Connection is successful, but I have no internet access

Picasso

I used to have this VPS with a OpenVPN server set up, and I never had any problems with it. All of sudden (I did not change anything) my OpenVPN still connects successfully, but when connected I have no internet access. This causes OpenVPN to have an "inactivity timeout", and trying to restart the connection, which fails, because I have no internet access. My VPS was getting a bit outdated, so I decided to start from scratch. I Installed a new VPS (Ubuntu 14.04 x64) and reinstalled OpenVPN. Great! Everything works!
A few days later, I want to connect to my VPS, and I'm back to connecting successfully, but not having internet access, and losing the connection because of that...

Does anyone has a clue about what I could be doing wrong? If you need any documents, please let me know.
I'm fairly certain my config files are correct (since it worked when I installed it, and I have not changed anything since). The log files are not showing anything (it shows that my client is connected, and then the timeout, no other errors). I'm running out of ideas here, and would really appreciate all help I can get.

Picasso

I think that would be the "OpenVPN Community Edition (GPL) Free Open Source Software". The server runs Ubuntu (14.04.1 LTS) and I installed it just by running "apt-get install openvpn". The version is OpenVPN 2.3.4 x86_64. The client I'm using to connect runs Windows 8.1 (if thats any help), and I downloaded the GUI I use from here: http://openvpn.se/download.html
I hope this answered your question? If not, please, ask away!

sangoria

Some things you could check when the VPN connection is successful but no internet access :

* done * - See the openvpn logs (/var/log/openvpn.log by default I think) : can maybe help find a problem with IPv4/IPv6
- Check your firewall (on your server) : maybe it's preventing the forwarding (or maybe your rules were reset after a reboot, etc)
- Check if the packet forwarding is activated on your server

Let us know if there is any progress.

Picasso

Your setup may not have changed but a lot of other things have .. including:
Picasso wrote:
so I decided to start from scratch. I Installed a new VPS (Ubuntu 14.04 x64) and reinstalled OpenVPN
Fairly serious changes ..

I did indeed start over, but after reinstalling, my connection did work. My concern is that a few days later (I did not use the server in the meantime) the connection no longer worked. And I got no error messages or warnings whatsoever.

My client config:

client
dev tun
proto udp
remote {Server Name} 1195
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
ca ca.crt
cert client.crt
key client.key
comp-lzo
verb 4

My server config:

port 1195
proto udp
dev tun
ca /etc/openvpn/ca.crt
cert /etc/openvpn/server.crt
key /etc/openvpn/server.key
dh /etc/openvpn/dh1024.pem
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"
push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.8.8"
push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.4.4"
#push "route 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0"
keepalive 5 30
comp-lzo
persist-key
persist-tun
log-append openvpn.log
verb 4

I do not think the problem is in my config files, because I do get the "Connection successful" message, and my client is assigned an IP address (10.8.0.6 in my case).

For some reason my log entries on the server come in the syslog file (and not openvpn.log), I guess thats an configuration issue.

Jul 28 21:38:57 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: 178.116.25.209:53497 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:53497
Jul 28 21:38:57 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:53497 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Jul 28 21:38:59 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:53497 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Jul 28 21:39:01 HOSTNAME CRON[3773]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -x /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && /usr/lib/php5/sessionclean /var/lib/php5 $(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime))
Jul 28 21:40:01 HOSTNAME CRON[3857]: (root) CMD (/etc/webmin/status/monitor.pl)
Jul 28 21:40:03 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:53497 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Jul 28 21:45:01 HOSTNAME CRON[4029]: (root) CMD (/etc/webmin/status/monitor.pl)
Jul 28 21:46:13 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: 178.116.25.209:59325 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:59325
Jul 28 21:46:13 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:59325 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Jul 28 21:46:15 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:59325 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Jul 28 21:47:20 HOSTNAME ovpn-server[1133]: client/178.116.25.209:59325 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting

Log files on the client

Sun Jul 28 21:39:44 2014 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1406478764,WAIT,,,
Sun Jul 28 21:40:14 2014 [UNDEF] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 28 21:40:14 2014 TCP/UDP: Closing socket
Sun Jul 28 21:40:14 2014 SIGUSR1[soft,ping-restart] received, process restarting
Sun Jul 28 21:40:14 2014 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1406478794,RECONNECTING,ping-restart,,
Sun Jul 28 21:40:14 2014 Restart pause, 2 second(s)
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 WARNING: No server certificate verification method has been enabled.  See http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm for more info.
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Re-using SSL/TLS context
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 LZO compression initialized
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Control Channel MTU parms [ L:1542 D:138 EF:38 EB:0 ET:0 EL:0 ]
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Socket Buffers: R=[65536->65536] S=[65536->65536]
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1406478796,RESOLVE,,,
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Data Channel MTU parms [ L:1542 D:1450 EF:42 EB:135 ET:0 EL:0 AF:3/1 ]
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Local Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1542,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher BF-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 128,key-method 2,tls-client'
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Expected Remote Options String: 'V4,dev-type tun,link-mtu 1542,tun-mtu 1500,proto UDPv4,comp-lzo,cipher BF-CBC,auth SHA1,keysize 128,key-method 2,tls-server'
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Local Options hash (VER=V4): '41690919'
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 Expected Remote Options hash (VER=V4): '530fdded'
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 UDPv4 link local: [undef]
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 UDPv4 link remote: [AF_INET]188.226.186.27:1195
Sun Jul 28 21:40:16 2014 MANAGEMENT: >STATE:1406478796,WAIT,,,

Firewall on the server

# Generated by iptables-save v1.4.21 on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014
*nat
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [1:848]
:INPUT ACCEPT [1:848]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [4:492]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [4:492]
-A POSTROUTING -s 10.8.0.0/24 -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
COMMIT
# Completed on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014
# Generated by iptables-save v1.4.21 on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014
*mangle
:PREROUTING ACCEPT [33:4236]
:INPUT ACCEPT [33:4236]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [28:3272]
:POSTROUTING ACCEPT [28:3272]
COMMIT
# Completed on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014
# Generated by iptables-save v1.4.21 on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014
*filter
:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [28:3272]
-A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 20000 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 10000 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 993 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 143 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 995 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 110 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 20 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 587 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 25 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 1195 -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -s 10.8.0.0/24 -o eth0 -j ACCEPT
-A FORWARD -i eth0 -o tun0 -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
COMMIT
# Completed on Tue Jul 29 11:42:01 2014

I have shutdown the firewall on the client while connecting, to confirm that this was not the issue.

Check if the packet forwarding is activated on your server

I'm guessing by that you mean the last lines in the firewall? Or am I missing something?

I've also been looking to the routing tables, because somehow I thought that might be the problem, but I cant seem to find anything wrong with them.
Routing table on server:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
0.0.0.0         188.226.186.1   0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0
10.8.0.0        10.8.0.2        255.255.255.0   UG    0      0        0 tun0
10.8.0.2        0.0.0.0         255.255.255.255 UH    0      0        0 tun0
188.226.186.0   0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0

Routing table on client (while connected to the server):

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination        Netmask          Gateway       Interface  Metric
          0.0.0.0          0.0.0.0      192.168.0.1    192.168.0.135     25
          0.0.0.0        128.0.0.0         10.8.0.5         10.8.0.6     30
         10.8.0.1  255.255.255.255         10.8.0.5         10.8.0.6     30
         10.8.0.4  255.255.255.252         On-link          10.8.0.6    286
         10.8.0.6  255.255.255.255         On-link          10.8.0.6    286
         10.8.0.7  255.255.255.255         On-link          10.8.0.6    286
        127.0.0.0        255.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        127.0.0.1  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  127.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        128.0.0.0        128.0.0.0         10.8.0.5         10.8.0.6     30
   188.226.186.27  255.255.255.255      192.168.0.1    192.168.0.135     25
      192.168.0.0    255.255.255.0         On-link     192.168.0.135    281
      192.168.0.1  255.255.255.255      192.168.0.1    192.168.0.135     25
    192.168.0.135  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.135    281
    192.168.0.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.135    281
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link          10.8.0.6    286
        224.0.0.0        240.0.0.0         On-link     192.168.0.135    281
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link         127.0.0.1    306
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link          10.8.0.6    286
  255.255.255.255  255.255.255.255         On-link     192.168.0.135    281
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
  None

Thanks for the replies!

Picasso

Thanks! 🙂

I just checked and it is set to 1.

cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
1

Picasso

I would love to give you something more to work with, but the log snippets are all the information I have. Since it's logged in syslog, there is a whole lot of other information (mostly cron jobs and postfix messages), but that snippet contains all the lines about OpenVPN.

Are you sure you are running the correct config?

Since I installed OpenVPN on a fresh system, there is only one config file on the server (indeed in /etc/openvpn), so this is the only one that can be run.

I do have an /etc/openvpn/openvpn.log but it contains information about the last successful connects I did (just after the install). All my connects after that are not logged here.
/etc/openvpn/openvpn.log:

Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 OpenVPN 2.3.2 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [EPOLL] [PKCS11] [eurephia] [MH] [IPv6] built on Feb  4 2014
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 TUN/TAP device tun0 opened
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 do_ifconfig, tt->ipv6=0, tt->did_ifconfig_ipv6_setup=0
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 /sbin/ip link set dev tun0 up mtu 1500
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 /sbin/ip addr add dev tun0 local 10.8.0.1 peer 10.8.0.2
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 UDPv4 link local (bound): [undef]
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 UDPv4 link remote: [undef]
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 ifconfig_pool_read(), in='client,10.8.0.4', TODO: IPv6
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 succeeded -> ifconfig_pool_set()
Sun Jul 20 14:39:45 2014 Initialization Sequence Completed
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 178.116.25.209:52747 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:52747
Sun Jul 20 14:40:43 2014 client/178.116.25.209:52747 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 14:40:45 2014 client/178.116.25.209:52747 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 14:42:45 2014 client/178.116.25.209:52747 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 178.116.25.209:55549 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:55549
Sun Jul 20 15:46:24 2014 client/178.116.25.209:55549 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 15:46:26 2014 client/178.116.25.209:55549 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 15:48:26 2014 client/178.116.25.209:55549 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 178.116.25.209:51593 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:51593
Sun Jul 20 15:50:01 2014 client/178.116.25.209:51593 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 15:50:03 2014 client/178.116.25.209:51593 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 178.116.25.209:63672 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:63672
Sun Jul 20 15:50:56 2014 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 15:50:59 2014 client/178.116.25.209:63672 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 15:52:59 2014 client/178.116.25.209:63672 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 178.116.25.209:56521 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:56521
Sun Jul 20 16:01:06 2014 client/178.116.25.209:56521 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 16:01:09 2014 client/178.116.25.209:56521 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 16:03:09 2014 client/178.116.25.209:56521 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 178.116.25.209:57038 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:57038
Sun Jul 20 16:03:20 2014 client/178.116.25.209:57038 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 16:03:22 2014 client/178.116.25.209:57038 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 16:05:22 2014 client/178.116.25.209:57038 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 178.116.25.209:51744 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:51744
Sun Jul 20 16:05:23 2014 client/178.116.25.209:51744 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 16:05:25 2014 client/178.116.25.209:51744 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 16:07:25 2014 client/178.116.25.209:51744 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 VERIFY OK: depth=1, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 VERIFY OK: depth=0, **stuff about certificate**
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 Data Channel Encrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 Data Channel Encrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 Data Channel Decrypt: Cipher 'BF-CBC' initialized with 128 bit key
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 Data Channel Decrypt: Using 160 bit message hash 'SHA1' for HMAC authentication
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 Control Channel: TLSv1, cipher TLSv1/SSLv3 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA, 1024 bit RSA
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 178.116.25.209:59046 [client] Peer Connection Initiated with [AF_INET]178.116.25.209:59046
Sun Jul 20 16:07:57 2014 client/178.116.25.209:59046 MULTI_sva: pool returned IPv4=10.8.0.6, IPv6=(Not enabled)
Sun Jul 20 16:07:59 2014 client/178.116.25.209:59046 send_push_reply(): safe_cap=940
Sun Jul 20 16:10:00 2014 client/178.116.25.209:59046 [client] Inactivity timeout (--ping-restart), restarting
Sun Jul 20 16:12:54 2014 event_wait : Interrupted system call (code=4)
Sun Jul 20 16:12:54 2014 Closing TUN/TAP interface
Sun Jul 20 16:12:54 2014 /sbin/ip addr del dev tun0 local 10.8.0.1 peer 10.8.0.2
Sun Jul 20 16:12:54 2014 SIGTERM[hard,] received, process exiting

I start OpenVPN with the command

service openvpn start

service openvpn restart

depending on the situation.
Running the command

service --status-all

indicates that the service is indeed running (it is marked with an "+").

Picasso

It works now! I do not really know what caused it to work, but I'm really happy! 🙂
I changed "log-append" to "log", and now it's not logging anywhere (not in syslog and not in openvpn.log). Is it an issue if openvpn writes its log entries in syslog, or is this just not convenient?

Thanks for all the help! 🙂

Picasso

server config:

port 1195
proto udp
dev tun
ca /etc/openvpn/ca.crt
cert /etc/openvpn/server.crt
key /etc/openvpn/server.key
dh /etc/openvpn/dh1024.pem
server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"
push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.8.8"
push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.4.4"
#push "route 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0"
keepalive 5 30
comp-lzo
persist-key
persist-tun
log openvpn.log
verb 4

Is that wrong code?