# Browser testing through a VPN

**URL:** <https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144>\
**Category:** Running Tests\
**Tags:** 2.0, vpn\
**Created:** [October 30, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144 "2018-10-30T19:21:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![igozali](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/igozali/32/19598_2.png) [@igozali](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/igozali)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144/1 "2018-10-30T19:21:55Z")

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Hi there,

I was wondering if there are any updates for how to use VPN in CircleCI 2.0? I need to run browser testing against a server that I’ve deployed behind a VPN.

I tried to search around the forums and other places and the most relevant topic I could find is the following:

> [@VPN connection from Build machine](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/vpn-connection-from-build-machine/4033):
>
> Hi, I’m having issues setting up a vpn connection from the build machine. Is that possible at all? I installed all the required packages but seems I cannot use the TUN device. it says it’s not found and gives an error when I’m trying to create it… ubuntu@box703:~$ sudo mknod /dev/net/tun c 10 200 mknod: `/dev/net/tun’: Operation not permitted Can anyone assist please?

Using ideas from the proposed answer in the topic above, what I’m doing right now is to use `machine: true` flag in the job, and using `sshuttle` as a background process to connect to the VPN. As I understand it, the `machine: true` flag is going to be phased out at some point, and I just want to make sure I’m not going to be in that situation where I can’t run my browser tests anymore.

I’ve also found a CircleCI blog post about VPNs: [https://circleci.com/blog/vpns-and-why-they-don-t-work/](https://circleci.com/blog/vpns-and-why-they-don-t-work/).

At the end of the post, it seems like another follow-up post or article explaining how to do this was going to be written, but not sure if that post has been written yet…

Thank you!

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**Author:** ![halfer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/halfer/32/9083_2.png) [@halfer](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/halfer)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144/2 "2018-10-30T19:43:43Z")

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> [@igozali](#):
>
> As I understand it, the `machine: true` flag is going to be phased out at some point

I would doubt that. I think it might become chargeable in the future, but there will always be a need for a real VM rather than a lightweight containerised environment. Containers have quite a few system limitations - the VPN issue is just one of them.

The machine offering has been free for the past year or so.

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**Author:** ![igozali](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/user_avatar/discuss.circleci.com/igozali/32/19598_2.png) [@igozali](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/igozali)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144/3 "2018-11-01T00:00:08Z")

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That’s good to know. So, right now the `machine: true` flag is the accepted way of doing tests through VPN, I guess?

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/circleci/original/3X/5/1/511608acda8e85906e15909b57bd0a46c1dbe291.png) [@system](https://discuss.circleci.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://discuss.circleci.com/t/browser-testing-through-a-vpn/26144/4 "2019-01-30T00:00:08Z")

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