---
title: Personal VPN
framework: networkextension
role: collectionGroup
role_heading: API Collection
path: networkextension/personal-vpn
---

# Personal VPN

Create and manage a VPN configuration that uses one of the built-in VPN protocols (IPsec or IKEv2).

## Overview

Overview With the Personal VPN feature in macOS and iOS, your app can create and manage a VPN configuration that uses one of the built-in VPN protocols (IPsec or IKEv2). The user must explicitly authorize your app the first time it saves a VPN configuration. note: Personal VPN only supports recommended VPN protocols; it doesn’t support legacy VPN protocols, like PPTP and L2TP. Before starting with Personal VPN, verify that the client is compatible with your VPN server. Use Apple Configurator to create a configuration profile with a VPN payload for your server. If you can connect using the VPN configuration from your configuration profile, you should be able to connect using Personal VPN. To get started, call the shared() class method to access the NEVPNManager singleton. Then load the VPN configuration by calling loadFromPreferences(completionHandler:); if you haven’t previously saved a configuration, this call returns an empty configuration. Modify this configuration as you see fit, and save it using saveToPreferences(completionHandler:). Once you’ve set up a Personal VPN configuration, you can connect and disconnect the VPN using the NEVPNConnection class. Use the connection property of NEVPNManager to get the correct instance of that class. Both iOS and macOS also support managed VPN, meaning VPN configurations installed by a configuration profile. Managed VPN configurations take precedence over Personal VPN configurations. If there’s simultaneously a managed VPN configuration and Personal VPN configuration, both configured to act as the default route, the managed tunnel serves as the default route. note: When a VPN configuration is active, connections use the VPN instead of iCloud Private Relay. Network Extension providers also don’t use iCloud Private Relay.

## Topics

### Essentials

- [Personal VPN Entitlement](bundleresources/entitlements/com.apple.developer.networking.vpn.api.md)

### VPN configuration

- [NEVPNManager](networkextension/nevpnmanager.md)
- [NEVPNProtocolIKEv2](networkextension/nevpnprotocolikev2.md)
- [NEVPNProtocolIPSec](networkextension/nevpnprotocolipsec.md)
- [NEVPNProtocol](networkextension/nevpnprotocol.md)
- [VPN On Demand Rules](networkextension/vpn-on-demand-rules.md)

### VPN control

- [NEVPNConnection](networkextension/nevpnconnection.md)

## See Also

### Virtual private networks

- [Routing your VPN network traffic](networkextension/routing-your-vpn-network-traffic.md)
- [Packet tunnel provider](networkextension/packet-tunnel-provider.md)
- [App proxy provider](networkextension/app-proxy-provider.md)