build-ca not working

mseedii

i'm trying to configure openvpn in xp pro sp3 2.7 Ghz, 2GB ram. I've downloaded and install openvpn2.2. When i navigate to easy-rsa and try and execute the bat build-ca i get the following error

WARNING: can't open config file: c:\openssl/ssl/openssl.cnf error on line 150 of openssl.cnf
4788:error:0E065068:configuration file routines:STR_COPY:variable has no value:.\crypto\conf\conf_def.c:618:line 150

what do i need to change?

Bebop

[EDIT] I just installed new openvpn and have a similar error to you now.

You're faced with two choices:

[1] Roll back to OpenVPN 2.1.4 which is still available at the OpenVPN downloads page.

OR

[2] Follow the steps below in my next post.

On Windows 7 X64, option 1 is the best.

Bebop

Solution found for anyone who doesn't want to roll back to 2.1.4. This is for Windows 7 x64.

Uninstall OpenVPN
Delete folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN
Install OpenVPN 2.2.1 (or newest version)
start->run->cmd (as admin)
> cd C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN\easy-rsa
> init-config
Now open vars.bat in text editor as admin and change the vars to something like:

set KEY_COUNTRY=US
set KEY_PROVINCE=CA
set KEY_CITY=SanFrancisco
set KEY_ORG=ORG
set KEY_EMAIL=mail@host.org
set KEY_CN=common
set KEY_NAME=NAME
set KEY_OU=OU
set PKCS11_MODULE_PATH=NA
set PKCS11_PIN=NA

Now back to command prompt
> vars
> clean-all
> build-ca
> build-key-server server
Important - When you are being prompted for input, change the common name to something unique like server
> build-dh
Copy ca.crt, ca.key, dh1024.pem, server.crt, server.key to the openvpn server
Restart the server instance of openvpn. Make sure it starts with no errors.
Now back to command prompt
> build-key client1
Important - When you are being prompted for input, change the common name to something unique like client1
> build-key client2
Important - When you get the prompts, change the common name to something unique like client2

Should be all done, with no errors, or very few errors. A common error does seem to be unable to write 'random state', but it doesn't seem to be critical.

Now load your client certs in to client config dir and start OpenVPN GUI. See if it all works.

kmoerder

Hi All...

I do think that the unable to write random state error is important, as it could indicate that you have created weak keys.

I had the same problem on a new Windows 7 Pro 64-bit install.

The simplest fix I found was the following

In vars.bat I replaced

"set HOME=%ProgramFiles%\OpenVPN\easy-rsa"

with

"set HOME=C:\PROGRA~2\OpenVPN\easy-rsa"

This allows the scripts to finf all of the OpenVPN (SSL) tools they need to run properly.

Thanks,

...Karl