So I am looking at getting a VPN however I use a Virtual Machine (VirtualBox) for my internet browsing running….I've gone blank on What I am running…Linux Mint I believe. I don't really know much about VPNs but is it possible to have this run on a virtual machine? Just want it for….well you know the usual things….
Any suggestions on what I should be using or is it going to be a real PITA - I was looking at just getting PIA but open to ideas and tips.
Do you want your VM to use a VPN, or do you want your VM to be a VPN?
Yes it is possible. But why do you use a VM for internet browsing?
What are the usual things if you need a setup like that though? Most web browsers sandbox these days and you're not likely to get a Mint installation infected from a pair like Chrome + Ublock, even if you're click happy. If you're doing the thing it sounds like, head down to the police station now and hand yourself in because it's only a matter of time regardless of what you do and you probably deserve it.
If you're just planning on using one for pirating then I'm sorry for the above comment, you're much better off with a cloud service. VPNs aren't designed for P2P sharing and unless you use a package designed for it you'll just be slowing down the server for everyone else.
That said the OpenVPN client should install and run exactly the same on the Mint VM as it would on the host OS, there shouldn't be any tinkering or anything as long as you can already use it to browse. You might be better to run it on the host if speed is important to you, logging can always be disabled. If you're just worried about traffic getting sniffed, you're better to just use https everywhere or similar.
VPNs aren't designed for P2P sharing
In my experience, that's the main reason why people get them (for personal use, not business). PIA - the one the OP is looking at - also has a proxy server specifically for this purpose but there's no issue torrenting without it.
Also, HTTPS still means the ISP can log every site you visit if they chose and the government will have a record of every IP address. I'm not too fussed but some people don't like that idea.
Sadly that's probably true haha, but there's services such as bitport.io (I'm an affiliate), seedr, zbigz, etc. which are designed for P2P and are generally much faster.
Funny you say that too, because the first few years PIA were around they didn't even offer a DNS service so ISPs would log domain requests anyway. I'd guess that most people today are still using their ISP's DNS servers without knowing they're default, or not updating the client which renders having a VPN a novelty at best. I said this because think that if someone needs to hide the domain/IPs they're visiting, not visiting them is the solution.
Also who's to say there's no backdoor into a provider's servers, or can confirm that said provider knows how to disable every level of logging, or that the servers' ISP don't perform logging? VPNs really just seem like a false sense of security to me, and that's speaking as a former small-time VPN provider (circa 2011-2014).
At least PIAs claim to not log has been tested in court where the FBI asked for logs and PIA said they didn't have them so couldn't provide them. Not definitive proof of no logging but close enough for me. Also the point is that generally, for any crime - aside from terrorism and the like - the logs would have to be presented in court as evidence to get a conviction. That hasn't happened so until it does, I don't have a problem believing that there's no logging. Besides, that would completely destroy a company like PIA which is a big incentive for them to keep their word. When logs are presented in court, I'll reassess the situation.
It shouldn't matter if the server's ISP performs logging. It would be trivial to trace back to PIA's servers anyway, the point is that it should be impossible to identify which of their thousands of customers it is.
@dazweeja: PIA are one of the better ones for sure. But regardless of their server settings I still wouldn't recommend using a VPN for any legitimate purpose outside of what the protocols were designed for.
Just for ….fun reasons…..I've run Virtualbox, then run PIA in that, and then run TOR as well. Works well, albeit a bit slow.
Buy me some drugs while you’re at it
I don't need the internet for that. I work in a pub, drug dealers come in after 2am, LOL.
I use PIA it works great on linux mint and windows(dual boot) easy to install. Also they do have extensions availible for web browsers.
Should work as normal, just make sure whatever you chose works on your VM's OS.