How to set up a Contabo VPN Server with UTunnel

UTunnel facilitates quick and easy VPN server deployment with many leading cloud IaaS providers and Contabo is one among them. UTunnel’s semi-automated server deployment process makes it easy for users to deploy and manage a VPN server with Contabo.

This guide discusses how to deploy and manage a UTunnel VPN server with Contabo.

1. Log in to your Contabo account and proceed to create a Virtual Private Server on the Contabo.

2. You can choose a cloud VPS based on your requirement. The Cloud VPS S variant (4 vCPU Cores / 8 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe) would be more than enough for most business use cases. Make sure that you are installing Ubuntu 20.04 on the Cloud VPS during deployment.

3. After creating the Contabo VPS, copy and note down the newly created instance’s IP address.

4. Create a UTunnel account (Business or Personal) and log in to your account. Navigate to the Server tab and click on the Create Server button. 

5. Fill in your billing address and click on the PROCEED button to advance to the next step. You can also skip this step by clicking on the Skip button.

6. You can proceed to create your Contabo VPN server by providing the following details:

• Package: Select a package (Basic or Standard) according to your preference.
• Server Type: Select the server type to be On-Premise
• Server Name: Provide an easily identifiable name of your choice as the server name.
• IP Address: Key in your Contabo server’s IP address
• VPN Accounts: Select the number of VPN user licenses required on the server
• Coupon: Enter the coupon code if you have any

Click on the PROCEED button.

7. You can review your subscription details from the Order Summary page. Click on the PROCEED button to progress to the next step.

8. Enter your credit card details as required and click on the Start Your Trial/Pay Now button to initiate the server creation.

9. You will be directed to the Server Overview page where you can check the server deployment status.

10. Once the server deployment is initiated, you will get a registration token, which you need to register your Contabo VPN server.

11. To execute the next steps to deploy your Contabo VPN server, your need to connect to your server via SSH and run the following commands. You need to have sudo access to run these commands.

Create a directory named utunnel and make it the current working directory:

sudo mkdir /utunnel && cd /utunnel

Download the required files and extract them with the command:

sudo wget https://files.utunnel.io/production/deploy/install_bundle_20.tar
sudo tar -xf install_bundle_20.tar

Register your Contabo VPN server after replacing YOUR_REG_TOKEN with the registration token you received earlier

sudo /utunnel/bin/utnservice register YOUR_REG_TOKEN

Now start the VPN service with the command:

sudo /utunnel/bin/utnservice start

12. You also have to make sure that inbound connections to the following ports are allowed to accept VPN connections.

Ports used for OpenVPN connections

• TCP 443
• UDP 443
• UDP 53 (if scramble/obfuscate VPN is enabled)

Ports used for IPSEC connections

• UDP 4500
• UDP 500

Ports used for managing UTunnel services like live sessions, web-filter, and site-to-site tunneling.

• TCP 38081

Now your VPN server with Contabo is ready to be used. You can invite users into your server and start using the VPN.