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OrbStack OpenVPN (OpenVPN Access Server)

Using a Mac as a VPN server.

Literally "works on my machine." No clue if it will work without modification on yours.

Start / stop

# Start
./start.sh

# Stop
docker compose down

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

The container restarts automatically on reboot (Docker Desktop must be set to launch at login).

Set the admin password (first time only)

docker exec -it openvpn-as \
  /usr/local/openvpn_as/scripts/sacli \
  --user openvpn --new_pass 'YourStrongPassword' SetLocalPassword

Access the Admin UI

Port 8443 is exposed externally for TCP VPN tunneling, while port 943 (the Admin UI) only listens on 127.0.0.1 for security.

If you are on this machine — open directly in your browser:

https://localhost:943/admin

If you are on a different machine — forward the port over SSH first:

ssh -L 943:127.0.0.1:943 <user>@<this-machine-ip>

Then open https://localhost:943/admin in your browser. Keep that terminal open while you use the UI.

Log in with username openvpn and the password you set above. Accept the self-signed certificate warning.

Connect a VPN client

  1. In the Admin UI, go to User Management → User Permissions and create a user for yourself.
  2. Open the User Portal at https://localhost:943 (or via SSH tunnel if remote), log in as that user, and click Download to get your .ovpn profile.
  3. Install OpenVPN Connect on the device you want to connect from.
  4. Import the .ovpn file and connect.

The VPN uses port 8443/TCP (or 1194/UDP optionally, but UDP requires custom routes to bypass macOS network dropping).

Update

docker compose pull && ./start.sh