2024-06-24 10:33:02 +00:00
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---
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date: 2024-06-24
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2024-09-30 18:39:49 +00:00
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title: qubes-miragevpn, a MirageVPN client for QubesOS
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description: A new OpenVPN client for QubesOS
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2024-06-24 10:33:02 +00:00
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tags:
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- OCaml
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- vpn
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- unikernel
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- QubesOS
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author:
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name: Romain Calascibetta
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email: romain.calascibetta@gmail.com
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link: https://blog.osau.re/
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---
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We are pleased to announce the arrival of a new unikernel:
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[qubes-miragevpn][qubes-miragevpn]. The latter is the result of work begun
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several months ago on [miragevpn][miragevpn].
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Indeed, with the ambition of completing our unikernel suite and the success of
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[qubes-mirage-firewall][qubes-mirage-firewall] - as well as the general aims of
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QubesOS - we thought it would be a good idea to offer this community a unikernel
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capable of acting as an OpenVPN client, from which other virtual machines (app
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qubes) can connect so that all their connections pass through the OpenVPN
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tunnel.
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## QubesOS & MirageOS
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Unikernels and QubesOS have always been a tempting idea for users in the sense
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that a network application (such as a firewall or VPN client) could be smaller
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than a Linux kernel: no keyboard, mouse, wifi management, etc. Just network
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management via virtual interfaces should suffice.
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In this case, the unikernel corresponds to this ideal where, starting from a
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base ([Solo5][solo5]) that only allows the strictly necessary (reading and
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writing on a virtual interface or block device) and building on top of it all
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the application logic strictly necessary to the objective we wish to achieve
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reduces, in effect, drastically:
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1) the unikernel's attack surface
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2) its weight
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3) its memory usage
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We won't go into all the work that's been done to maintain and improve
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[qubes-mirage-firewall][qubes-mirage-firewall] over the last 10
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years<sup>[1](#fn1)</sup>, but it's clear that this particular unikernel has
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found its audience, who aren't necessarily OCaml and MirageOS aficionados.
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In other words, [qubes-mirage-firewall][qubes-mirage-firewall] may well be a
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fine example of what can actually be done with MirageOS, and of real utility.
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<hr>
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<tag id="fn1">**1**</tag>: [marmarek][marmarek], [Mindy][yomimono] or
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[mato][mato] were (and still are) heavily involved in the work between QubesOS
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and MirageOS. We'd also like to thank them, because if we're able to continue
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this adventure, it's also thanks to them.
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## QubesOS & MirageVPN
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So, after a lengthy development phase for MirageVPN, we set about developing a
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unikernel for QubesOS to offer an OpenVPN client as an operating system. We'd
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like to give special thanks to [Pierre Alain][palainp], who helped us to better
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understand QubesOS and its possibilities.
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The unikernel is available here: https://github.com/robur-coop/qubes-miragevpn
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A tutorial has just been created to help QubesOS users install and configure
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such an unikernel: https://robur-coop.github.io/miragevpn-handbook/
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In the same way as [qubes-mirage-firewall][qubes-mirage-firewall], we hope to
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offer a solution that works and expand the circle of MirageOS and unikernel
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users!
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[qubes-miragevpn]: https://github.com/robur-coop/qubes-miragevpn
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[miragevpn]: https://github.com/robur-coop/miragevpn
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[qubes-mirage-firewall]: https://github.com/mirage/qubes-mirage-firewall
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[glossary]: https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/glossary/
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[solo5]: https://github.com/Solo5/solo5
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[palainp]: https://github.com/palainp
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[marmarek]: https://github.com/marmarek
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[yomimono]: https://github.com/yomimono
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[mato]: https://github.com/mato
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