Prerequisites

The instructions on this page are for Windows users; please check out the links on the left for
other operating systems.

You need administrative privileges on your PC, so it probably won't work on most company
PCs. With Vista and Windows 7, you also need to explicitly run the Your Freedom client
with administrative privileges (right-click, "Run as administrator"). Alternatively, right-click
on the link in the start menu, choose "Properties", click on the "Compatibility" tab, then tick
the "run as administrator" checkbox -- this will fix it once and for all, as long as you always
use this link to run the YF client.

The only other thing needed is OpenVPN, which is free software available for download
from the OpenVPN web page. It needs to be at least version 2.1_rc20; just grab the newest
release version.

There is one thing we urge you to do first: please ensure your computer is properly protected
and not infected by some virus/worm or a trojan. Ensure that it is not part of a bot net. If you
don't our servers might have to close down your account to protect our systems. If you do not
have a proper security suite installed on your PC please open Internet Explorer now and visit
this web page for a free check (it is a Microsoft tool and will therefore only work in Internet
Explorer): http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm We strongly advise that you repeat
this from time to time. It is for your own protection! If you haven't got other protection
consider installing free protection software like Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira Antivir
or avast! home edition. Do it now!

Install OpenVPN
Download the Windows Installer version of OpenVPN (if you're not running Windows and
would still like to use OpenVPN mode, get in contact with us -- it works but not out of the
box) and install it. You should use a version 2.1, not version 2.0.9 (2.0.9 will not work
properly). Simply click through the installer, the defaults are fine. Once it's installed, click on
"Start", "Control Panel", "Network connections". Find the TAP-WIN32 interface, right-click
on it and choose "Properties". In the protocol list, find "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)", highlight
it and click on "Properties". Use a manually configured DNS server: 85.214.18.161. If you
feel like having two of them, use 85.214.100.186 as the second but it's not needed. Click all
the OK buttons to close the windows. That's all the configuration you need, you don't have to
mess with the slightly cryptic internals of OpenVPN, the Your Freedom client will do this for
you.

Enable OpenVPN in Your Freedom

Now start the Your Freedom client. Click on the Ports panel. Under "Local Services", find
"OpenVPN mode" and enable it. The port number should be 1194 unless you have to change
it -- in fact it can be nearly anything between 1024 and 65535 but 1194 is the default and
usually fine.

That's it!
You should be done now! Start the Your Freedom connection and watch the door symbol. It
should open as it normally does, but a few seconds later it should open further. Check out the
message log, it tells you when OpenVPN is ready or if there is any problem.

Now be sure that your applications do not use a configured web proxy or SOCKS server
other than the Your Freedom client. I say other than the Your Freedom client because it
doesn't matter if they use it -- they just don't have to anymore. Also, do not use any
socksifiers. Install and run your games and applications just like you were at home with a
DSL or cable router connecting you to the Internet.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

With Windows Vista and Windows 7 there is more work to be done. Fortunately, Microsoft
has started with Vista to care more about your safety than they have with older Windows
versions. Unfortunately, this breaks OpenVPN mode unless you grant admin privileges to the
Your Freedom client so it can pass them on to OpenVPN (with older Windows versions the
YF client would inherit the privileges automatically from your account). There are two ways
to achieve this:

1. Run the YF client by right-clicking on the icon and choosing "Run as administrator"
each time.
2. Modify the start menu and/or desktop links by right-clicking on each of them. Choose
"Properties", then click on "Compatibility" and tick the "run as administrator" check-
box.
3. Find the openvpn.exe binary, right-click on it, choose "Properties", then click on
"Compatibility" and tick the "run as administrator" check-box.

It's a matter of taste which method you use. The latter two methods are once-and-for-all
methods and we recommend you use one of them, probably #3.

With Vista/7 it is also important that you do not stop and re-start the connection too quickly.
Give it a few seconds to settle after you've stopped the connection or OpeNVPN might not
come up properly.

 
What if it doesn't work?
While setting up OpenVPN mode is rather trivial, the machinery in the background is rather
complex. There are many ways how OpenVPN mode could fail or break your local network
connectivity (for example, your network printers or internal file servers). Most problems can
be solved by making sure you've got administrative privileges and by IP exclusions. Check
out the user guide for details.

If you can't make it work, run the Your Freedom client in DUMP mode and send us the dump
file, we'll probably see what's wrong.

Examples
There is a detailed howto explaining how to play Second Life through Your Freedom. The
procedure is much the same for all games -- basically all you have to do is set up Your
Freedom in OpenVPN mode. If you want pictures, just visit this page.

No admin rights?
You need admin rights to install and run OpenVPN, there's no way around it. But this does
not mean that you cannot use Your Freedom in OpenVPN mode from a non-admin account.
All you have to do is ensure that Your Freedom and the OpenVPN process it starts runs with
administrator privileges. So yes, you need the username and the password of an
administrator, but no, you don't have to be logged in as this user, which means that
applications using Your Freedom do not have to run with these raised privileges.

If you want to grant admin privileges to the Your Freedom client, the easiest way to do this is
to find a link ("short cut"), for example on the desktop or in the start menu, right-click on it,
choose "Properties", then choose "Advanced" and enable "run as a different user" and put in
the username and password. Then use this modified short cut to start Your Freedom.

Use ICS to connect other PCs, PlayStation,

XBox etc.
If you would like to connect other PCs, PlayStations, VoIP phones, whatever to the Internet
through the Your Freedom connection, all you need is a second network interface in your PC.
Make sure it isn't used for anything else. You need to connect your other PCs/PlayStation/etc.
to this network interface, either directly (crossover cable) or via a small switch/hub. Do not
use the same switch/hub as for your other Ethernet interface! Another thing that you need to
ensure is that your other Ethernet interface does not use the 192.168.0.0/24 network -- if it
does, reconfigure your DSL/cable router to use a different network.

Open Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections. Find the unused LAN interface (it's
probably called "Local Area Connection 2" but don't rely on it) -- you need the name. Then
find the TAP32 interface of OpenVPN. Right-click on it and choose "Properties". Click on
the "Advanced" tab. Tick the "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's
Internet connection" box and choose the network interface in the drop-down menu below that
connects to your other PCs or PlayStation. Click "OK" and close the Network Connections
window.

That's it, your other PCs/Playstation should now be able to connect to the Internet through
Your Freedom's OpenVPN connection when it's up.