The Challenge
Employees needed a secure way to connect to internal resources when working away from the main office. Remote access needed to be configured centrally and made usable on staff desktops without sharing a common connection profile or treating every user identically.
My Role
I configured both OpenVPN and WireGuard on the main-office firewall, set up individual user access and helped configure the VPN clients on employee desktops. The goal was a supportable remote-access path that could be managed by IT.
Approach & Implementation
- Configured OpenVPN and WireGuard services on the main-office firewall.
- Created VPN user access and distributed the appropriate connection configuration to intended users.
- Installed or configured VPN clients on employee desktops and verified that users could establish the expected connection.
- Kept access tied to individual users and documented the setup steps for ongoing support.
- Kept published details high-level and excluded public endpoints, keys, certificates, firewall rules and internal network ranges.
Business Impact
- Provided staff with a secure remote-access option for work that required internal connectivity.
- Added flexibility by supporting both OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols.
- Improved repeatability by configuring user access and desktop clients through a managed process.
Outcome & Lessons
This project demonstrates hands-on firewall and remote-access administration, including server-side configuration and end-user deployment. As with any VPN service, ongoing access reviews, software updates, strong authentication and removal of access when employees leave remain important operational controls.