Routing VMs anywhere

I'll start my saying that these things are freaking amazing!

I've been running a few VMs on my unRaid box for a while now. Specifically my main workstation (Win10 /OSX switchable), as well as some utility boxes.

One of the challenges has been physical location and signal transfer - my unRaid server resides in my attic and any VMs that required an interface (display & USB), would need to be located within the reach of a HDMI run.

This ruled out virtualising some systems, including a Win 10 / OSX dual boot hackintosh that's the main system the family uses. It's miles away from the server with no hope of running cables.

I'd toyed with HDMI over ethernet before, with little success. Recently, however, I came across the Av Access range of products...

OpenVPN via tethered connection - no root, no PC software installs

A while back, I'd installed an OpenVPN docker on my unRaid server to allow me access home systems remotely. It worked for a while, but recently I'd been unable to use it as a lot of computers I use away from home are locked down by corporate IT.

I'd installed OpenVPN client on my Android phone, thinking I could tether from a PC and access home systems that way. No dice. It turns out Android specifically restricts tethered connections accessing VPN connections due to security concerns. Workarounds are either root the android device, or install some kind of proprietary tethering. The first I didn't want to do, the second I couldn't as the PC does not permit software installs.

I was about to give up when I came across Every Proxy, a very simple android app that installs a https or SOCKS proxy server. Now, when I tether my android to PC (WiFi or USB), I can enter the proxy details in the browser config. and, hey presto, the PC can access the OpenVPN tunnel to my home server and I can access unRaid or any of my VMs (via vnc).


Yay!