[SOLVED]OpenVPN don't start from systemd

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Pepiko
Posts: 3
Joined: 2018/08/13 19:15:36

[SOLVED]OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by Pepiko » 2018/08/14 10:20:18

I can't start openvpn server for systemd. When I type # systemctl start openvpn@server.service I have got error:
# journalctl -b -u openvpn\@server.service
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt systemd[1]: Starting OpenVPN Robust And Highly Flexible Tunneling Application On server...
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt openvpn[46795]: Options error: In [CMD-LINE]:1: Error opening configuration file: server.conf
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt openvpn[46795]: Use --help for more information.
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt systemd[1]: openvpn@server.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt systemd[1]: Failed to start OpenVPN Robust And Highly Flexible Tunneling Application On server.
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt systemd[1]: Unit openvpn@server.service entered failed state.
sie 14 12:07:38 blubajt systemd[1]: openvpn@server.service failed.
But when I run openvpn from cli as root# openvpn --config /etc/openvpn/server/server.conf it starts properly, new interface tun0 is showing up. I didn't try to connect but from logs it looks like it's working. I installed openvpn from epel-release repo. My unit file looks like this:
# cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/openvpn-server\@.service
[Unit]
Description=OpenVPN service for %I
After=syslog.target network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
Documentation=man:openvpn(8)
Documentation=https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/w ... n24ManPage
Documentation=https://community.openvpn.net/openvpn/wiki/HOWTO

[Service]
Type=notify
PrivateTmp=true
WorkingDirectory=/etc/openvpn/server
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/openvpn --status %t/openvpn-server/status-%i.log --status-version 2 --suppress-timestamps --config %i.conf
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_IPC_LOCK CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE CAP_NET_RAW CAP_SETGID CAP_SETUID CAP_SYS_CHROOT CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE
LimitNPROC=10
DeviceAllow=/dev/null rw
DeviceAllow=/dev/net/tun rw
ProtectSystem=true
ProtectHome=true
KillMode=process
RestartSec=5s
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
My openvpn config file:
cat /etc/openvpn/server/server.conf
#################################################
# Sample OpenVPN 2.0 config file for #
# multi-client server. #
# #
# This file is for the server side #
# of a many-clients <-> one-server #
# OpenVPN configuration. #
# #
# OpenVPN also supports #
# single-machine <-> single-machine #
# configurations (See the Examples page #
# on the web site for more info). #
# #
# This config should work on Windows #
# or Linux/BSD systems. Remember on #
# Windows to quote pathnames and use #
# double backslashes, e.g.: #
# "C:\\Program Files\\OpenVPN\\config\\foo.key" #
# #
# Comments are preceded with '#' or ';' #
#################################################

# Which local IP address should OpenVPN
# listen on? (optional)
;local a.b.c.d

# Which TCP/UDP port should OpenVPN listen on?
# If you want to run multiple OpenVPN instances
# on the same machine, use a different port
# number for each one. You will need to
# open up this port on your firewall.
port 11194

# TCP or UDP server?
;proto tcp
proto udp

# "dev tun" will create a routed IP tunnel,
# "dev tap" will create an ethernet tunnel.
# Use "dev tap0" if you are ethernet bridging
# and have precreated a tap0 virtual interface
# and bridged it with your ethernet interface.
# If you want to control access policies
# over the VPN, you must create firewall
# rules for the the TUN/TAP interface.
# On non-Windows systems, you can give
# an explicit unit number, such as tun0.
# On Windows, use "dev-node" for this.
# On most systems, the VPN will not function
# unless you partially or fully disable
# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.
;dev tap
dev tun

# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name
# from the Network Connections panel if you
# have more than one. On XP SP2 or higher,
# you may need to selectively disable the
# Windows firewall for the TAP adapter.
# Non-Windows systems usually don't need this.
;dev-node MyTap

# SSL/TLS root certificate (ca), certificate
# (cert), and private key (key). Each client
# and the server must have their own cert and
# key file. The server and all clients will
# use the same ca file.
#
# See the "easy-rsa" directory for a series
# of scripts for generating RSA certificates
# and private keys. Remember to use
# a unique Common Name for the server
# and each of the client certificates.
#
# Any X509 key management system can be used.
# OpenVPN can also use a PKCS #12 formatted key file
# (see "pkcs12" directive in man page).
ca ca.crt
cert server.crt
key server.key # This file should be kept secret

# Diffie hellman parameters.
# Generate your own with:
# openssl dhparam -out dh2048.pem 2048
dh dh2048.pem

# Network topology
# Should be subnet (addressing via IP)
# unless Windows clients v2.0.9 and lower have to
# be supported (then net30, i.e. a /30 per client)
# Defaults to net30 (not recommended)
topology subnet

# Configure server mode and supply a VPN subnet
# for OpenVPN to draw client addresses from.
# The server will take 10.8.0.1 for itself,
# the rest will be made available to clients.
# Each client will be able to reach the server
# on 10.8.0.1. Comment this line out if you are
# ethernet bridging. See the man page for more info.
server 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0

# Maintain a record of client <-> virtual IP address
# associations in this file. If OpenVPN goes down or
# is restarted, reconnecting clients can be assigned
# the same virtual IP address from the pool that was
# previously assigned.
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging.
# You must first use your OS's bridging capability
# to bridge the TAP interface with the ethernet
# NIC interface. Then you must manually set the
# IP/netmask on the bridge interface, here we
# assume 10.8.0.4/255.255.255.0. Finally we
# must set aside an IP range in this subnet
# (start=10.8.0.50 end=10.8.0.100) to allocate
# to connecting clients. Leave this line commented
# out unless you are ethernet bridging.
;server-bridge 10.8.0.4 255.255.255.0 10.8.0.50 10.8.0.100

# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging
# using a DHCP-proxy, where clients talk
# to the OpenVPN server-side DHCP server
# to receive their IP address allocation
# and DNS server addresses. You must first use
# your OS's bridging capability to bridge the TAP
# interface with the ethernet NIC interface.
# Note: this mode only works on clients (such as
# Windows), where the client-side TAP adapter is
# bound to a DHCP client.
;server-bridge

# Push routes to the client to allow it
# to reach other private subnets behind
# the server. Remember that these
# private subnets will also need
# to know to route the OpenVPN client
# address pool (10.8.0.0/255.255.255.0)
# back to the OpenVPN server.
;push "route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0"
;push "route 192.168.20.0 255.255.255.0"

# To assign specific IP addresses to specific
# clients or if a connecting client has a private
# subnet behind it that should also have VPN access,
# use the subdirectory "ccd" for client-specific
# configuration files (see man page for more info).

# EXAMPLE: Suppose the client
# having the certificate common name "Thelonious"
# also has a small subnet behind his connecting
# machine, such as 192.168.40.128/255.255.255.248.
# First, uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# Then create a file ccd/Thelonious with this line:
# iroute 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248
# This will allow Thelonious' private subnet to
# access the VPN. This example will only work
# if you are routing, not bridging, i.e. you are
# using "dev tun" and "server" directives.

# EXAMPLE: Suppose you want to give
# Thelonious a fixed VPN IP address of 10.9.0.1.
# First uncomment out these lines:
;client-config-dir ccd
;route 10.9.0.0 255.255.255.252
# Then add this line to ccd/Thelonious:
# ifconfig-push 10.9.0.1 10.9.0.2

# Suppose that you want to enable different
# firewall access policies for different groups
# of clients. There are two methods:
# (1) Run multiple OpenVPN daemons, one for each
# group, and firewall the TUN/TAP interface
# for each group/daemon appropriately.
# (2) (Advanced) Create a script to dynamically
# modify the firewall in response to access
# from different clients. See man
# page for more info on learn-address script.
;learn-address ./script

# If enabled, this directive will configure
# all clients to redirect their default
# network gateway through the VPN, causing
# all IP traffic such as web browsing and
# and DNS lookups to go through the VPN
# (The OpenVPN server machine may need to NAT
# or bridge the TUN/TAP interface to the internet
# in order for this to work properly).
push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"

# Certain Windows-specific network settings
# can be pushed to clients, such as DNS
# or WINS server addresses. CAVEAT:
# http://openvpn.net/faq.html#dhcpcaveats
# The addresses below refer to the public
# DNS servers provided by opendns.com.
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222"
push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.220.220"

# Uncomment this directive to allow different
# clients to be able to "see" each other.
# By default, clients will only see the server.
# To force clients to only see the server, you
# will also need to appropriately firewall the
# server's TUN/TAP interface.
client-to-client

# Uncomment this directive if multiple clients
# might connect with the same certificate/key
# files or common names. This is recommended
# only for testing purposes. For production use,
# each client should have its own certificate/key
# pair.
#
# IF YOU HAVE NOT GENERATED INDIVIDUAL
# CERTIFICATE/KEY PAIRS FOR EACH CLIENT,
# EACH HAVING ITS OWN UNIQUE "COMMON NAME",
# UNCOMMENT THIS LINE OUT.
;duplicate-cn

# The keepalive directive causes ping-like
# messages to be sent back and forth over
# the link so that each side knows when
# the other side has gone down.
# Ping every 10 seconds, assume that remote
# peer is down if no ping received during
# a 120 second time period.
keepalive 10 120

# For extra security beyond that provided
# by SSL/TLS, create an "HMAC firewall"
# to help block DoS attacks and UDP port flooding.
#
# Generate with:
# openvpn --genkey --secret ta.key
#
# The server and each client must have
# a copy of this key.
# The second parameter should be '0'
# on the server and '1' on the clients.
;tls-auth ta.key 0 # This file is secret
tls-crypt myvpn.tlsauth

# Select a cryptographic cipher.
# This config item must be copied to
# the client config file as well.
# Note that v2.4 client/server will automatically
# negotiate AES-256-GCM in TLS mode.
# See also the ncp-cipher option in the manpage
cipher AES-256-GCM

# Enable compression on the VPN link and push the
# option to the client (v2.4+ only, for earlier
# versions see below)
;compress lz4-v2
push "compress lz4-v2"

# For compression compatible with older clients use comp-lzo
# If you enable it here, you must also
# enable it in the client config file.
;comp-lzo

# The maximum number of concurrently connected
# clients we want to allow.
max-clients 10

# It's a good idea to reduce the OpenVPN
# daemon's privileges after initialization.
#
# You can uncomment this out on
# non-Windows systems.
user nobody
group nobody

# The persist options will try to avoid
# accessing certain resources on restart
# that may no longer be accessible because
# of the privilege downgrade.
persist-key
persist-tun

# Output a short status file showing
# current connections, truncated
# and rewritten every minute.
status openvpn-status.log

# By default, log messages will go to the syslog (or
# on Windows, if running as a service, they will go to
# the "\Program Files\OpenVPN\log" directory).
# Use log or log-append to override this default.
# "log" will truncate the log file on OpenVPN startup,
# while "log-append" will append to it. Use one
# or the other (but not both).
;log openvpn.log
log-append openvpn.log

# Set the appropriate level of log
# file verbosity.
#
# 0 is silent, except for fatal errors
# 4 is reasonable for general usage
# 5 and 6 can help to debug connection problems
# 9 is extremely verbose
verb 9

# Silence repeating messages. At most 20
# sequential messages of the same message
# category will be output to the log.
;mute 20

# Notify the client that when the server restarts so it
# can automatically reconnect.
;explicit-exit-notify 1

remote-cert-eku "TLS Web Client Authentication"
And openvpn directory looks like:
# ls -la /etc/openvpn/server/
razem 92
drwxr-x---. 2 root openvpn 4096 08-13 21:04 .
drwxr-xr-x. 4 root root 4096 08-13 20:55 ..
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1310 08-13 15:45 ca.crt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 424 08-13 16:25 dh2048.pem
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 0 08-13 21:11 ipp.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 636 08-13 15:30 myvpn.tlsauth
-rw-------. 1 root root 45667 08-13 21:11 openvpn.log
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 232 08-13 21:10 openvpn-status.log
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 10856 08-13 19:19 server.conf
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1554 08-13 16:21 server.crt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3243 08-13 16:24 server.key
I do not have more ideas what could be wrong. Please help.
Last edited by Pepiko on 2018/08/15 15:13:00, edited 1 time in total.

mghe
Posts: 766
Joined: 2015/11/24 12:04:43
Location: Katowice, Poland

Re: OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by mghe » 2018/08/14 16:00:43

Copy config here: /etc/openvpn and change path to files in config to correct.

Pepiko
Posts: 3
Joined: 2018/08/13 19:15:36

Re: OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by Pepiko » 2018/08/15 15:12:18

Thanks, that works.

User avatar
fdisk
Posts: 42
Joined: 2017/11/04 00:59:56

Re: [SOLVED]OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by fdisk » 2018/08/15 17:54:37

This sounds like your /etc/openvpn/server directory is denied by selinux.

Check selinux context with

Code: Select all

ls -laZ /etc/openvpn
If server directory shows no selinux context you can restore centos defaults with

Code: Select all

fixfiles -R openvpn restore

Pepiko
Posts: 3
Joined: 2018/08/13 19:15:36

Re: [SOLVED]OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by Pepiko » 2018/08/16 06:18:33

I tryied this fix before. It didn't help, @mghe solution worked for me.

ndavid
Posts: 1
Joined: 2019/01/25 17:31:11

Re: [SOLVED]OpenVPN don't start from systemd

Post by ndavid » 2019/01/25 17:46:04

fdisk wrote:
2018/08/15 17:54:37
This sounds like your /etc/openvpn/server directory is denied by selinux.

Check selinux context with

Code: Select all

ls -laZ /etc/openvpn
If server directory shows no selinux context you can restore centos defaults with

Code: Select all

fixfiles -R openvpn restore
This worked for me! Thanks for posting, fdisk.

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