Connecting a Debian 11 Linux VPN client via Network Manager

Christopher Dakin

This article details installing and connecting from a Linux system with a GUI to the LogonBox VPN.

This article will detail installing onto a Debian 10 system that has Network Manager installed (WireGuard requires at least version 1.16 of Network Manager).

 

1. Generating the configuration file

Navigate to https://<logonboxserver> in a web browser and log on with your created user into the User Portal.

 

You should be presented with the Overview page.

As we are using the WireGuard third party client, first click on the Devices tab, then on the Use 3rd Party Client link at the bottom.

 

First enter a name for this connection and click Next.

 

Now, we need the client configuration file.

There are 3 options to get the config - A QR code, the Raw config file text, or click the Download button.

For Linux, click the Download button to save the required .conf file, after which you can click Close.

 

2. Installing network-manager-wireguard

Debian 11 doesn't have WireGuard support built in, so we need to install it with the following commands.

sudo apt install build-essential libgtk-3-dev libnma-dev libsecret-1-dev intltool libtool git -y
git clone https://github.com/max-moser/network-manager-wireguard
cd network-manager-wireguard
./autogen.sh --without-libnm-glib
./configure --prefix=/usr --without-libnm-glib --sysconfdir=/etc --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --libexecdir=/usr/lib/NetworkManager --localstatedir=/var
make
sudo make install



3. Configuring WireGuard in Network Manager

First, rename your WireGuard conf file to wg0.conf

e.g.

cp ~/debian-on-system.wg.conf ~/wg0.conf

 

Click on the Network icon at top right, then Wired Connected, then Wired Settings

 

Click the + next to VPN, then select Import from file...

 

Select the wg0.conf file and click Open.

 

This should display the configuration settings for this connection, click Add.

 

wg0 should now be visible in the VPN list.

 

4. Connecting the client

Click on the Network Manager icon then on VPN Off, and finally click Connect.

 

Alternatively you can start the connection from a terminal with:

nmcli con up id wg0

You are now connected and should be able to access internal network resources.