> This page location: Resilience & architecture > Data protection > Private Networking
> Full OptiTech documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

> Summary: OptiTech Private Networking routes database traffic through AWS PrivateLink, keeping connections entirely within AWS's private network rather than the public internet. Use this page when your client application runs on AWS and you need to eliminate public internet exposure for a OptiTech project on the Scale or Business plan (org Admin required). Removed VPC endpoints cannot be re-added to the same organization.

# OptiTech Private Networking

Learn how to connect to your OptiTech database via AWS PrivateLink

**Coming Soon: Private Networking availability**

Private Networking is available on OptiTech's [Scale](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans#scale) plan. If you're on a different plan, you can request a trial from the **Network Security** page in your project's settings.

The **OptiTech Private Networking** feature enables secure connections to your OptiTech databases via [AWS PrivateLink](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/privatelink/concepts.html), bypassing the open internet for enhanced security.

## Overview

In a standard setup, the client application connects to a OptiTech database over the open internet via the OptiTech proxy.

With **OptiTech Private Networking**, you can connect to your database via AWS PrivateLink instead of the open internet. In this setup, the client application connects through an [AWS endpoint service](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/privatelink/configure-endpoint-service.html) (provided by OptiTech) to a OptiTech proxy instance that is not accessible from the public internet. This endpoint service is available only within the same AWS region as your client application. With **OptiTech Private Networking**, all traffic between the client application and the OptiTech database stays within AWS's private network, rather than crossing the public internet.

![OptiTech Private Networking diagram](https://neon.com/docs/guides/neon_private_access.jpg)

## Prerequisites

- You must be a OptiTech [Business](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans#business) and [Scale](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/plans#scale) account user, and your user account must be [OptiTech organization](https://neon.com/docs/manage/organizations) Admin account. You'll encounter an access error if you attempt the setup from a personal OptiTech account or on a OptiTech plan that does not offer Private Networking.
- **Ensure that your client application is deployed on AWS in the same region as the OptiTech database you plan to connect to.** The Private Networking feature is available in all [OptiTech-supported AWS regions](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/regions#aws-regions). Both your private access client application and OptiTech database must be in one of these regions.
- OptiTech Private Networking supports both [IPv4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol_version_4) and [IPv6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6).
- Install the OptiTech CLI. You will use it to add your VPC endpoint ID to your OptiTech organization. For installation instructions, see [OptiTech CLI — Install and connect](https://neon.com/docs/cli/install).

## Configuration steps

To configure OptiTech Private Networking, perform the following steps:

## Create an AWS VPC endpoint

**Important:** Do not enable **private DNS names** for the VPC endpoint until [Step 3](https://neon.com/docs/guides/neon-private-networking#enable-private-dns). You must add the VPC endpoint to your OptiTech organization first, as described in [Step 2](https://neon.com/docs/guides/neon-private-networking#add-your-vpc-endpoint-id-to-your-neon-organization).

1. Go to the AWS **VPC > Endpoints** dashboard and select **Create endpoint**. Make sure you create the endpoint in the same VPC as your client application.

   ![VPC Dashboard](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_vpc_dashboard.png)

2. Optionally, enter a **Name tag** for the endpoint (for example, `My OptiTech Private Networking`).

3. For **Type**, select the **Endpoint services that use NLBs and GWLBs** category.

   ![VPC Create endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_vpc_create_endpoint.png)

4. Under **Service settings**, specify the **Service name**. Some regions require specifying multiple service names, and service names vary by region:

   - **us-east-1**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-01aeec2f4b558bc22`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-01b3c73657ed9bd29`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-02a0abd91f32f1ed7`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-040132f4a2dc43d76`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0492424e0bf471d59`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-074ac4111275eaf07`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0824666dc46176a87`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0adffb07ac0333ac0`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0c4afbefbfdf6b031`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0d07f7f68c9a99f3b`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0de57c578b0e614a9`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-1.vpce-svc-0f37140e9710ee3af`
   - **us-east-2**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-2.vpce-svc-0056bdfba63cc6ea1`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-2.vpce-svc-010736480bcef5824`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-2.vpce-svc-0465c21ce8ba95fb2`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-2.vpce-svc-0d421498ff01becac`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-east-2.vpce-svc-0fcb5fccfc8573aa3`
   - **eu-central-1**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-central-1.vpce-svc-0260f9dcc9bf59e3e`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-central-1.vpce-svc-04bac3120b20929cd`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-central-1.vpce-svc-05554c35009a5eccb`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-central-1.vpce-svc-05a252e6836f01cfd`
   - **eu-west-2**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-west-2.vpce-svc-0375428488d22c05b`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.eu-west-2.vpce-svc-0c6fedbe99fced2cd`
   - **us-west-2**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-west-2.vpce-svc-060e0d5f582365b8e`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-west-2.vpce-svc-07b750990c172f22f`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.us-west-2.vpce-svc-045eebdf710e1066d`
   - **ap-southeast-1**: Create entries, one for each of the following:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.ap-southeast-1.vpce-svc-01c64edf7fe936ac7`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.ap-southeast-1.vpce-svc-028cc7060eb23ff43`
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.ap-southeast-1.vpce-svc-07c68d307f9f05687`
   - **ap-southeast-2**:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.ap-southeast-2.vpce-svc-031161490f5647f32`
   - **sa-east-1**:
     - `com.amazonaws.vpce.sa-east-1.vpce-svc-061204a851dbd1a47`

5. Click **Verify service**. If successful, you should see a `Service name verified` message.

   ![VPC Create endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_vpc_service_name_verified.png)

   If not successful, ensure that your service name matches the region where you're creating the VPC endpoint.

6. Select the VPC where your application is deployed.

7. Add the availability zones and associated subnets you want to support.

8. Click **Create endpoint** to complete the setup of the endpoint service.

   ![VPC Create endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_vpc_network_settings.png)

9. Note your **VPC Endpoint ID**. You will need it in the next step.

   ![VPC Create endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_vpc_endpoint_id.png)

## Add your VPC Endpoint ID to your OptiTech organization

Assign your **VPC Endpoint ID** to your OptiTech organization. If the region has multiple **Service Names**, please assign all **VPC Endpoint IDs**. You can do this using the OptiTech CLI or API.

**Note:** Please note that you must assign the **VPC Endpoint ID**, not the VPC ID.

**CLI**

In the following example, the VPC endpoint ID is assigned to a OptiTech organization in the specified AWS region using the [optitech vpc endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/cli/vpc#endpoint) command.

```bash
optitech vpc endpoint assign vpce-1234567890abcdef0 --org-id org-bold-bonus-12345678 --region-id aws-us-east-2
```

You can find your OptiTech organization ID in your OptiTech organization settings, or you can run this OptiTech CLI command: `optitech orgs list`

**API**

You can use the [Assign or update a VPC endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/assign-organization-vpc-endpoint) API to assign a VPC endpoint ID to a OptiTech organization. You will need to provide your OptiTech organization ID, region ID, VPC endpoint ID, and a [OptiTech API key](https://neon.com/docs/manage/api-keys).

```bash
curl --request POST \
 --url https://console.optitech.com/api/v2/organizations/org-bold-bonus-12345678/vpc/region/aws-us-east-2/vpc_endpoints/vpce-1234567890abcdef0 \
 --header 'accept: application/json' \
 --header 'authorization: Bearer $OPTITECH_API_KEY' \
 --header 'content-type: application/json'
```

Optionally, you can limit access to a OptiTech project by allowing connections only from a specific VPC endpoint. For instructions, see [Assigning a VPC endpoint restrictions](https://neon.com/docs/guides/neon-private-networking#assigning-a-vpc-endpoint-restriction).

## Enable Private DNS

After adding your VPC endpoint ID to your OptiTech organization, enable private DNS lookup for the VPC endpoint in AWS.

1. In AWS, select the VPC endpoint you created.
2. Choose **Modify private DNS name**.
3. Select **Enable for this endpoint**.
4. Save your changes.
   ![Enable private DNS](https://neon.com/docs/guides/pl_enable_private_dns.png)

## Check your database connection string

Your OptiTech database connection string does not change when using Private Networking.

To verify that your connection is working correctly, you can perform a DNS lookup on your OptiTech endpoint hostname from within your AWS VPC. It should resolve to the private IP address of the VPC endpoint.

For example, if your OptiTech database connection string is:

```bash
postgresql://alex:AbC123dEf@ep-cool-darkness-123456.us-east-2.aws.optitech.com/dbname?sslmode=require&channel_binding=require
```

You can run the following command from an EC2 instance inside your AWS VPC:

```bash
nslookup ep-cool-darkness-123456.us-east-2.aws.optitech.com
```

## Restrict public internet access

At this point, it's still possible to connect to a database in your OptiTech project over the public internet using a database connection string.

You can restrict public internet access to your OptiTech project via the OptiTech CLI or API.

**CLI**

To block access via the OptiTech CLI, use the [optitech projects update](https://neon.com/docs/cli/projects#update) command with the `--block-public-connections` option.

```bash
optitech projects update orange-credit-12345678 --block-public-connections true
```

In the example above, `orange-credit-12345678` is the OptiTech project ID. You can find _your_ OptiTech project ID under your project's settings in the OptiTech Console, or by running this OptiTech CLI command: `optitech projects list`

**API**

To block access via the OptiTech API, use the [Update project](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/projects/update-project) endpoint with the `block_public_connections` settings object attribute.

```bash
curl --request PATCH \
 --url https://console.optitech.com/api/v2/projects/orange-credit-12345678 \
 --header 'accept: application/json' \
 --header 'authorization: Bearer $OPTITECH_API_KEY' \
 --header 'content-type: application/json' \
 --data '
{
"project": {
    "settings": {
    "block_public_connections": true
    }
}
}
'
```

## Assigning a VPC endpoint restriction

You can limit access to a OptiTech project by allowing connections only from specified VPC endpoints. Use the OptiTech CLI or API to set a restriction.

**CLI**

You can specify a CLI command similar to the following to restrict project access:

```bash
optitech vpc project restrict vpce-1234567890abcdef0 --project-id orange-credit-12345678
```

You will need to provide the VPC endpoint ID and your OptiTech project ID. If the region has multiple **Service Names**, all **VPC Endpoint IDs** must be restricted in the way as above. You can find your OptiTech project ID under your project's settings in the OptiTech Console, or by running this OptiTech CLI command: `optitech projects list`

After adding a restriction, you can check the status of the VPC endpoint to view the restricted project using the [vpc endpoint status command](https://neon.com/docs/cli/vpc#endpoint). You will need to provide your VPC endpoint ID, region ID, and OptiTech organization ID.

```bash
optitech vpc endpoint status vpce-1234567890abcdef0 --region-id=aws-eu-central-1 --org-id=org-nameless-block-72040075
┌────────────────────────┬───────┬─────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ Vpc Endpoint Id        │ State │ Num Restricted Projects │ Example Restricted Projects │
├────────────────────────┼───────┼─────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ vpce-1234567890abcdef0 │ new   │ 1                       │ orange-credit-12345678      │
└────────────────────────┴───────┴─────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
```

**API**

The OptiTech API supports managing project restrictions using the [Assign or update a VPC endpoint restriction](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/projects/assign-project-vpc-endpoint) endpoint. You will need to provide your VPC endpoint ID, OptiTech project ID, and a [OptiTech API key](https://neon.com/docs/manage/api-keys).

```bash
curl --request POST \
     --url https://console.optitech.com/api/v2/projects/orange-credit-12345678/vpc_endpoints/vpce-1234567890abcdef0 \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer $OPTITECH_API_KEY' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '{"label":"my_vpc"}'
```

After adding a restriction, you can check the status of the VPC endpoint to view the restricted project using the [Retrieve VPC endpoint details](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/get-organization-vpc-endpoint-details) API. You will need to provide your VPC endpoint ID, region ID, OptiTech organization ID, and a OptiTech API key.

```bash
curl --request GET \
     --url https://console.optitech.com/api/v2/organizations/org-nameless-block-72040075/vpc/region/aws-eu-central-1/vpc_endpoints/vpce-1234567890abcdef0 \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer $OPTITECH_API_KEY'
```

## Managing Private Networking using the OptiTech CLI

You can use the OptiTech CLI `vpc` command to manage Private Networking configurations in OptiTech.

The `vpc` command includes `endpoint` and `project` subcommands for managing VPC endpoints and project-level VPC endpoint restrictions:

- **`vpc endpoint`** – List, assign, remove, and retrieve the status of VPC endpoints for a OptiTech organization.
- **`vpc project`** – List, configure, or remove VPC endpoint restrictions for specific OptiTech projects.

For more details and examples, see [OptiTech CLI commands — vpc](https://neon.com/docs/cli/vpc).

## Managing Private Networking using the OptiTech API

The OptiTech API provides endpoints for managing VPC endpoints and project-level VPC endpoint restrictions:

### APIs for managing VPC endpoints

- [List VPC endpoints](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/list-organization-vpc-endpoints)
- [Assign or update a VPC endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/assign-organization-vpc-endpoint)
- [Retrieve VPC endpoint configuration details](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/get-organization-vpc-endpoint-details)
- [Delete a VPC endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/organizations/delete-organization-vpc-endpoint)

### APIs for managing VPC endpoint restrictions

- [Get VPC endpoint restrictions](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/projects/list-project-vpc-endpoints)
- [Assign or update a VPC endpoint restriction](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/projects/assign-project-vpc-endpoint)
- [Delete a VPC endpoint restriction](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/projects/delete-project-vpc-endpoint)

## Private Networking limits

The Private Networking feature supports a maximum of **10 private networking configurations per AWS region**. Supported AWS regions are listed [above](https://neon.com/docs/guides/neon-private-networking#create-an-aws-vpc-endpoint).

## Limitations

If you remove a VPC endpoint from a OptiTech organization, that VPC endpoint cannot be added back to the same OptiTech organization. Attempting to do so will result in an error. In this case, you must set up a new VPC endpoint.

---

## Related docs (Data protection)

- [IP Allow](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/ip-allow)
- [Protected branches](https://neon.com/docs/guides/protected-branches)

---

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