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Nodal VPN

Nodal VPN is a virtual appliance for standing up secure VPN networks in minutes.

What Nodal VPN Does for You

Nodal VPN gives you a self-contained appliance for creating and managing VPN networks without wrestling with traditional VPN setup. You can:

  • Deploy a ready-made appliance to your hypervisor of choice, or run it with Docker.
  • Define VPN networks that control the IP range for clients, the external address, and which internal resources clients can route to.
  • Manage users locally, connect to your existing Active Directory with Windows Connect, or use both together.
  • Add 2FA and other authentication requirements through configurable Authentication Policies.
  • Connect from Windows, macOS, and Linux clients once your network is set up.

Why It’s Better Than Building a VPN Yourself

Standing up a VPN normally means juggling certificates, routing rules, client configuration, and directory integration across several disconnected tools. Nodal VPN brings these pieces together in one appliance.

That means:

  • You get a working VPN network in a handful of guided steps instead of piecing one together from scratch.
  • Certificates, client configurations, and network routing are managed from a single web UI.
  • Active Directory users can be brought in automatically via Windows Connect, with no manual account creation required.
  • Authentication Policies let you tailor login requirements, including 2FA, per group of users.
  • You spend less time on infrastructure plumbing and more time getting your team connected.

Self-hosted or cloud?

You can run a self-hosted VPN network with the Community appliance, or sign up for Nodal VPN Cloud if you'd rather not manage the infrastructure yourself.

Quick Start

Nodal VPN can be deployed as a virtual appliance on your preferred hypervisor, or run with Docker.

  1. Download the Nodal Community appliance, or pull the jadaptive/nodal-community Docker image.
  2. Import the appliance into your hypervisor and start the VM, then complete the VM console setup.
  3. In a browser, go to https://<serveripaddress> and follow the Get Started wizard.
  4. Configure a self-signed SSL certificate so VPN clients can connect successfully.
  5. Create a VPN Network to define your client IP range and routable resources.
  6. Set up local users, or install Windows Connect to bring in your Active Directory users.
  7. Install the Windows VPN client and connect.

[!TIP] The full walkthrough, including optional steps like Authentication Policies and client configuration, is covered in Getting started with Nodal VPN.

Licensing

Nodal VPN is available as a fully featured Community Edition that you can run yourself, either as a virtual appliance or with Docker.

At Jadaptive, we believe the software itself should be freely available, while expert help and advanced support are where the value lies. You can read more in our manifesto.

If you would rather not manage the infrastructure yourself, you can also sign up for Nodal VPN Cloud.