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[Resolved] Windows 10 - openvpn service does not start, no errors, no log

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:18 am
by Alexej29
Hi,

long story made short: my freshly-installed OpenVPN server 2.4.7 on Windows 10 (latest updates applied) refuses to start as a service. The same damn thing is however perfectly fine if started from the OpenVPN GUI, and this is really bothering me.

What I have done so far:
  • started from a Win10 clean installation
  • applied latest Win10 updates
  • installed OpenVPN 2.4.7
  • migrated my config from the previous installation, which was working just fine.
  • started the VPN server from cmd --> OK, no apparent errors in logs, client is able to connect
  • started the VPN server from GUI --> OK, no apparent errors in logs, client is able to connect
  • started the VPN server from services.msc --> FAIL, apparently the service openvpnserv2.exe starts, but it doesn't spawn the openvpn.exe process. No logs are generated and no errors in the windows event log.
  • tried to disable windows defender, but to no avail.
I am attaching my config below, although I am pretty sure that the issue lies somewhere else...if anyone could give me a pointer it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance :-)

Code: Select all

port 1194
proto udp
dev tun
askpass password.txt
ca ca.crt
cert glacier.crt
key glacier.key  # This file should be kept secret
dh dh2048.pem
server 172.16.0.0 255.255.255.0
ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt
client-to-client
keepalive 10 120
comp-lzo
persist-key
persist-tun
status openvpn-status.log
log-append  server.log
verb 3

Re: Windows 10 - openvpn service does not start, no errors, no log

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:40 pm
by TinCanTech
The latest 2.4.7-I606 version has been packaged with the wrong service .. roll back.

Edit: A new-new version has been uploaded for download here:
https://openvpn.net/community-downloads/

Re: Windows 10 - openvpn service does not start, no errors, no log

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:45 pm
by Alexej29
I confirm that it works! Thanks a lot to you and to whoever uploaded the I607 version!

Re: Windows 10 - openvpn service does not start, no errors, no log

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:14 pm
by TinCanTech
Thanks for letting us know 8-)

Re: Windows 10 - openvpn service does not start, no errors, no log

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 6:47 am
by samuli
I am to blame in both good and bad as I do the Windows installer releases :). The service itself is not broken in I606, but there was a significant behavioral change in it that was only really intended for the upcoming OpenVPN 2.5 MSI installers. Basically the autostart config directory changed. The upcoming MSI installer will have code to ensure a smooth transition, but our current NSIS installer did not have that. Hence the apparently broken service.