Insufficient key material or header text

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JP42
OpenVpn Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:13 am

Insufficient key material or header text

Post by JP42 » Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:47 pm

Hi all. When trying to start my (new) OpenVPN Community edition server, I get the following error message:

"Insufficient key material or header text not found in file '[[INLINE]]' (0/128/256 bytes found/min/max)"

I'm trying to figure out how to proceed. I have noticed that my tls-crypt-v2 server key is about 1/4 of the length of my client keys - I'm guessing it shouldn't be that way?

I also noticed that the inline file for the server declares that there is no dh, while I am using one. Not sure if that is something to key into?

Here are the files:

Server Config
#################################################

# Sample OpenVPN 2.0 config file for #

# multi-client server. #

# #

# This file is for the server side #

# of a many-clients <-> one-server #

# OpenVPN configuration. #

# #

# OpenVPN also supports #

# single-machine <-> single-machine #

# configurations (See the Examples page #

# on the web site for more info). #

# #

# This config should work on Windows #

# or Linux/BSD systems. Remember on #

# Windows to quote pathnames and use #

# double backslashes, e.g.: #

# "C:\\Program Files\\OpenVPN\\config\\foo.key" #

# #

# Comments are preceded with '#' or ';' #

#################################################



# Which local IP address should OpenVPN

# listen on? (optional)

local 192.168.0.2



# Which TCP/UDP port should OpenVPN listen on?

# If you want to run multiple OpenVPN instances

# on the same machine, use a different port

# number for each one. You will need to

# open up this port on your firewall.

port xxxx



# TCP or UDP server?

;proto tcp

proto udp



# "dev tun" will create a routed IP tunnel,

# "dev tap" will create an ethernet tunnel.

# Use "dev tap0" if you are ethernet bridging

# and have precreated a tap0 virtual interface

# and bridged it with your ethernet interface.

# If you want to control access policies

# over the VPN, you must create firewall

# rules for the the TUN/TAP interface.

# On non-Windows systems, you can give

# an explicit unit number, such as tun0.

# On Windows, use "dev-node" for this.

# On most systems, the VPN will not function

# unless you partially or fully disable

# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.

;dev tap

dev tun



# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name

# from the Network Connections panel if you

# have more than one. On XP SP2 or higher,

# you may need to selectively disable the

# Windows firewall for the TAP adapter.

# Non-Windows systems usually don't need this.

;dev-node MyTap



# SSL/TLS root certificate (ca), certificate

# (cert), and private key (key). Each client

# and the server must have their own cert and

# key file. The server and all clients will

# use the same ca file.

#

# See the "easy-rsa" directory for a series

# of scripts for generating RSA certificates

# and private keys. Remember to use

# a unique Common Name for the server

# and each of the client certificates.

#

# Any X509 key management system can be used.

# OpenVPN can also use a PKCS #12 formatted key file

# (see "pkcs12" directive in man page).

ca "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\ca.crt"

cert "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\issued\\OIC-Server.crt"

key "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\private\\OIC-Server.key" # This file should be kept secret



# Diffie hellman parameters.

# Generate your own with:

# openssl dhparam -out dh2048.pem 2048

dh "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\dh.pem"



# Network topology

# Should be subnet (addressing via IP)

# unless Windows clients v2.0.9 and lower have to

# be supported (then net30, i.e. a /30 per client)

# Defaults to net30 (not recommended)

topology subnet



# Configure server mode and supply a VPN subnet

# for OpenVPN to draw client addresses from.

# The server will take 10.8.0.1 for itself,

# the rest will be made available to clients.

# Each client will be able to reach the server

# on 10.8.0.1. Comment this line out if you are

# ethernet bridging. See the man page for more info.

server 10.35.42.0/24 255.255.255.0



# Maintain a record of client <-> virtual IP address

# associations in this file. If OpenVPN goes down or

# is restarted, reconnecting clients can be assigned

# the same virtual IP address from the pool that was

# previously assigned.

ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt



# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging.

# You must first use your OS's bridging capability

# to bridge the TAP interface with the ethernet

# NIC interface. Then you must manually set the

# IP/netmask on the bridge interface, here we

# assume 10.8.0.4/255.255.255.0. Finally we

# must set aside an IP range in this subnet

# (start=10.8.0.50 end=10.8.0.100) to allocate

# to connecting clients. Leave this line commented

# out unless you are ethernet bridging.

;server-bridge 10.8.0.4 255.255.255.0 10.8.0.50 10.8.0.100



# Configure server mode for ethernet bridging

# using a DHCP-proxy, where clients talk

# to the OpenVPN server-side DHCP server

# to receive their IP address allocation

# and DNS server addresses. You must first use

# your OS's bridging capability to bridge the TAP

# interface with the ethernet NIC interface.

# Note: this mode only works on clients (such as

# Windows), where the client-side TAP adapter is

# bound to a DHCP client.

;server-bridge



# Push routes to the client to allow it

# to reach other private subnets behind

# the server. Remember that these

# private subnets will also need

# to know to route the OpenVPN client

# address pool (10.8.0.0/255.255.255.0)

# back to the OpenVPN server.

;push "route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0"

;push "route 192.168.20.0 255.255.255.0"



# To assign specific IP addresses to specific

# clients or if a connecting client has a private

# subnet behind it that should also have VPN access,

# use the subdirectory "ccd" for client-specific

# configuration files (see man page for more info).



# EXAMPLE: Suppose the client

# having the certificate common name "Thelonious"

# also has a small subnet behind his connecting

# machine, such as 192.168.40.128/255.255.255.248.

# First, uncomment out these lines:

;client-config-dir ccd

;route 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248

# Then create a file ccd/Thelonious with this line:

# iroute 192.168.40.128 255.255.255.248

# This will allow Thelonious' private subnet to

# access the VPN. This example will only work

# if you are routing, not bridging, i.e. you are

# using "dev tun" and "server" directives.



# EXAMPLE: Suppose you want to give

# Thelonious a fixed VPN IP address of 10.9.0.1.

# First uncomment out these lines:

;client-config-dir ccd

;route 10.9.0.0 255.255.255.252

# Then add this line to ccd/Thelonious:

# ifconfig-push 10.9.0.1 10.9.0.2



# Suppose that you want to enable different

# firewall access policies for different groups

# of clients. There are two methods:

# (1) Run multiple OpenVPN daemons, one for each

# group, and firewall the TUN/TAP interface

# for each group/daemon appropriately.

# (2) (Advanced) Create a script to dynamically

# modify the firewall in response to access

# from different clients. See man

# page for more info on learn-address script.

;learn-address ./script



# If enabled, this directive will configure

# all clients to redirect their default

# network gateway through the VPN, causing

# all IP traffic such as web browsing and

# and DNS lookups to go through the VPN

# (The OpenVPN server machine may need to NAT

# or bridge the TUN/TAP interface to the internet

# in order for this to work properly).

;push "redirect-gateway def1 bypass-dhcp"



# Certain Windows-specific network settings

# can be pushed to clients, such as DNS

# or WINS server addresses. CAVEAT:

# http://openvpn.net/faq.html#dhcpcaveats

# The addresses below refer to the public

# DNS servers provided by opendns.com.

;push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.222.222"

;push "dhcp-option DNS 208.67.220.220"



# Uncomment this directive to allow different

# clients to be able to "see" each other.

# By default, clients will only see the server.

# To force clients to only see the server, you

# will also need to appropriately firewall the

# server's TUN/TAP interface.

;client-to-client



# Uncomment this directive if multiple clients

# might connect with the same certificate/key

# files or common names. This is recommended

# only for testing purposes. For production use,

# each client should have its own certificate/key

# pair.

#

# IF YOU HAVE NOT GENERATED INDIVIDUAL

# CERTIFICATE/KEY PAIRS FOR EACH CLIENT,

# EACH HAVING ITS OWN UNIQUE "COMMON NAME",

# UNCOMMENT THIS LINE OUT.

;duplicate-cn



# The keepalive directive causes ping-like

# messages to be sent back and forth over

# the link so that each side knows when

# the other side has gone down.

# Ping every 10 seconds, assume that remote

# peer is down if no ping received during

# a 120 second time period.

keepalive 10 120



# For extra security beyond that provided

# by SSL/TLS, create an "HMAC firewall"

# to help block DoS attacks and UDP port flooding.

#

# Generate with:

# openvpn --genkey tls-auth ta.key

#

# The server and each client must have

# a copy of this key.

# The second parameter should be '0'

# on the server and '1' on the clients.

tls-auth "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\easytls\\OIC-Server-tls-crypt-v2.key" 0 # This file is secret



# Select a cryptographic cipher.

# This config item must be copied to

# the client config file as well.

# Note that v2.4 client/server will automatically

# negotiate AES-256-GCM in TLS mode.

# See also the ncp-cipher option in the manpage

cipher AES-256-GCM



# Enable compression on the VPN link and push the

# option to the client (v2.4+ only, for earlier

# versions see below)

;compress lz4-v2

;push "compress lz4-v2"



# For compression compatible with older clients use comp-lzo

# If you enable it here, you must also

# enable it in the client config file.

;comp-lzo



# The maximum number of concurrently connected

# clients we want to allow.

max-clients 10



# It's a good idea to reduce the OpenVPN

# daemon's privileges after initialization.

#

# You can uncomment this out on

# non-Windows systems.

;user nobody

;group nobody



# The persist options will try to avoid

# accessing certain resources on restart

# that may no longer be accessible because

# of the privilege downgrade.

persist-key

persist-tun



# Output a short status file showing

# current connections, truncated

# and rewritten every minute.

status openvpn-status.log



# By default, log messages will go to the syslog (or

# on Windows, if running as a service, they will go to

# the "\Program Files\OpenVPN\log" directory).

# Use log or log-append to override this default.

# "log" will truncate the log file on OpenVPN startup,

# while "log-append" will append to it. Use one

# or the other (but not both).

;log openvpn.log

;log-append openvpn.log



# Set the appropriate level of log

# file verbosity.

#

# 0 is silent, except for fatal errors

# 4 is reasonable for general usage

# 5 and 6 can help to debug connection problems

# 9 is extremely verbose

verb 4



# Silence repeating messages. At most 20

# sequential messages of the same message

# category will be output to the log.

mute 20



# Notify the client that when the server restarts so it

# can automatically reconnect.

explicit-exit-notify 1
auth-nocache


Client Config

##############################################

# Sample client-side OpenVPN 2.0 config file #

# for connecting to multi-client server. #

# #

# This configuration can be used by multiple #

# clients, however each client should have #

# its own cert and key files. #

# #

# On Windows, you might want to rename this #

# file so it has a .ovpn extension #

##############################################



# Specify that we are a client and that we

# will be pulling certain config file directives

# from the server.

client



# Use the same setting as you are using on

# the server.

# On most systems, the VPN will not function

# unless you partially or fully disable

# the firewall for the TUN/TAP interface.

;dev tap

dev tun



# Windows needs the TAP-Win32 adapter name

# from the Network Connections panel

# if you have more than one. On XP SP2,

# you may need to disable the firewall

# for the TAP adapter.

;dev-node MyTap



# Are we connecting to a TCP or

# UDP server? Use the same setting as

# on the server.

;proto tcp

proto udp



# The hostname/IP and port of the server.

# You can have multiple remote entries

# to load balance between the servers.

remote xxx.xxx.xx.xx xxxx

;remote my-server-2 1194



# Choose a random host from the remote

# list for load-balancing. Otherwise

# try hosts in the order specified.

;remote-random



# Keep trying indefinitely to resolve the

# host name of the OpenVPN server. Very useful

# on machines which are not permanently connected

# to the internet such as laptops.

resolv-retry infinite



# Most clients don't need to bind to

# a specific local port number.

nobind



# Downgrade privileges after initialization (non-Windows only)

;user nobody

;group nobody



# Try to preserve some state across restarts.

persist-key

persist-tun



# If you are connecting through an

# HTTP proxy to reach the actual OpenVPN

# server, put the proxy server/IP and

# port number here. See the man page

# if your proxy server requires

# authentication.

;http-proxy-retry # retry on connection failures

;http-proxy [proxy server] [proxy port #]



# Wireless networks often produce a lot

# of duplicate packets. Set this flag

# to silence duplicate packet warnings.

;mute-replay-warnings



# SSL/TLS parms.

# See the server config file for more

# description. It's best to use

# a separate .crt/.key file pair

# for each client. A single ca

# file can be used for all clients.

ca "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\ca.crt"

cert "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\issued\\JPadmin42.crt"

key "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\Private\\JPadmin42.key"



# Verify server certificate by checking that the

# certificate has the correct key usage set.

# This is an important precaution to protect against

# a potential attack discussed here:

# http://openvpn.net/howto.html#mitm

#

# To use this feature, you will need to generate

# your server certificates with the keyUsage set to

# digitalSignature, keyEncipherment

# and the extendedKeyUsage to

# serverAuth

# EasyRSA can do this for you.

remote-cert-tls server



# If a tls-auth key is used on the server

# then every client must also have the key.

tls-auth "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\easytls\\OIC-Server-tls-crypt-v2.key" 1



# Select a cryptographic cipher.

# If the cipher option is used on the server

# then you must also specify it here.

# Note that v2.4 client/server will automatically

# negotiate AES-256-GCM in TLS mode.

# See also the data-ciphers option in the manpage

cipher AES-256-GCM



# Enable compression on the VPN link.

# Don't enable this unless it is also

# enabled in the server config file.

#comp-lzo



# Set log file verbosity.

verb 4



# Silence repeating messages

mute 20


Log File

2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 --pull-filter ignored for --mode server
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 Current Parameter Settings:
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 config = 'server.ovpn'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 mode = 1
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 show_ciphers = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 show_digests = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 show_engines = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 genkey = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 genkey_filename = '[UNDEF]'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 key_pass_file = '[UNDEF]'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 show_tls_ciphers = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 connect_retry_max = 0
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 Connection profiles [0]:
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 proto = udp
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 local = '192.168.0.2'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 local_port = 'xxxx'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 remote = '[UNDEF]'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 remote_port = 'xxxx'
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 remote_float = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 bind_defined = DISABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 bind_local = ENABLED
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 NOTE: --mute triggered...
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 285 variation(s) on previous 20 message(s) suppressed by --mute
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 OpenVPN 2.5.7 Windows-MSVC [SSL (OpenSSL)] [LZO] [LZ4] [PKCS11] [AEAD] built on May 27 2022
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 Windows version 10.0 (Windows 10 or greater) 64bit
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 library versions: OpenSSL 1.1.1o 3 May 2022, LZO 2.10
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 MANAGEMENT: TCP Socket listening on [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25340
2022-08-13 17:41:54 us=906000 Need hold release from management interface, waiting...
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=312000 MANAGEMENT: Client connected from [AF_INET]127.0.0.1:25340
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=421000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'state on'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=421000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'log all on'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'echo all on'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'bytecount 5'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold off'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'hold release'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 NOTE: your local LAN uses the extremely common subnet address 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x. Be aware that this might create routing conflicts if you connect to the VPN server from public locations such as internet cafes that use the same subnet.
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 Diffie-Hellman initialized with 2048 bit key
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: CMD 'password [...]'
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 MANAGEMENT: Client disconnected
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 Insufficient key material or header text not found in file '[[INLINE]]' (0/128/256 bytes found/min/max)
2022-08-13 17:41:55 us=453000 Exiting due to fatal error


Any ideas? Thanks for your time.

User avatar
Pippin
Forum Team
Posts: 1201
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:03 am
Location: irc://irc.libera.chat:6697/openvpn

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by Pippin » Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:19 pm

Code: Select all

Insufficient key material or header text not found in file '[[INLINE]]' (0/128/256 bytes found/min/max)
suggests you inline the file(s) but also have paths stated

Code: Select all

tls-auth "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\easytls\\OIC-Server-tls-crypt-v2.key" 0
.
Another thing is, you state

Code: Select all

OIC-Server-tls-crypt-v2.key
while having

Code: Select all

tls-auth
.
Please read the manual:
https://build.openvpn.net/man/openvpn-2 ... vpn.8.html

You cannot use tls-crypt-v2 keys with tls-auth..... to my knowledge.
I gloomily came to the ironic conclusion that if you take a highly intelligent person and give them the best possible, elite education, then you will most likely wind up with an academic who is completely impervious to reality.
Halton Arp

TinCanTech
OpenVPN Protagonist
Posts: 11137
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by TinCanTech » Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:00 am

Pippin wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:19 pm
tls-auth "C:\\xxxx\\OpenVPN\\easy-rsa\\pki\\easytls\\OIC-Server-tls-crypt-v2.key" 0
Nice to see 8-)
Pippin wrote:
Sat Aug 13, 2022 11:19 pm
You cannot use tls-crypt-v2 keys with tls-auth..... to my knowledge
TLS Crypt V2 keys cannot be interchanged in the same way that --tls-auth/--tls-crypt can, for sure!

TinCanTech
OpenVPN Protagonist
Posts: 11137
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by TinCanTech » Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:05 am

it is possible to use --tls-crypt-v2 along-side --tls-auth or --tls-crypt in the same server config.

But you cannot mix --tls-auth and --tls-crypt in any config file.

JP42
OpenVpn Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:13 am

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by JP42 » Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:39 am

Ahh okay. That makes sense. So I should change it to TLS-Crypt-V2 instead of tls-auth? I am starting to understand how the config files make these calls, but it’s still a bit beyond me.

I will try that in the morning. Thanks for the info guys! It’s truly appreciated.

TinCanTech
OpenVPN Protagonist
Posts: 11137
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:17 pm

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by TinCanTech » Sun Aug 14, 2022 1:02 am

@JP42 you have been using Easy-TLS.

If you have any complaints about Easy-TLS then you are welcome to start another thread for discussion.

Alternatively, you can express your issues here: https://github.com/TinCanTech/easy-tls/issues

JP42
OpenVpn Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:13 am

Re: Insufficient key material or header text

Post by JP42 » Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:42 pm

Cheers guys! Changing tls-auth to tls-crypt-v2 worked. Server is now loading.

@TinCanTech no, no complaints. I think my issues revolve around not having enough of a foundation in the material to understand the guides to the extent that I'd need to, or knowing things like needing to change tls-auth like in this example. Overall I'd say its brilliant and I have the utmost respect for developers like yourself.

Thanks so much for your help! I am having trouble with getting a client key unwrapped, but I'm going to spend more time with it and if I still can't figure it out I'll add another post.

/salute

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