Installing Algo VPN

Introduction

It is sometimes necessary to create a virtual network to enable computers across a large distance to communicate as if on the same network. This section deals with how to install such a service on a virtual machine.

Instructions

VM Install

create a new virtual machine
1. turn off usb
2. bridged mode networking
3. set MAC address to something easy, like 000000000002
4. share local directory ~/danaukes/share to /mnt/share
  1. In vm settings Create share at ~/share and /mnt/share
  2. Add idealab to vbxosf group:
```
sudo groupadd vboxsf #create group vboxusers
sudo usermod -a -G vboxsf idealab #adds user idealab to group vboxsf
```
  3. Sign out and back in
  4. change sharing settings
```
chmod 777 /mnt/share
```

Algo Install

update computer and install necessary packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install -y python3-virtualenv git nano ssh net-tools

install algo

sudo -i #necessarysu in ubuntu
cd /
git clone https://github.com/trailofbits/algo.git
chmod 775 algo
cd /algo
python3 -m virtualenv --python="$(command -v python3)" .env &&   source .env/bin/activate &&   python3 -m pip install -U pip virtualenv &&   python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

edit config file
```
nano config.cfg
```
1. add users
2. disable “BetweenClients_DROP”, “block_smb”, and “block_netbios”
3. disable dns encryption
hit ctrl+s to save and ctrl+x to exit
(optional) shutdown the virtual machine and take a snapshot
```
sudo shutdown now
```
take a snapshot of the machine, then restart and reconnect
```
sudo -i
cd /algo
```
run algo installer
```
./algo
```
1. provider: select “Install to existing Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 server”
2. select all defaults except the below:
  1. retain pki keys - N (default)
  2. each user should have their own acct - N (default)
  summary:
```
algo_provider "local"
algo_ondemand_cellular "False"
algo_ondemand_wifi "False"
algo_ondemand_wifi_exclude "X251bGw="
algo_dns_adblocking "False"
algo_ssh_tunneling "False"
wireguard_enabled "True"
dns_encryption "False"
```
3. deploy to localhost
4. public IP address or domain name of your server: confirm default of <my_dynamic_hostname>

You should see a message like this:

            "\"#                          Congratulations!                            #\"",
            "\"#                     Your Algo server is running.                     #\"",
            "\"#    Config files and certificates are in the ./configs/ directory.    #\"",
            "\"#              Go to https://whoer.net/ after connecting               #\"",
            "\"#        and ensure that all your traffic passes through the VPN.      #\"",
            "\"#                     Local DNS resolver 172.31.126.44, fd00::f:7e2c                   #\"",
            ""
        ],
        "    \"#        The p12 and SSH keys password for new users is <hidden>       #\"\n",
        "    ",
        "    "

copy configuation files to other machines for use
run your virtualbox image as a service so it starts automatically.
- See https://github.com/onlyfang/VBoxVmService for windows insstructions
- see </notebook/virtualbox-service/> for linux instructions.

Configure Router

give your new algo VM a unique ip address
forward specific ports to vm
1. 4160:4160 - doesn’t apply to ubuntu installs
2. 51820:58120

Configure other Computers

Install linux client:

from here: https://github.com/trailofbits/algo/blob/master/docs/client-linux-wireguard.md

```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install -y wireguard openresolv
```

Install the config file to the WireGuard configuration directory on your linux client:
```
sudo install -o root -g root -m 600 <username>.conf /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
```
Start the WireGuard VPN:
```
sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0
```
Check that it started properly:
```
sudo systemctl status wg-quick@wg0
```
Verify the connection to the AlgoVPN:
```
sudo wg
```
See that your client is using the IP address of your AlgoVPN:
```
curl ipv4.icanhazip.com
```
Optionally configure the connection to come up at boot time:
```
sudo systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0
```
To stop the service,
```
sudo systemctl stop wg-quick@wg0
```
To disable the service,
```
sudo systemctl disable wg-quick@wg0
```

Note:

Don’t use the virtual host with the virtual algo guest, it will kill external communication to/from the guest.