How to Set Up Your Own VPN with Amnezia (No Terminal Needed)

Why Amnezia, and who it is for

Every other guide in this section asks you to open a terminal. Amnezia does not. It is a free, open-source app that sets up and manages a VPN on your own server for you: you type in your server's address and password once, click a protocol, and the app does the rest over SSH - installing, configuring and connecting - without a single command. It is the friendliest way to get your own VPN.

It also has a serious trick for censored networks: AmneziaWG, an obfuscated version of WireGuard. Ordinary WireGuard is fast but easy for deep packet inspection (DPI) to fingerprint and block; AmneziaWG changes those tell-tale packet signatures and mixes in junk traffic, so to a system like Russia's TSPU the connection no longer looks like a recognisable VPN - just unremarkable, unidentifiable traffic it cannot cleanly block. You get WireGuard speed with real resistance to blocking, and no terminal in sight.

• A cheap KVM-based VPS with a public IPv4 address, at least 1 GB RAM, running a clean Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 or Debian 12 / 13 image with no pre-installed control panel. To bypass censorship, choose a location outside the country doing the blocking.
• The server's IP address and its root SSH login and password - your provider emails these right after you pay. That is all Amnezia needs.
• About 10 minutes, and no command-line knowledge at all.

Step 1: Install the Amnezia app

The same Amnezia app both sets up your server and connects to it. Download it for your computer from the official site - amnezia.org - and install it like any normal program. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux; there are matching phone apps you will add later.

Step 2: Add your server

Open Amnezia and choose to set up your own server (not the built-in premium option). It asks for three things from your provider's email:

• the server's IP address;
• the SSH login, usually root;
• the SSH password (or your private key file, if you set one up).

Enter them and continue. Amnezia connects to the server over SSH and checks it - this takes a few seconds.

Step 3: Choose AmneziaWG and let it install

Amnezia now offers a list of protocols. For the best mix of speed and resistance to blocking, pick AmneziaWG. (The list also includes plain WireGuard, OpenVPN, OpenVPN over Cloak, XRay Reality and Shadowsocks - AmneziaWG is the right default for most people, especially in censored networks.) Confirm, and the app installs and configures everything on the server for you. Wait for it to finish - usually under a minute.

Plan B for the worst days: if a network ever starts dropping all unfamiliar UDP traffic (which happens during the harshest crackdowns), open the same Amnezia app and switch the server to Xray Reality in a couple of clicks - that protocol hides inside ordinary HTTPS instead.

Step 4: Connect

Back on the main screen, press the big Connect button. That is it - your traffic now runs through your own server. The app shows your new IP and a connection timer. To disconnect, press the same button again.

Step 5: Add your phone and other devices

Install the Amnezia app on the other device, then share the connection to it. On your computer, open your server's settings, choose Share (or Export), and Amnezia gives you a QR code, a config file, or a text key. On phones, a lighter standalone AmneziaWG app is also available in the stores - it uses far less battery and accepts the very same QR code or config.

Step 6: Verify it works

With Amnezia connected, confirm two things on our own Network tools page. First, the internet should now show your server's IP - shown at the top of the page. Second, open the DNS Leak Test tab: the resolvers listed should not belong to your home ISP. If both look right, your Amnezia tunnel is live.

Common mistakes

• Old app version. If a phone will not connect, its Amnezia app is probably too old (AmneziaWG 2.0 needs 4.8.12.9 or newer). Keep every device on the latest version.
• A VPS image that fights Docker. Amnezia sets up each protocol inside a Docker container. A VPS that ships with a control panel (ISPmanager, FastPanel) or a locked-down kernel can block that - start from a plain Ubuntu or Debian image.
• Wrong login details. Amnezia needs the server's SSH login (usually root) and password, not your VPN username. Copy them exactly from the provider's email.
• Unsupported VPS. The very cheapest OpenVZ plans cannot run these protocols. Choose a KVM plan on Ubuntu or Debian.
• Provider firewall. A few hosts (AWS, Oracle Cloud, Azure, Google Cloud) have their own firewall in the web panel - if the connection fails, make sure the protocol's port is open there too.

The honest limits

AmneziaWG is excellent at hiding that you use a VPN from network censors, but the usual limits of self-hosting still apply: your provider can see the IP addresses connecting to the server and, on a VPS, can snapshot its RAM. To cut down what your own server records on disk, follow up with our guide on how to make your VPS keep no logs. If you would rather run a stealth server through a web panel than a desktop app, our VLESS + Reality guide is the alternative. And as always, a VPN changes where your traffic appears to come from - it does not put you above the law of wherever you live.