OpenVPN systemd use
This is only a brief summary of OpenVPN systemd usage.
Source https://github.com/OpenVPN/openvpn/blob/master/distro/systemd/README.systemd
Verify OpenVPN systemd support
$ openvpn --version
Required FLAG enable_systemd=yes - This FLAG must be listed to continue.
Using OpenVPN with systemd support
In order to use OpenVPN with systemd please use the correct systemd .service file.
Server
- Place your server configuration file in
/etc/openvpn/server - Use the
openvpn-server@.service
$ sudo systemctl start openvpn-server@{Server-config}Replace {Server-config} with the name of your config file without the .conf
Client
- Place your client configuration file in
/etc/openvpn/client - Use the
openvpn-client@.service
$ sudo systemctl start openvpn-client@{Client-config}Replace {Client-config} with the name of your config file without the .conf
Start at boot
Replace $ systemctl start ... with $ systemctl enable ...
Interrogate systemd
Show current systemd-daemon state
$ sudo systemctl
Show status for Openvpn
$ systemctl status openvpn-server@{Server-config}Use journalctl
For a running server
$ journalctl -u openvpn-server@{Server-config}To use systemd-journald Openvpn must not use --log/--log-append. Instead the log is redirected to journald.
Notes
openvpn@.serviceis deprecated.openvpn.serviceis obsoleted. (This is only used for backward compatibility)