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I am trying to instal openvpn on a special linux distribution that has no tap kernel module, and all howtos avaliable are outdated. I was wondering if there is a way to run vpn without this kernel module.

At the moment I can't install openvpn due to unresolved dependencies, but I can always force it. I just don't think it's possible, but I do hope somebody knows better ;)

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2 Answers 2

You really need a TUN module. How else can OpenVPN create the "fake network interface" which accepts the IP-range for your VPN subnet?

on a special linux distribution

What makes it special? Is it some kind of NAS with busybox installed? (because you mention ARM)

My QNAP NAS ships the tun.ko module in /usr/local/modules This can be easily loaded from a startup script:

( /sbin/lsmod | grep -q tun ) || /sbin/insmod /usr/local/modules/tun.ko

Try to find the tun module at your system in some common system folders, using:

find /lib /usr /opt -name 'tun.ko'
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The distro is jlime on jornada 720. I've found the file tun.ko in some weird folder deep in /lib/ It seems to load, I'll see if it works. –  naugtur Jul 4 '10 at 14:06

Does the kernel in that setup have module support? If so then you may be able to find an appropriate version of the tap module, compile it, and install with modprobe (the same way vmware and similar distribute their driver modules).

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I'll see. I suppose it does have module support. But the machine has an ARM processor. I'll post back when I try it. –  naugtur Jun 30 '10 at 10:40

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