Occasional App termination during flaky connectivity

[martin.stut]

After running OpenVPN successfully for almost 8 years for about 25 site-to-site LAN-LAN links on Linux servers, I'm now facing the task to connect 6 iPads (iOS 6) for upper management to the center. I'm testing with my new iPad. The OpenVPN Connect App for iOS was really easy to set up (just modify an existing configuration and transfer it through iTunes). It does work well, but occasionally (see below for details) there is a connection timeout and the user needs to reconnect manually. It is perfectly o.k. for an IT person, but it may be inacceptable for e.g. the boss of a chain of hospitals, to have to check (and, if down, manually reestablish) VPN connectivity every time he just wants to check e-mail (provided by an internal server).

Is there a way, e.g. by using a configuration directive on the iOS client or on the Linux server, to make sure the iOS OVPN Connect client will permanently try on its own to reestablish the connection, whatever happens? The ideal solution will maintain the connection for the lifetime of iPad (many months to years) without the need of the user (boss) touching the OpenVPN Connect App. The IT guy sets it up, starts it, and then the boss will have his e-mail delivered from the internal server for the next 2-3 years.

Currently, these conditions seem to require a, possibly inacceptable (to the boss), manual reconnect using the OpenVPN app:

• some switchovers WLAN - UMTS
• WLAN or UMTS signal is there, but so weak or variable (imagine a speeding car or train), that reconnecting won't complete within the timeout of 2 minutes
• device reboot

[jamesyonan]

If you go to the Settings app under OpenVPN, you can set the Connection Timeout to "None" in which case OpenVPN will retry indefinitely to connect.

You can also look at the VPN-on-Demand capability (discussed in the FAQ under Help / More Help) to have the VPN connection be automatically started by iOS when the user hits a particular site.

James

[martin.stut]

If you go to the Settings app under OpenVPN, you can set the Connection Timeout to "None" in which case OpenVPN will retry indefinitely to connect.

That did the trick. The issue is solved. Thank you very much.