Port forwarding with OpenVPN. What am i doing wrong?

VPN
1

Hello guys,

So i have one of my VLANs set up with OpenVPN and using AirVPN.

However, the ports wont forward.

Lets say the program needs port 12345.

I have went to AirVPN and created the port forward for 12345 in their client area for my VPN connection.

Still doesn’t work, tests say that port is closed.

I then went to my VPN_WAN firewall rules in pfsense and at the top added a TCP/UDP port forward with the following settings:

https://i.ibb.co/d4w0KGj/Screenshot-2023-07-26-123306.png

the alias ‘mjqhost’ - is the device

Here is the overview of the rule:

https://ibb.co/d4tXxPf

Tests still show port is not open.

Any ideas what i am doing wrong?

2

Your screenshot is a firewall rule. Did you create a NAT rule? That also creates a firewall rule by default.

3

Why do you need any forwarding? A VPN usually is for direct remote access to network resources. You use forwarding to allow access to a dedicated resource without authentication.

4

This. You need a NAT rule.

5

pfsense is still blocking the port when forwarded on airvpns side.

I see it in the firewall as i test the port.

Im grasping at straws.

6

So I’m saying that the point is that VPNs usually don’t need any forwarding, what your doing is a bit unusual.

Is it that airvpn (never heard of it) is only given access to a specific network, but you want it to also have access to a single service on another network that airvpn doesn’t have access to? Unusual but I suppose plausible.

7

oh, no its not like that.

Its basically that i have 1 PC that does a certain job for me, this is connected to the internet with a VLAN which is directed through my OpenVPN on pfsense to only use that connection.

(you probably know this) but the purpose is that this device can only access the internet using that VPN connection.

Now that device is using a program (the reason i have the device) and it wants to talk to that programs servers online. That programs servers use a port (lets say 12345).

Air VPN then has a port forward feature to assigned all traffic for that port to pass through.

When i do this, it should work. But my firewall logs show pfsense still blocking that port.

So i thought maybe i have to add port forwarding on the pfsense side to allow all traffic for my VPN_VLAN on port ‘12345’.

Still doesnt work though.

8

Your cryptic talk is making this harder to follow. What is “that device”, what is the purpose of airvpn, and is airvpn a mobile client type VPN or a VPN service that is basically hiding your real IP?