- Replace the `sed` hack that disabled `systemctl` commands with proper
systemd support in Docker containers
- This allows testing the actual `systemctl` commands used by the
install script
- No more manual workarounds for starting OpenVPN/Unbound services
- Increase DNS retry count from 5 to 10 for improved test reliability
when Unbound needs more time to initialize
- Refactor retry loop to use `seq` with a `DNS_MAX_RETRIES` to be
cleaner
## Summary
- Add `tar` and DNS utilities (`dnsutils`/`bind-utils`/`bind`) to all
supported distros
- Ensures the script works reliably on minimal system images where these
tools may not be pre-installed
## Changes by distro
| Distro | Packages added |
|--------|----------------|
| debian/ubuntu | `tar`, `dnsutils` |
| centos | `bind-utils` |
| oracle | `bind-utils` |
| amzn2023 | `tar`, `bind-utils` |
| fedora | `tar`, `bind-utils` |
| opensuse | `tar`, `bind-utils` |
| arch | `tar`, `bind` |
## Why these packages?
- **tar**: Required for extracting Easy-RSA `.tgz` archive
- **dnsutils/bind-utils/bind**: Provides `dig` command used as fallback
for public IP detection
## Summary
Migrates OpenVPN configuration to use the modern OpenVPN 2.4+ directory
structure and improves compatibility across different Linux
distributions.
Close https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/issues/1307, close
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/issues/788, close
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/issues/605, close
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/pull/653, close
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/issues/1214
### Directory Structure Changes
- All server files now in `/etc/openvpn/server/` instead of
`/etc/openvpn/`
- Uses `openvpn-server@server.service` consistently across all distros
- `server.conf` uses relative paths for portability
### Distro-Specific User/Group Handling
Different distros configure OpenVPN differently:
| Distro | User | Group | systemd handles user? |
|--------|------|-------|----------------------|
| Debian/Ubuntu | nobody | nogroup | No |
| Fedora/RHEL/Amazon | openvpn | openvpn | No |
| Arch | openvpn | network | **Yes** (via `User=` in service) |
The script now:
1. Detects if an `openvpn` user exists and uses appropriate group
2. Checks if systemd service already has `User=` directive
3. Skips `user`/`group` in config when systemd handles it (avoids
"double privilege drop" error on Arch)
4. Sets file ownership with `chown -R` for non-root OpenVPN users
### Other Changes
- Updated FAQ.md with new paths
- Added systemd service file validation in tests
- Added CRL reload verification in tests
## Summary
- Add `data-ciphers` directive alongside `ncp-ciphers` for
future-proofing
- Server config now emits both `data-ciphers` and `ncp-ciphers`
- Client config adds `ignore-unknown-option data-ciphers`,
`data-ciphers`, and `ncp-ciphers` for full backward compatibility with
OpenVPN 2.4 clients
## Context
The `ncp-ciphers` option is a legacy alias of `data-ciphers` that is
still accepted but deprecated in OpenVPN 2.5+. This change aligns with
modern naming conventions while maintaining compatibility with older 2.4
clients.
Modernise the Security and Encryption section to reflect OpenVPN's
improved defaults over the years.
- Add version-by-version changelog of security improvements (2.4, 2.5,
2.6)
- Add `[!NOTE]` callouts for default changes in subsections
- Update Easy-RSA link (v3.0.7 → v3.2.2)
## Summary
- Add `remote-cert-tls client` directive to server config to ensure only
certificates with "TLS Web Client Authentication" EKU can connect
- Document the feature in the Security and Encryption section of
README.md
## Summary
- Only add `ifconfig-pool-persist` to server.conf when `MULTI_CLIENT !=
y`
- Add note in the installation prompt about this limitation
- Update README to mention the trade-off
First reported in
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/issues/440#issuecomment-2987417197
## Background
`ifconfig-pool-persist` is incompatible with `duplicate-cn`. When
`duplicate-cn` is enabled, OpenVPN bypasses common name matching in the
IP pool allocation, making the persistence file ineffective.
From [OpenVPN
source](https://github.com/OpenVPN/openvpn/blob/e5ff8247/src/openvpn/init.c#L3608-L3610):
```c
if (o->duplicate_cn && o->ifconfig_pool_persist_filename)
{
msg(M_WARN, "WARNING: --ifconfig-pool-persist will not work with --duplicate-cn");
}
```
Previously, the script always added `ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt`
regardless of whether `duplicate-cn` was enabled via `MULTI_CLIENT=y`.
<!---
❗️ Please read ❗️
➡️ Please make sure you've followed the guidelines:
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install#contributing✅ Please make sure your changes are tested and working
🗣️ Please avoid large PRs, and discuss changes in a GitHub issue first
✋ If the changes are too big and not in line with the project, they will
probably be rejected. Remember that this script is meant to be simple
and easy to use.
--->
---------
Co-authored-by: Stanislas Lange <git@slange.me>
## Summary
- Add version 10 support for CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, and
Oracle Linux
- Consolidate version check logic into a single check for all RHEL-based
distributions
- Fix Rocky Linux Docker image names to `rockylinux/rockylinux:tag`
- Increase Easy-RSA download curl retry from 3 to 5
- Fail early if EPEL/Copr repository setup fails
- Fix Oracle Linux EPEL package name (`oracle-epel-release-el*` instead
of `epel-release`)
## Changes
### `openvpn-install.sh`
- Combine version checks for CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux and Oracle Linux
into one
- Update error message to list supported distributions
- Change Easy-RSA download `--retry 3` to `--retry 5`
- Add `|| log_fatal` to EPEL and Copr setup commands to fail early on
errors
- Use `oracle-epel-release-el{8,9,10}` for Oracle Linux instead of
`epel-release`
### `.github/workflows/docker-test.yml`
- Add CentOS Stream 10 (`quay.io/centos/centos:stream10`)
- Add Rocky Linux 10 (`rockylinux/rockylinux:10`)
- Add AlmaLinux 10 (`almalinux:10`)
- Add Oracle Linux 10 (`oraclelinux:10`)
- Fix Rocky Linux image names from `rockylinux:X` to
`rockylinux/rockylinux:X`
## Test plan
- [ ] CI passes for existing distributions
- [ ] CI passes for new version 10 distributions (where images are
available)
## Summary
- Add end-to-end tests for certificate revocation functionality
- Test that a revoked client certificate cannot connect to the VPN
- Test that a new certificate can be created with the same name as a
revoked one (validating the fix from #1185)
- Test that the new certificate can successfully connect
## Test Flow
1. **Initial connectivity tests** - existing tests pass
2. **Certificate revocation test**:
- Create a new client `revoketest`
- Connect with the certificate (verifies it works)
- Disconnect the client
- Revoke the certificate via the install script
- Try to reconnect with revoked cert (verifies connection is rejected)
3. **Reuse revoked name test**:
- Create a new certificate with the same name `revoketest`
- Verify both revoked and valid entries exist in `index.txt`
- Connect with the new certificate (verifies it works)
## Changes
| File | Changes |
|------|---------|
| `test/server-entrypoint.sh` | Start OpenVPN in background, add
revocation test orchestration |
| `test/client-entrypoint.sh` | Add revocation test phases with signal
file coordination |
| `docker-compose.yml` | Remove read-only restriction on shared volume
for client |
| `Makefile` | Increase timeout from 60 to 180 iterations |
| `.github/workflows/docker-test.yml` | Increase timeouts, fix shared
volume |
The previous check using `pgrep -x openvpn` was matching transient
openvpn processes like `openvpn --genkey` that run during installation,
causing false positives. This led to race conditions where the CI
thought the server was running when it was actually still installing.
Use `pgrep -f "openvpn.*server.conf"` to specifically match the actual
OpenVPN server process running with the server configuration.
Add step to display the install script log file (openvpn-install.log)
which includes timestamps and all installation activity.
This makes debugging CI failures easier by providing detailed logs
directly in the workflow output.
- Replace `wget` with `curl` for downloading Easy-RSA
- Remove `wget` from package dependencies across all distributions
- Ensure `curl` and `ca-certificates` are installed on all distributions
- Add `--retry 3` for automatic retries on transient network failures
I know I’m setting up open VPN because google gave me this page, but I
wasn’t sure if I should run this script on my Amazon Linux 2 server or
my MacBook Pro client for a hot minute.
<!---
❗️ Please read ❗️
➡️ Please make sure you've followed the guidelines:
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install#contributing✅ Please make sure your changes are tested and working
🗣️ Please avoid large PRs, and discuss changes in a GitHub issue first
✋ If the changes are too big and not in line with the project, they will
probably be rejected. Remember that this script is meant to be simple
and easy to use.
--->
---------
Co-authored-by: Stanislas <github@slange.me>
- Add a new "Why OpenVPN?" section explaining when OpenVPN is preferable
over WireGuard
- Move the wireguard-install link from the intro to this new section
- Add detection and logging for OpenVPN Data Channel Offload (DCO)
support during installation
- DCO is a kernel acceleration feature (merged into Linux 6.16) that
improves VPN performance
- Add DCO documentation to README
- Commits made with `GITHUB_TOKEN` don't trigger workflows
- Using a PAT allows the hash update commit to trigger CI checks
- Fixes the issue where PR #1335 didn't have CI triggered after the hash
update
## Summary
- Add Renovate configuration to automatically track Easy-RSA releases
- Add GitHub Action to auto-update SHA256 hash on Renovate PRs
## How it works
1. **Renovate** detects a new Easy-RSA release → creates PR updating
`EASYRSA_VERSION`
2. **GitHub Action** triggers on the PR → downloads tarball → computes
SHA256 → commits fix
3. PR is ready to merge with both version and hash updated
---
I intentionally updated to the second-to-last version in
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/commit/bda450948a933224f4f779a24a44c6279e1574a1
to test if this works.
## Summary
- Remove Amazon Linux 2 support from the installer
- Amazon Linux 2023 remains fully supported
## Motivation
Amazon Linux 2 is reaching EOL.
Additionally, Amazon Linux 2 ships with **OpenSSL 1.0.2k** (from 2017)
which is incompatible with Easy-RSA 3.2.x. The newer Easy-RSA versions
use `openssl x509 -ext` which doesn't exist in OpenSSL 1.0.x, causing
certificate generation to fail.
This blocks our ability to upgrade Easy-RSA:
https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/commit/bda450948a933224f4f779a24a44c6279e1574a1
## Changes
- Updated OS detection to reject Amazon Linux 2 with a clear message
- Removed Amazon Linux 2 specific code paths (EPEL installation, yum
commands)
- Removed from CI test matrix
- Updated README supported distributions table
- Updated Makefile test targets
- Also, add Amazon Linux 2023 Unbound handling
## Summary
- Add `CHACHA20-POLY1305` as a data channel cipher option
- Add `ECDHE-*-CHACHA20-POLY1305` control channel cipher options
- Add version check (requires OpenVPN 2.5+)
- Update README documentation
ChaCha20-Poly1305 is particularly useful on devices without hardware AES
acceleration (AES-NI), such as ARM-based devices (Raspberry Pi, etc.)
and older CPUs, where it can provide better performance than AES.
Closes#1244Closes#190
## Summary
- Rename constants to `DEFAULT_CERT_VALIDITY_DURATION_DAYS` and
`DEFAULT_CRL_VALIDITY_DURATION_DAYS` for clarity
- Replace all hardcoded `3650` values with the constants
- Split `DAYS_VALID` into `CLIENT_CERT_DURATION_DAYS` and
`SERVER_CERT_DURATION_DAYS` for more granular control over client vs
server certificate validity
- Increase CRL validity to 15 years (5475 days) to provide a 5-year
safety buffer over the default 10-year certificate validity
- Update README with new headless install variables
## Breaking changes
- `DAYS_VALID` environment variable is replaced by
`CLIENT_CERT_DURATION_DAYS` and `SERVER_CERT_DURATION_DAYS`
## Summary
- Add certificate renewal for both client and server certificates
- Allow custom validity period during renewal (prompts user, defaults to
3650 days)
- Show expiry info inline in menus (e.g., "Renew the server certificate
(expires in 3542 days)")
- Regenerate `.ovpn` files after client renewal
- Restart OpenVPN service after server renewal
- Extract reusable helper functions to reduce code duplication
- Add robust input validation and error handling
## New menu option
```
What do you want to do?
1) Add a new user
2) Revoke existing user
3) Renew certificate ← NEW
4) Remove OpenVPN
5) Exit
```
## Renewal submenu
```
What do you want to renew?
1) Renew a client certificate
2) Renew the server certificate (expires in 3542 days)
3) Back to main menu
```
Client list shows expiry for each:
```
Select the existing client certificate you want to renew
1) alice (expires in 3542 days)
2) bob (expires in 30 days)
3) charlie (EXPIRED 5 days ago)
```
## Helper functions added
Extracted common code into reusable functions:
- `getHomeDir()` - home directory detection
- `regenerateCRL()` - CRL regeneration after cert changes
- `generateClientConfig()` - .ovpn file generation
- `selectClient()` - client listing with optional expiry display
- `getDaysUntilExpiry()` - certificate expiry calculation
- `formatExpiry()` - human-readable expiry formatting
## Test plan
- [x] Client certificate renewal tested in Docker CI
- [x] Server certificate renewal tested in Docker CI
- [x] Certificate validity verified after renewal (~3650 days)
- [x] VPN connectivity tested with renewed certificate
Closes#974#1002#1228#1060
For those who need it, the script asks for how many days the new client
should be valid. This defaults to 3650 days. Then it sets the
```EASYRSA_CERT_EXPIRE``` variable accordingly.
This script is meant to be simple which means it is for those who are
not tech-savvy to handle the complex task of installing and configuring
OpenVPN.
However if the user has a large number of clients and all of them are
valid for 10 years, it is very hard to keep track of them. This PR helps
them to set a reasonable validity period, while the default is the same.
---------
Co-authored-by: Stanislas Lange <git@slange.me>
## Summary
- Restrict `push` trigger to `master` branch only (feature branch pushes
won't trigger CI)
- Add concurrency groups to cancel redundant runs when new commits are
pushed
- Works correctly with fork PRs using standard `pull_request` event
## Summary
- Install OpenVPN from official upstream repositories instead of
distribution packages
- Gets the latest stable releases with security fixes and new features
- Properly cleans up repos and GPG keys on uninstall
## Repository sources
| OS | Repository |
|---|---|
| Debian/Ubuntu | `build.openvpn.net/debian/openvpn/stable` |
| CentOS/Oracle/Fedora | Fedora Copr `@OpenVPN/openvpn-release-2.6` |
| Amazon Linux/Arch | Distribution packages (no official repo available)
|
## Changes
- Add `installOpenVPNRepo()` function to configure official repos before
package installation
- Remove duplicate package installations between repo setup and install
functions
- Clean up repos and GPG keys during uninstall
- Standardize `log_success` (`[OK]`) for major milestones only
---
Close https://github.com/angristan/openvpn-install/pull/1294
The duplicate-cn feature added an interactive prompt that wasn't
following the auto-install pattern, causing the script to hang
when running with AUTO_INSTALL=y.
Stanislas