Pseudo-VPN

Overview

Pseudo-VPN is a simple VPN-like tool that allows you to browse the internet as if you were in another part of the world. It lets you bypass regional restrictions and access content that may not be available in your current location. By setting up a remote server in AWS and routing your internet traffic through it using Firefox, it gives you a new virtual location in any desired region.

What You'll Need

Before getting started, make sure you have the following:

• MacOS or Linux operating system
• Firefox browser installed
• Terraform installed (follow the official installation guide)
• An AWS account
• AWS CLI installed (follow the official installation guide)
• Your AWS Access Keys (i.e., AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY) set up as environment variables

Configure Firefox

1. Open Settings in Firefox.
2. Scroll down to the General tab and find Network Settings.
3. In the SOCKS Host field, enter localhost.
4. In the Port field, enter 8080.
5. Ensure SOCKS v5 is selected.
6. Click OK to save your settings.

How to Use

Prerequisites

Make sure you've configured Firefox as described above.

Build Resources

• Run build.sh to create the necessary resources on AWS. When you run the script, you'll be propmted to select one of the available AWS regions (with us-east-1 as default). The selected region will determine your new virtual location.
• This script also generates the SSH keys required for connecting to the EC2 instance. The keys will be saved to .config/.ssh/ in the current directory.

Browse the Internet

• Run tunnel.sh to open an SSH tunnel to your AWS instance. Keep the terminal open while you're browsing. You're ready to browse!
• Open Firefox and go to, e.g., IPinfo to verify your virtual location.

Closing Down

• The SSH tunnel will close when you close the terminal or interrupt it with Ctrl+C.
• Run destroy.sh to remove all resources from AWS.

Costs

Running the remote server incurs a marginal cost, which varies based on the region and is subject to change over time. As of September 14, 2024, the cost for a default EC2 t3.micro instance in the us-east-1 region is $0.0104 per hour. Be sure to check the latest AWS pricing for the most up-to-date information.

Technical Details

• Infrastructure: The project uses Terraform to manage AWS resources. It deploys an EC2 instance in your chosen AWS region. By default, a t3.micro instance is used, but this can be adjusted if needed in the variables.tf file.
• SSH Tunnel: Traffic from your local port 8080 is routed through the EC2 instance using SSH tunneling with a SOCKS proxy.
• Scripts:
  • build.sh: Initializes the AWS resources and generates the SSH keys needed for connection.
  • tunnel.sh: Opens the SSH tunnel.
  • destroy.sh: Cleans up the resources after use.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. You are free to use, modify, and distribute the software as long as you include the original copyright and license notice. For more details, please refer to the full text of the license.