OpenVPN Setup On Mikrotik

First we create all the certificate templates (10 years validity) we’ll need:

/certificate
add name=ca-template common-name=example.com days-valid=3650 key-size=2048 key-usage=crl-sign,key-cert-sign
add name=server-template common-name=*.example.com days-valid=3650 key-size=2048 key-usage=digital-signature,key-encipherment,tls-server
add name=client-template common-name=client.example.com days-valid=3650 key-size=2048 key-usage=tls-client

For the purpose of OpenVPN server common name can be really anything. However, some other VPNs are not as forgiving (yes SSTP, I am looking at you) so it might be best to have either your external IP or host name as the common-name text. Any yes, if you have dynamic IP and you are not using your own domain, you can put *.dyndns.org there – no worries.

Created certificates will need signing:

/certificate
sign ca-template name=ca-certificate
sign server-template name=server-certificate ca=ca-certificate
sign client-template name=client-certificate ca=ca-certificate

Depending on your router’s speed, that sign command might time-out – nothing to worry about – just wait for CPU to drop below 100%. Or alternatively check name of certificate – template part will disappear once signing is completed.

With this we need to export a few files:

/certificate
export-certificate ca-certificate export-passphrase=""
export-certificate client-certificate export-passphrase=12345678

This should give you three files: cert_export_ca-certificate.crt, cert_export_client-certificate.crt, and cert_export_client-certificate.key. After copying this on computer for later I like to rename them to ca.crt, client.crt, and client.key respectively.

Next we need a separate pool of IP addresses for clients. I will assume you have your clients in some other network (e.g. 192.168.1.x) and this new network is just for VPN:

/ip
pool add name="vpn-pool" ranges=192.168.8.10-192.168.8.99

Instead of editing the default encrypted profile, we can create a new one. Assumption is your Mikrotik will also be a DNS server. And while at it, you can create a bit more imaginative user/password:

/ppp
profile add name="vpn-profile" use-encryption=yes local-address=192.168.8.250 dns-server=192.168.8.250 remote-address=vpn-pool
secret add name=user profile=vpn-profile password=password

Finally, we can enable OpenVPN server interface:

/interface ovpn-server server
set default-profile=vpn-profile certificate=server-certificate require-client-certificate=yes auth=sha1 cipher=aes128,aes192,aes256 enabled=yes

Now finally we can copy both ca.crt and client.crt to C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\ directory alongside client.ovpn.

You don’t have client.ovpn? Well, one is in sample-config directory and we just need to change/add highlighted items:

client
dev tun
proto tcp
remote example.com 1194
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
ca ca.crt
cert client.crt
key client.key
remote-cert-tls server
cipher AES-128-CBC
auth SHA1
auth-user-pass
redirect-gateway def1
verb 3

A bit annoying step is being asked for the private key passphrase (in the addition to username/password). Mikrotik doesn’t allow export without it but fortunately we can use OpenSSL to change that:

> openssl.exe rsa -in client.key -out client.key
Enter pass phrase for client.key: 12345678
writing RSA key

With this, your VPN connection should work like a charm.

PS: Do not forget to adjust firewall if necessary (TCP port 1194).

/ip firewall filter
add chain=input protocol=tcp dst-port=1194 action=accept place-before=0 comment="Allow OpenVPN"