]

Very nice video Wolf! I did all the step as you did them, however, the VPN connection didn't work. I think because I'm using an LTE connection with many users under the same IP. Shall I use PiTunnel instead? How?

[@froilanrivero2826]

this is awesome can you do one with self hosted Adguard using the same raspberry? how does this differ from using docker containers? how much power do I need for VPN, DNS, and maybe adding cloud storage ? thank you so much in advance I just discovered and subscribed to your channel, such great content

[@maidalogan4357]

beautiful work

[@sembutininverse]

it was awesome 👌🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@EmilePolka]

You can use zerotier as your VPN, you need to do some configuration on the zerotier who will be having it shared the internet over zerotier. Not to mention zerotier is NAT friendly, after all they were doing the UDP hole punching method to interconnect all you devices over zerotier.

[@josephwood499]

I have an old netbook with Peppermint OS which have not used in a while so can change to Raspbian and give it a try. Sounds like a good weekend project. Also want to try that pi hole thing. Great video, thumb up for you my friend.

[@WolfgangsChannel]

Yep, they have it for x86 systems as well, it's very easy to use

[@wolvrG]

Hi, Excellent tutorial. I have OMV installed and using it as a NAS service, is it possible to do this on top of that??

[@Thmyris]

I came here right after listening to some sea shanties and you are suggesting sea shanties to me. Wtf. It was the first time in my life I listened to that type of thing.

[@cyrusho2797]

G'day Wolfgang. Nice video. Just a quick question, is Pi zero powerful enough for VPN service + Pi-hole? Can you use these two service in one device only? I want to keep my home system as simple as possible? Thanks.

[@Worldtraveler75]

Great content. New subscriber.

[@vrbnjakd]

Great video. Tnx for that. I don't understand into full detail how a VPN works, but I do wonder if your speed connection on the client VPN is limited by the speed on the host VPN? In other words, if you have a 100/100 Mb connection where you installed the VPN (Raspeberry for example), and you access it 2000 km away from a 1/1 Gb connection would you be able to download at no more than 100 Mb?

[@wskinnyodden]

Yep, have my own VPS and custom VPN myself. Quite a handy tool ;)

[@popperklopper5450]

It runs! 👍

[@danieloctavio2111]

Great video. New subscriber.