VPN for Multiplayer Games Up and running
For those who need it, I've just set up a VPN that's peer-to-peer and works for all games that support direct connections (not using a remote server), and it should even work when you are behind two layers of NAT or other unfriendly firewalls. It works a lot like Hamachi and uses the 25.0.0.0/8 address space. It's free and fun, and doesn't require you do anything once it's set up. Follow these instructions to use it.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING: pay attention to the following as it's very important, before you even get started.
1. There is no security. Anyone who can read this forum thread can join. You can't rely on this VPN for anything sensitive. Not that I'd expect otherwise, and it's good practice to just assume the whole world is out to get you all the time, but remember that this is a public network and anybody can see anybody else. You should imagine that you have a public IP address, for all the go od that does, and act accordingly. Do not host or transmit stuff on here that you'll regret. Most operating systems nowadays are robust on public networks, and do include firewalls. And of course you should be keeping your software up-to-date, and only expose services you need, and password-protect all important shares or resources. You should already be doing all this stuff, of course, but here's a reminder to be careful.
2. Although I've tested it independently and found it to work from my Windows VM, please follow directions carefully and bear in mind that things might fail for odd reasons. There is an easy bailout no matter what, and I don't imagine anything tragic will happen, but understand you are ultimately on your own here. Of course, feel free to ask for help if you need it.
And now, the instructions:
1. Get the latest stable version of Tinc for Windows. We assume you are on Windows because that's where all the games are, but if you need help with another OS do let me know. The server in fact runs Linux.
2. Run the installer. Install everything, except that you may, if you wish, uncheck the tap adaptor driver for the platform you do not use (if you are 32-bit, you could uncheck 64-bit, for instance, or vice-versa).
3. Install the tap driver for your platform. In the tinc program folder, find the tap-win32 or tap-win64 directory, and run the addtap.bat file. You need to have elevated privileges.
4. Find the tap device, and rename it to "gamers", exactly as shown and without the quotes, obviously. You must find the network object and rename it. How you do this depends on your OS, but I'm fairly confident I don't know the procedure for anything later than XP as M$ are determined to make it as stupidly hard as possible. But I believe newer versions of Windows now call this something like "Ne twork and Sharing Centre". And indeed, here's a wonderful guide, which also incidentally talks about the different types of exposure I was warning you about earlier. Read and understand it, please.
5. Next, grab this file, and unzip it. Copy the contents into your tinc program folder. Specifically, the tinc.conf file must be in the same place as the tincd.exe file, and the hosts directory should be a subdirectory of your tinc folder.
6. Open tinc.conf with notepad or another text editor. Change the second line, as directed by the first, and save it. Specifically, replace the name with a unique name for you. It doesn't matter what, as long as it has just letters and numbers and _ characters.
7. Next, open an elevated command prompt, and switch to the tinc directory. As in
cd c:\program files\tinc(or whatever is appropriate).
Now, generate your keypair, by typing this:
tincd --generate-keysIt should be safe for you to press return twice, to select the default locations. If you did step 6 right, you'll notice that the proposed file in your hosts directory, for the second prompt, now matches the name you have picked.
8. Finally, it's crash test time! Still in your command prompt, type this, to start the client and register it is a Windows service for future restarts:
tincd --bypass-securityIf you did everything right, your network adaptor list should show you that you have a 25.0.0.0/8 address. You can try to ping the DHCP server by typing this into a command prompt:
ping 25.0.0.1If you receive replies, you are con nected!
Now simply play your games, and instead of worrying about port forwarding and all that, simply hand out the address you have been assigned.
Any questions, just follow up here. And sorry it's such an annoyingly advanced procedure. It would be easier if the software was designed for client-server authentication, but it was really meant for mutual setups where both sides were under the user's control. If I can figure out a way to make it easier, I will, but this should get us going.
Enjoy!
Further notes.
1. Port forwarding. It would be helpful if you could forward TCP and UDP port 655 to your machine. It is not mandatory, but it will certainly decrease connection setup time, whether from you to another person, or another person to you, and it will also help the network in case somebody is not so lucky as you.
2. Starting and stopping. You can use the services control panel to start and stop tinc, if required.
3. Uninstallation
. Use the deltapall.bat file to remove all instances of the tap driver from your system. Next, in an elevated command prompt, type these two commands:
cd c:\program files\tinc
tincd --killThat removes the Windows service. You can now uninstall tinc with the Control Panel, and delete the tinc directory.
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