Beta VPN

[atrasatti]

Reading through some recent posts I learnt of the Beta VPN server. What is the difference? Where can I find more information? I use the production version regularly

[forest]

You can download a config here:

https://beta.vpn.sonic.net/

I don't have a link to an official announcement, but I imagine a search in this forum would turn up more info.

[js9erfan]

According to this they moved it to a new server. They also issued new certs using ecdsa. Assuming they'll eventually do this for the production server here's hoping the CA CN gets changed in the process.

[seth.lohr]

Hello all,

The beta.vpn.sonic.net service exists, according to the 3rd definition of the word "beta":

: a nearly complete prototype of a product (such as software)
the beta version
also : a stage of development in which a product is nearly complete but not yet ready for release
The app is still in beta.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beta

What this means is the beta.vpn service is a product that is available for use by our Sonic customers, but it's expected that as the service is "not yet ready for release", it means you might get access to new features while they're still in development. This service also receives more rapid development, as it's a staging platform for testing updates before their release into the normal ovpn service.

However, the "not yet ready for release" definition is important here, as those using the beta should not expect the system to perform the same as our normal ovpn.sonic.net service. By it's nature, the beta service is more experimental and new releases may not work as expected.

Hope this clears some things up.

[virtualmike]

I treat it as a backup VPN. If, for some reason, the production VPN service is having issues, I will attempt to connect on beta VPN for that session. I think I've only had to do this twice in the past five years.

[atrasatti]

I understand the meaning of Beta, I was wondering how it’s different from the production version . Which version of server, feature changes, config changes.

[seth.lohr]

I looked into your request a bit. I've not seen any historical evidence of posting the version, changelog, or other announcements. The majority of Sonic announcements have been updates to sonicstatus.com, when there's going to be maintenance performed on the VPN service.